I don't like to overthink a film like
Keeper Of The Flame
. Hearst or Lindbergh as the models for Forrest? I couldn't care less. It's a stunning, Gothic take on a difficult time in American and world history. Not a snapshot, either; a full length motion picture. It seems inspired by
Citizen Kane
, but the Orson Welles picture was more modernistic technically, and yet I find Cukor's film darker and more beautiful to look at.
Kane
, being RKO, feels more daring and original, however
Flame
has an epic sweep all its own, even as it story is more conventionally told. They both look grand to me, and I love them both almost equally. Younger viewers may be put off by the black and white photography of both these pictures. This doesn't bother me in the least. They're both old school studio era Hollywood at its best.

I can't help but feel that there are elements of the so-called Business Plot to the film. The Business Plot is a fascinating and often overlooked episode from early on in FDR's presidency when respected retired Marine Corp General Smedley Butler was approached by a representative of a number of Wall Street bankers. The plan was for Butler to put together and lead a group of ex-soldiers ala the Nazi storm-troopers to seize power and place FDR as a figure head of an American fascist regime. Butler exposed the plot and it created quite a stir in its day but outside of a few books (such as the late Jules Archer's The Plot To Seize The White House) has been forgotten about today.
My gut feeling is that Forest is a "what if?" for Butler had he chosen to go along with the plot instead of exposing it to Congress and the American public. I think there's shades of Charles Lindbergh as well who has already been mentioned but the Business Plot seems like a huge influence on the film.
timdalton007

No. Like many, Lindbergh had admired Germany's recovery from World War I and the Depression. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans Lindbergh wanted to stay out of the European war. Once we were at war, Lindberg was unconditionally anti-Germany. Of Germany's Final Solution he said, "It seemed impossible that men - civilized men - could degenerate to such a level."
Lindbergh was not political. In fact, his lack of political sensibility got him into trouble. But in character Lindbergh was in no way, shape or form like Robert Forrest.
So, who was Forrest? Every movie story has a "What if." What if there were an American Hitler in every way, except that the American version was hidden, a fifth columnist? The screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart was on an anti-fascist tear during the war. Maybe Stewart drew from Hearst the tycoon and Lindbergh the hero for personality, but for character I think he drew from Hitler.

This message has been deleted.

The film spoke about Forrest being the leader of a large political group, that would fit in with Lindbergh and "America First".

It's been suggested that it was either Lindbergh or, perhaps more likely, William Randolph Hearst.

Lindbergh makes sense as he was a hero who had strong fascist sympathies. LaFollette does not make sense as he was strongly democratic in his politics and while some Progressive ideas were screwy they were strongly pro-democracy.

I think Lindbergh is the best guess when it comes to when the book and film came out. For some reason reviews are found pointing to Robert LaFollette Jr. It seems to me this is very unfair to LaFollette.

Yes the Forrest character is said to have been inspired by Lindbergh, with the biographical details changed enough to avoid a lawsuit.