# What movie was this? (Very tough!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495 "2008-09-20T23:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495/1 "2008-09-20T23:41:11Z")
This is going a challenge because of the scant info I have for you. Sorry. The past 2 weeks I’ve been out of town on some business living out of a hotel. I went to bed with the TV on one night. There was an old (black and white) movie on. It was about the President of the USA during the depression and prohibition. One scene had the President talking to congress asking for absolute power during the tough economic times. Congressmen accused him of wanting a dictatorship, but eventually relented. There was also a scene where the Prez meets with the country’s’ biggest bootlegger/gangster in the oval office. These scenes took place over a time of about 10-15 minutes. Then I fell asleep.☹ The wee bit I saw made it seem like an interesting flick. I’d like to see it all. Sorry, but that is all I can tell you about it. I didn’t recognize any actors either. Any help is greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495/2 "2008-09-20T23:57:00Z")
Was it only _set_ during the Depression or was it _made_ during the Depression? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495/3 "2008-09-21T00:04:19Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is going a challenge because of the scant info I have for you. Sorry. > > The past 2 weeks I’ve been out of town on some business living out of a hotel. > I went to bed with the TV on one night. There was an old (black and white) movie on. It was about the President of the USA during the depression and prohibition. > > One scene had the President talking to congress asking for absolute power during the tough economic times. Congressmen accused him of wanting a dictatorship, but eventually relented. There was also a scene where the Prez meets with the country’s’ biggest bootlegger/gangster in the oval office. These scenes took place over a time of about 10-15 minutes. > > Then I fell asleep.☹ > > The wee bit I saw made it seem like an interesting flick. I’d like to see it all. > > Sorry, but that is all I can tell you about it. I didn’t recognize any actors either. > > Any help is greatly appreciated. This sounds like “Gabriel over the White House” [Gabriel Over the White House - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Over_the_White_House) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495/4 "2008-09-21T00:08:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Was it only _set_ during the Depression or was it _made_ during the Depression? No idea. It was in B&W and appeared to be old (poor-fair quality film). I don’t know if the part I saw was the beginning, middle, or end. I saw no credits, etc.. I only saw about 10-15 minutes of it. But what I saw seemed interesting. I have no expectation of anyone being able to answer this. But what the hell, right? Let’s give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-was-this-very-tough/464495/5 "2008-09-21T00:15:13Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > This sounds like “Gabriel over the White House” [Gabriel Over the White House - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Over_the_White_House) THAT’S IT!!! Thanks so much!🙂 And thank you, **Diogenes,** too. Now I need to keep an eye for this film to play again, or if I can find a copy of it on tape/DVD.