moogie777 Review of Gabriel Over the White House

Gabriel Over the White House (1933)

Absolutely Amazing How History Repeats Itself

[7/10 · 14 December 2008]

I happened to watch this movie during the height of the debates about "bailouts" for the banks and car companies. People in the movie used exactly the same arguments as people today; I think the President even used the word "bailout" for the working people! I know that this movie was made at the height of the Great Depression, when there were numerous debates about what should be done to stimulate the economy. The difference between then and now is that in the movie the President basically shut down Congress and declared marshal law....and Congress went right along with it. The President became a benign dictator, which apparently the angle Gabriel had told him to do. I was just floored, watching this guy who looked so Presidential, it was very realistic in my opinion. Could we ever be convinced to give up our rights for the greater good? Well, we forget that Lincoln suspended Constitutional rights during the Civil War; but I'm not convinced that today's American would ever allow such a thing. Nope, not convinced at all. Extremely interesting movie.