The Phantom President

{{short description|1932 film}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Phantom President

| image = The phantom president.jpg

| caption =

| director = Norman Taurog

| producer =

| writer = Walter DeLeon
Harlan Thompson
George F. Worts (novel)

| starring = George M. Cohan
Claudette Colbert
Jimmy Durante

| music = Richard Rodgers
Rudolph G. Kopp (uncredited)
John Leipold (uncredited)

| cinematography = David Abel

|editing = LeRoy Stone

| studio = Paramount Pictures

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1932|09|23|}}

| runtime = 78 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English}}

The Phantom President is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy and political satire film. It was directed by Norman Taurog, starred George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert, and Jimmy Durante, with songs by Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics).{{cite web |title=The Phantom President|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/4898-THE-PHANTOM-PRESIDENT?cxt=filmography|website=AFI Catalog of Featured Films |accessdate=November 16, 2020}}

According to Rodgers, Cohan deeply resented having to work with Rodgers and Hart on the film. Cohan was bitter that his type of musical theatre had gone out of fashion, supplanted by the more literate and musically sophisticated shows of Rodgers and Hart, among others. During the filming, Cohan would sarcastically refer to Rodgers and Hart as "Gilbert and Sullivan".

However, in 1937 Cohan starred in I'd Rather Be Right, a musical with songs by Rodgers and Hart. (In the Cohan biopic Yankee Doodle Dandy, the segments dealing with I'd Rather Be Right only mention librettists George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, not Rodgers and Hart.)