The Man at the Door: Lee Daniels' The Butler ~ Emerald Quill

Jul 26, 2013

The Man at the Door: Lee Daniels' The Butler

7/26/2013 Celestine Green No comments

"Lee Daniels' The Butler" tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and his family.

Academy Award nominated Lee Daniels ("Precious") directs and co-wrote the script. He produced Monster's Ball and directed the film Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards.

Emmy award winning Danny Strong ("Game Change") wrote the screenplay, based on a Washington Post article about White House butler Eugene Allen. (The film's fictional butler is called Cecil Gaines.)

Eugene Allen started at the White House in 1952 in a job known as a "pantry man." He washed dishes, stocked cabinets and shined silverware. He started at $2,400 a year. Gene Allen was promoted to maitre d' in 1980. He left the White House in 1986, after 34 years. He died on March 31, 2010 of renal failure at the age of 90.

The historical drama features an ensemble cast. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker stars as the butler with Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan. Oscar winner Oprah Winfrey stars as Whitaker’s wife. The stellar cast has garnered eighteen Academy Award nominations among them.

While film producer Harvey Weinstein is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films, he and brother Bob have been co-charimen of The Weinstein Company (TWC) their film production company since since 2005. The bitter feud ensued between The Weinstein Company and Warner Brothers over the film's title. Jeff Labrecque, Entertainment Weekly, explained the kerfuffle around the film’s title:

"Warner Bros. had exercised its rights to protect the title, The Butler, which is also a 1916 silent short film that resides in the studio’s archive, via the MPAA’s Title Registration Bureau. The initial July 2 ruling sided with Warner Bros., and penalized TWC (The Weinstein Company) $25,000 for every day it continued to promote the film, due Aug. 16, as The Butler. At the time, Harvey Weinstein and TWC’s attorney David Boies protested the ruling, publicly and legally, claiming that there could be no audience confusion between their movie and the 1916 silent movie, and accused Warner Bros. of using the issue as part of a grander negotiation tactic."

"The MPAA appeals ruling precludes TWC from calling its movie The Butler — forcing them to correct promotional advertising such as posters and trailers, but allowed for alternative titles that include the word “butler,” such as Lee Daniels’ The Butler. In additional, TWC owes $400,000 in fines to the Entertainment Industry Foundation charity as penalty for its ongoing “willful violation of the TRB Rules” — plus another $25,000 to $50,000 for each addition calendar day they refuse to comply."

Silverlady

Lee Daniels' The Butler has a scheduled release date of August 16, 2013. While the lead character is a strong black man destined to keep his thoughts, fears and feelings under wraps while working at the White House, the historic events that affect his life and that of the entire country make a poignant backdrop that in its self is powerful. Some who had the good fortune to view the film in early screenings seem negative about the lack of resemblance of the stars portraying the various presidents. It was a distraction to some viewers. However, it seems that the film is historically accurate and politically astute to the changes from year to year.

See you in the audience where we can judge for ourselves. I'll be waiting for your comments.