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Teddy the Rough Rider

This short follows the political career of Theodore Roosevelt, beginning in 1895, when he was appointed police commissioner of New York City. In 1897 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy. His charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898 is re-created. He becomes vice president in March 1901 and assumes the presidency when William McKinley is assassinated six months later. According to the narrator, Roosevelt refused to be beholden to political bosses, doing what he believed to be right for the American people.

Top Cast

  • Sidney Blackmer

    Sidney Blackmer

    Theodore Roosevelt

  • Douglas Wood

    Douglas Wood

    President William McKinley

  • Selmer Jackson

    Selmer Jackson

    John W. Riggs

  • Theodore von Eltz

    Theodore von Eltz

    William Loeb

  • Arthur Loft

    Arthur Loft

    Big Jim Rafferty

  • John Ridgely

    John Ridgely

    Reporter

  • Glenn Strange

    Glenn Strange

    Jim Rawlins

  • Robert Warwick

    Robert Warwick

    Capt. Leonard Wood

  • Frank Wilcox

    Frank Wilcox

    Roosevelt's Secretary

Overview

This short follows the political career of Theodore Roosevelt, beginning in 1895, when he was appointed police commissioner of New York City. In 1897 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy. His charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898 is re-created. He becomes vice president in March 1901 and assumes the presidency when William McKinley is assassinated six months later. According to the narrator, Roosevelt refused to be beholden to political bosses, doing what he believed to be right for the American people.

Rating

6.8 / 10
12 Reviews
0 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 Jul 10, 2025

    Sidney Blackmer certainly couldn’t be accused of being half-hearted with his downright ebullient portrayal of American politician Teddy Roosevelt. Beginning with his determination to rid the police department of it’s corruption through to his visionary anticipation of the Spanish-American War before his election as Governor of New York. In all of those positions he managed to irritate just about every vested interest, so they decided to put him up for McKinley’s Vice-President where they assumed he could do no great harm. Unfortunately, a gunman managed to see he was unexpectedly elevated to the top job and there he remained until succeeded by Taft. All of that is crammed into a twenty minutes that really doesn’t do much justice to his achievements and relies far too much of the exuberance of his performance and of a series of soundbite-style clips of his famous and vibrantly flag-waving speechifying. It might encourage more exploration of the career of this formidable man, but as a stand alone drama it’s far too rushed and superficial.

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