Product Description

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book - this is the story of one of America's greatest presidents and the First Lady who devoted herself to public service. Winner of 11 Emmy Awards.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90546 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 240 minutes

Amazon.com
This first part of Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years, the critically acclaimed 1976 television miniseries, focuses on the early lives of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, concluding on their wedding day. The story is mostly told in flashback, as the first lady receives word of the death of President Roosevelt and, while making funeral preparations, reflects on her life with him. Distant relatives in the wealthy and sprawling Roosevelt family of New York, young Franklin and Eleanor met several times during their childhood, and much of the action in this installment of the drama utilizes young actors, including Mackenzie Phillips, who plays Eleanor at the age of 14. Playing the main characters as young adults, Edward Herrmann and Jane Alexander are brilliant in portraying the great American love story, as the privileged yet socially awkward Franklin finds himself completely captivated by the brainy and conscientious Eleanor. The miniseries was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by historian Joseph P. Lash, and interspersed with the human drama are vignettes out of American history, such as cameo appearances by Eleanor's uncle Teddy, whose enormous personality suits his job as president of the United States.

The second and concluding part of the miniseries focuses on Franklin D. Roosevelt's early career and the major role his wife played in overcoming profound difficulties in their marriage. Told mostly in flashback, the film features Edward Herrmann and Jane Alexander, whose performances in the title roles are uncanny. During World War I, the Roosevelts moved to Washington, D.C., where young Franklin, while serving in the Wilson administration, began having an affair with Lucy Mercer, his wife Eleanor's social secretary. Deeply wounded when she discovers his betrayal, Eleanor nonetheless stays with Franklin. And she would be at his side when, during a summer vacation with their five children, he was stricken with polio and paralyzed. Urged to take a more public role during his recuperation in the early 1920s, Eleanor touchingly admits, "I'll never be any good at public speaking." In a scene in which Eleanor drives a roadster down a country road while rehearsing the speech she's on her way to give in rural New York State, Alexander beautifully captures Eleanor's determination to overcome her own shyness and become a champion of progressive politics. Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years won 11 Emmy Awards, and its intelligent screenplay and fine acting have aged very well. It's a great love story as well as a great political story, an engaging drama made all the better by its historical resonance. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Finally!!!
With so much junk produced today on DVD, it is refreshing that this wonderful miniseries was finally put out on DVD. Let me begin by saying that once again Amazon got the description wrong- This is not the concluding part of the miniseries, but the first miniseries from 1976. The description talks about the second half produced in 1977! These types of mistakes can be very misleading to anyone purchasing this DVD. But, beyond that this is one of the great miniseries of the 70's. There were many great and timeless classics made during those years and this has always been at the top of my list. Jane Alexander is the perfect Eleanor and Edward Herrmann playing FDR is only second to Ralph Belamy's portrayal, but also great and very effective. What I really liked about this miniseries is that they didn't gloss over the affair between Lucy Mercer and FDR, but it was handled very honestly. All of the supporting cast makes this a must see!

Hope White House Years is Close Behind
What a pleasure to finally have ELEANOR AND FRANKLIN: The Early Years on DVD. HBO has produced an excellent release by restoring the original color to the film and releasing it in Letterbox (was never seen in this format before). I always enjoyed the film based on the Lash book but was discouraged by TV showings of inferior copies with washed out picture frames and the VHS release not much better. You will not be sorry if you purchase this DVD. The price was reasonable. Don't understand why Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years was not released at the same time. Now I await BACKSTAIRS AT THE WHITE HOUSE on November 1. Hope these DVD's will be as excellent as the Roosevelt DVD's.

Eleanor and Franklin:The White House Years
WHERE OH WHERE is the White House Years on DVD??? I simply am at a loss to understand why the 1977 follow-up is not as yet
on DVD...slightly Coo-Coo!