I know it was 1930 and the Academy Awards were a new creature, but this is really a weak film. It glorifies a man who claimed to be on the side of the oppressed, but selfishly deserts his family time after time. He spends his time posing and making speeches and swaying people. The positives are that he is on the side of the Osage Indians and feels they have been disenfranchised. His wife is a racist who takes a lot of years to come to an understanding. She rises in the political ranks. There is no reason for him not to do whatever it is he is doing and keep in contact with his family. The film is stunted. The acting is stiff and emotional. Even for its time is doesn't wash. Apparently, because of the beginning of the Great Depression, moviegoers liked this. I try ton to judge old films because they are old. I am a great fan of the silent era. But this one is just never gets off the ground.
