MovieChat Forums > Kennedy (1983) Discussion > Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon Johnson

posted 18 years ago by vaccum
6 replies | jump to latest

Did any body else think the lyndon johnson in this could not act? I think he could make a funny portrayal of him on saturday night live but as far as a dramatic account of the kennedy administration, its terrible.

But i loved the movie otherwise martin sheen did a great job playing JFK and Blair Brown was a fantastic Jackie . She showed true emotion during the Assanition scene.

But that Lyndon Johnson impersonator was the only bad part he was like a chariturture of him, I understand that biographical movie chariters and the real ones almost never look and act the same , but i think they hired a clown to play LBJ.

Does anybody else see what im talking about?

[–] fivefids 18 years ago

It seems the Kennedy movies do portray Lyndon Johnson in a "good old boy" context. I do not remember him being at all like the portrayal in this movie. I too felt it did not do Johnson justice and in fact my first thought was "caricature" when I saw this portrayal. I'm not a partisan but I do believe Johnson deserved better than what he got in this movie. The J. Edgar Hoover character too was not an acurate portrayal, but it was a great job by Vincent Gardenia and it really added to the movie.

[–] crockett3663 17 years ago

Johnson pretty much was a clown anyway. He was legendary in Washington, but he was extremely old school and couldn't relate to the tumultuous times of the 1960's. So, accordingly, Johnson's portrayer had him figured pretty well.

[–] crockett3663 17 years ago

The actor portraying LBJ did not look like him at all. Also, I thought he was played somewhat buffoonish as well. If you watch "The Right Stuff", the actor who played LBJ in that movie looks much more like him, although in that movie too, Johnson is made out to be an over the top, out of touch political figure as well. After seeing LBJ played that way in two movies, I'd have to guess that that's the way he actually was. I find it hard to believe that two movies would portray the man almost identically if both accounts were wrong. Certainly one of them would have gotten him "right", and that's why I think they both did.

[–] fivefids 16 years ago

I disagree but I understand where you're coming from. If you've ever seen the American Experience, which uses actual footage and people who knew him (friend and foe), or A&E's Biography which did the same, you get a very different impression of the man. Hollywood often plays on the sterotypes they build.
I'm not taking sides or speaking from a politcal standpoint, only historical.

[–] DrR440 16 years ago

Well, he didn't have very much screen time, but the real LBJ had a rather over-the-top personality, perhaps not unlike his homestate. But I didn't think his portrayal was either clownlike or a caricature.

[–] dfwenigma 15 years ago

I think it's difficult to find someone who does not make Johnson seem like a caricature of himself. I met John Connally, the Governor of Texas who was in the motorcade when Kennedy was shot. The two men had very similar accents. I've listened to Johnson on recordings which are available from the Johnson Library and Johnson had several sides to himself. His Hill country accent gets thicker when he's trying to make a point and gets exasperated. On the other hand when he wants to appear authoritative he takes on this speech pattern that attempts to rival the Kennedy's whom he despised. Yet when he speaks with his mentor on tapes released - Everett Dirksen - he sounds authoritative yet paternal (Dirksen) and so Johnson responds in kind. Johnson's accent is part of his personality and does indeed change to meet the audience. Johnson was actually very adept at adapting for the audience. He learned at the arms of master's in the United States Congress and used his Texas nature to intimidate, cajole and extol whatever virtues were best for him. Lyndon Johnson was a force of nature to be reckoned with - he was his mother's son in nearly every respect. I think his accent and the way he turned a phrase had as much to do with the mythos he created as anything else. But like many things in his nature I'm not sure many new Lyndon Johnson well. I don't even think Lady Bird knew him well. I don't think he wanted to give up the control.