Polly was president first

When "Commander in Chief" premiered last fall, much was made of the fact that it was about the first woman president of the United States.

But for one cast member, that concept was old hat. Polly Bergen, who plays the president's mother on "Chief," played the first female president of the United States more than 40 years ago. Bergen starred as President Leslie McCloud in the 1964 movie "Kisses for My President."

Not everyone was aware of that, but Geena Davis — who plays Bergen's daughter, President Mackenzie Allen — brought it up the first time Bergen drove onto the lot where "Chief" was filmed.

"She said, 'I just found out you were the first (woman) president. I'm going to rent the film.' I said, 'It's in black and white and it's silent, but you can get it,' " Bergen joked.

Bergen said she saw similarities between the president she played and the president Davis played.

"I think, actually, the character of the president herself really has not changed. I mean, she was thought of as a very strong and viable person in those days," she said.

One big difference was that, unlike President Allen, President McCloud didn't succeed to the office upon the death of her predecessor. "She was actually elected president. So they were so far into fantasy, they actually elected her," Bergen said.

Not that "Kisses" is a drama. It's lighthearted goofiness, centering on the tough time the president's husband (Fred MacMurray) has adjusting to his role as first gentleman.

"But 40 years have passed now since I did that film, and when I consider all of the foreign countries . . . who have had women running them, leading them, making decisions, life and death, etc., etc., and I look at Geena and I look at the job that she does today — it's what I would have hoped I did then," Bergen said. "What I hope, however, is that what I thought might happen then and didn't, will actually happen now, that people will actually see a woman in that position, realize that we bring an element of humanity and still have the strength to do that which no man could do, which is, actually have a baby."

THE ONCE-PROMISING, now canceled "Commander in Chief" airs its final episode tonight (8 p.m., Ch. 4). Some blame the network for mishandling the show by keeping it off the air for months.

Nobody enjoys bashing network programmers more than I do. But the fault here lies with the show, not the network. The production staff under creator/executive producer Rod Lurie couldn't deliver episodes on time, which led to a revolving door of producers and writers, the show lost focus, lost steam, lost viewers and lost out.

Making TV shows isn't as easy as it looks.

---

E-mail: pierce@desnews.com