David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam,” initially billed as the story of three friends who found themselves “at the center of one of the most shocking secret plots in American history” presents itself as being based on a true story. But the film, in theaters now, adheres little to reality. It veers so far from the historic record, in fact, that Jonathan M. Katz, the journalist whose book “Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire” tells the story behind “Amsterdam,” estimates the film is only “10%” accurate.
Written and directed by Russell, “Amsterdam,” set in 1933, follows two World War I veterans, Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale), a doctor, and Harold Woodsman (John David Washington), a lawyer. The pair are approached by Elizabeth Meekins (Taylor Swift), the daughter of their former regiment commander, to complete an autopsy of his body after his suspicious death. Soon, they are suspects in Elizabeth’s murder after she’s pushed in front of a car, and go on the run to discover who was after her father. They reconnect with their old friend Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie) and somehow become entangled in a plot against the U.S. government. The period drama is largely fiction, although some elements were inspired by history.
Here’s what’s true and what’s fiction in “Amsterdam.”
The primary historical event on which “Amsterdam” centers on is the so-called Business Plot, an alleged political conspiracy from 1933. News of the plot arose when retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler claimed that a group of wealthy businessmen had approached him with a plan to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The following year, Butler testified in front of the the House Committee on Un-American Activities, claiming the group was planning the coup. The committee’s final report asserted, “There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.”
In “Amsterdam,” that plot emerges midway through the film, although not all of it is portrayed with accuracy. Robert De Niro’s character, Gil Dillenbeck, is based on Butler and his role in the Business Plot. In fact, the two newsreels featuring Dillenbeck in the film are re-created from actual newsreels. A representative from the group who wanted to overthrow FDR did show up at Butler’s house with money to attempt to convince him to participate, as is shown in the film.
“There was a Business Plot, or Butler did allege a Business Plot,” Katz confirms. “And there is good reason to think that something was in the works. We don’t know how many people were involved. We don’t know if all the people who Butler ended up implicating were involved. Weirdly, the most accurate part of the movie was that there was a guy named Gerald C. MacGuire. They changed everybody’s name, except MacGuire’s, although they spelled it ‘Maguire.’ Gerald C. MacGuire did go to Butler’s house …. He wanted Butler to go to the American Legion convention and give a speech, that they would write, denouncing FDR for taking the dollar off the gold standard. All the matters really is that Butler said, ‘Get lost.’”