MUCH information in Richard Nelson’s screenplay for Roger Michell’s film came from the correspondence between President Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his sixth cousin Margaret, aka Daisy (Laura Linney), and her diaries discovered in a suitcase under her bed after her 1991 death in her 100th year.

In 1939, the media coverage of the Royal visit was nothing like today’s circus. Coverage of the first visit to the US of a reigning British monarch plays little role in this absorbing, quirky, film. Its three main themes are the visit to the Roosevelt summer residence of George VI (Sam West) and Elizabeth (Olivia Colman), the affair between FDR and Daisy and the development of friendship between two men afflicted with disabilities since childhood – FDR with polio and the king whose stutter had blighted his life (as “The King’s Speech” so eloquently explained).

The film’s warm-hearted first half charts the development of the relationship between FRD and Daisy who was, apparently, only one of his three lovers. Another, Marguerite, aka Missy, (Elizabeth Marvel) served as his secretary for 21 years. And how did Eleanor (Olivia Williams) deal with such infidelity? She lived in a separate house with her women friends.

The latter part concentrates on the initial awkwardness between the folksy Roosevelt household and the royal visitors. The early-morning drawing room conversation between the wily old politician and the king who never wanted the job is heartwarming. And it’s generally considered to have been influential in forging Anglo/US unity in World War II.

At Dendy, Palace and Capitol 6