Portrait of a Badlands Dandy

I have just recently set aside a little time to have a look at Ken Burns's latest effort: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Visually, it's exactly what I expected - period film clips conjoined with vintage photographs presented in Burnsian fashion (pan right...pan left...cue Ashokon Farewell, et cetera). Though I find it hard to imagine that Burns will ever duplicate his epic 1990 nine-part documentary masterpiece, The Civil War in either innovation or public acclamation, The Roosevelts is nevertheless worthy of recognition. I particularly appreciated the film's take on the remarkable transformation of a young Theodore Roosevelt from ninety-eight pound asthmatic to robust outdoorsy American icon - the blue-blooded sheltered wimp to Bull Moose narrative. The juxtaposition of New York patrician and rugged Dakota Badlandian is especially absorbing...right down to the custom tailored hinterland garb and Tiffany silver-plated Bowie knife. I suppose in one sense, you can take the boy out of the posh but not the posh out of the boy. But what's most intriguing is that frontier fopism notwithstanding, TR had the goods to tough it out with the best of them...earning the respect of the Badlands rough and tumble. And Burns does a lovely job telling that story. Bully! With compliments,

Keith