Backstairs at the White House
January 2006 Reviewed by: John Crossett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

These days, folks wishing to uncover behind-the-scenes information on just about anyone are only a mouse click away from acquiring it. But before the Internet, that wasn’t the case. Finding out what went on in past White Houses, for example, hasn’t been quite so easy. To satiate our all-consuming curiosity regarding such matters, executive producer Ed Friendly adapted the book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House, by Lillian Rogers Park and Maggie Rogers, into a mini-series docudrama for NBC television. Covering the administrations of Presidents William Howard Taft through Dwight D. Eisenhower, this newly released DVD by Acorn Media is a 7.5-hour, four-disc set now available for continued viewing by us all. However, some questions present themselves: how accurate is this history, and how interesting will viewers find it?

As for the first question, keep in mind that this is eyewitness testimony. The Rogers, mother and daughter, were servants in the White House for almost 60 years. Although they lived and worked close to the seat of power, they give little attention to outside events. They are recounting instead what the first families were like and what their reactions to those momentous times were.

To answer the second question, I think you will find the series very interesting. Why? The casting of the presidents sheds new light on the men who ran this country from WW I through the Korean War. The strength of this film is the cast. For instance, watch Victor Buono as William Howard Taft, Robert Vaughn as Woodrow Wilson, George Kennedy as Warren Harding, Ed Flanders as Calvin Coolidge, Larry Gates as Herbert Hoover, John Anderson as F.D.R., Harry Morgan as Harry Truman, and Andrew Duggan as Dwight Eisenhower. The focus of the series is on the personalities not only of these Presidents but on their families and staffs as well.

Technically, this is typical TV fare. It will never be demo material, but neither is it terrible. Sonically, it’s mono, but it’s rendered clearly. You won’t miss anything due to dropouts. As far as extras go, don’t look for much beyond an enclosed booklet, which is very well done, and filmographies of the stars.

Still, as quality entertainment, Backstairs at the White House is good, clean, fact-filled fun. It will make an excellent addition to your family film library and will open your eyes to some of our nation’s hidden history.

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