ONCE AGAIN WE are indebted to Turner Classic Movies for bringing us together with movie shorts which are not comedies (farce usually) and introducing many to the "educational" or "historic" types. Although confined to the sum of two reels of celluloid, these pictures do serve at least to a sort of primer on a given area of study. Their exhibition invites the viewer to do some further research of his own at rge local public library.
AS FOR THE production itself, TEDDY THE ROUGH RIDER turns in a remarkably Grade "A" look from stem to stern. This was no doubt at least due in part to the resourcefulness of the Warner Brothers'/Vitaphone's extensive experiences at using and reusing just about every sort of action, adventure and dramatic scene and out take available. Hence, you may see many shots here that were taken from the likes of DODGE CITY (Warner Brothers, 1939).
AS FOR THE treatment of History in this Historical Mini-Biography, t is, of necessity condensed, compressed and somewhat freely embellished. We learn that Roosevelt was rapidly promoted up the political ladder from NYC Police Commissioner, New York State Assemblyman, NY Governor and then to the Office of VP under William McKinley -all basically for being a thorn in the side of the Political Machine.
BUT IN THE END, Teddy fooled them, succeeding McKinley as President upon the assassination of the latter on September 14, 1901. This was the ultimate culmination in a most diverse and obstacle laden life, even for a "spoiled" rich kid.
TEDDY HAD STARTED his life as an asthmatic plagued, skinny, little kid. He spent a good deal of his youthful time in making himself bigger, stronger and much more masculine and robust individual. He could have been called the original "97 pound weakling", even before the days of the Charles Atlas ads.
THIS NEED AND drive to both prove and improve his masculine self continued right up to his organizing the famous U.S. Army Rough Riders of the Spanish- American War.
WHICH NEATLY BRINGS us back to the title of this film.