Gabriel Over the White House
| Gabriel Over the White House | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gregory La Cava |
| Screenplay by | Carey Wilson Bertram Bloch |
| Based on | Gabriel over the White House: A Novel of the Presidency 1933 novel by T.F. Tweed |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger William Randolph Hearst |
| Starring | Walter Huston Karen Morley Franchot Tone |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
| Edited by | Basil Wrangell |
| Music by | William Axt |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $232,400 |
Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American pre-Code political fantasy film starring Walter Huston as a genial but politically corrupt U.S. President who has a near-fatal automobile accident and comes under divine influence—specifically the archangel Gabriel and the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. Eventually he takes control of the government, solves the problems of the nation, from unemployment to racketeering, and arranges for worldwide peace, before dying of a heart attack.
The film received the financial backing and creative input of businessman William Randolph Hearst. It was directed by Gregory La Cava, produced by Walter Wanger and written by Carey Wilson based upon the novel Rinehard: A Melodrama of the Nineteen-Thirties (1933) by Thomas Frederic Tweed. Tweed did not receive screen credit (the film's opening credits say "based on the anonymous novel, Gabriel Over the White House") but he was credited in the copyright information. The supporting cast features Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, C. Henry Gordon, and David Landau.