Stream American Political Films (“Fiction”) I

All the King’s Men 1949 Based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. Directed by Robert Rossen. The noir rise and fall of ruthless politician Willie Stark who strongly resembles Louisiana Governor Huey Long. From a rural county seat, Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) rails against corrupt government, then loses a run because of the well-oiled machine he’s called out. He becomes a lawyer, continues to advocate for the middle class and deprived, and gains popularity. A second attempt at the governorship secures the win.

Along the way, the protagonist completely loses his moral compass. Signs of self-awareness don’t appear until his depressive drunk son crashes a car killing its passenger, then becomes paralyzed after a football game he’s pushed into by Stark. The governor is loved, protected and finally, accused. There are murders and suicides. Best Picture, Actor and Editor Academy Awards. The role of Stark was offered to John Wayne who turned it down as being unpatriotic. Powerful. Rent on Amazon Prime.

The Last Hurrah 1958 Adapted from the novel by Edwin O’Connor. Directed by John Ford. Irish American Mayor Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy) is getting ready to run for a fifth term. Effective at his job, there are also widespread rumors of political graft. A rising force against him led by Protestant Bishop Gardner (Basil Ruysdael), newspaper publisher Amos Force (John Carradine), and banker Norman Cass (Basil Rathbone) includes some Irish Catholics. Skeffington is not worried.

He invites his nephew, sportswriter Adam Caulfield (Jeffrey Hunter) to observe his last election, his “last hurrah”, to document the hands-on method before radio and television fully change everything. Adam gets an eyeful. The terrific depiction of an old-school/man-of-the-people politician- sympathetic, charming but not above trickery. Like the novel, the film was based in part on the career of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley who opposed the production not for its content, but in hopes Hollywood would make a film about his life.  Rent on Amazon Prime.

The Manchurian Candidate 1962 Based on the novel by Richard Condon. Directed by John Frankenheimer. During the Korean War in 1950, a U.S. Army platoon is captured by the Chinese. Three days later, Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) and Captain Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) are returned to UN Lines. Two soldiers remain missing. Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor, then exploited by his mother Mrs. Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury) to further husband Senator John Yerkes Iselin’s (James Gregory) political career.

Marco has horrible nightmares in which he watches Shaw murder the missing soldiers as demonstration of brainwashing. He dismisses it until another member of his outfit shares he’s having the same dream. Army Intelligence agrees to investigate. Senator Yerkes is nominated to the Vice Presidency. Shaw has broken with his parents, but the veteran is, in fact, conditioned. Not until Marco manages to deprogram him, does Shaw discover he’s murdered his fiancé and her father. An even more serious directive has been implanted.

In the hotel scene where Marco attempts to deprogram Shaw, Sinatra is sometimes slightly out of focus. Subsequent retakes were not as good so Frankenheimer used the original. Critics subsequently praised him for showing Marco from Shaw’s distorted point of view. Prescient. Rent on Amazon Prime.

The Manchurian Candidate 2016 Directed by Jonathan Demme. A compelling, updated remake too close to home. Rent on Amazon Prime.

The Best Man 1964 Based on the play by Gore Vidal. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Backroom intrigues that culminate in a presidential nomination. Former Secretary of State William Russell (Henry Fonda) – principled but sexually indiscreet – and Senator Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), a cold-blooded opportunist who’d do anything to secure the nomination, are the two leading candidates for an unnamed party. Both cozy up to dying former President Art Hockstader (Spencer Tracy – based on Harry S. Truman) who thinks neither deserve the post.

Aides, wives (Edie Adams and Margaret Leighton), blackmail and blunder keep it a tight race up to the last minute. Dramatic and well acted. No longer as shocking as it might’ve been when written. With a fine roster of secondary players. Stream on YouTube.

The Candidate 1972 Directed by Michael Richie. At the encouragement of political election specialist Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle), lifelong Democrat Bill McKay (Robert Redford), handsome, charismatic son of former California Governor John J. McKay (Melvin Douglas), agrees to run an unwinnable race. Since incumbent Republican Senator Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter) is a shoe-in, Bill can say anything he wants, raise any issues he feels sorely neglected/unaddressed.

When it’s discovered that margin of defeat will be overwhelming instead of credible, the ersatz candidate is asked to take a more moderate line securing a few more voters. Opinion polls adjust. During a debate, Bill goes off book with some of his own liberal concerns. McKay Sr. comes out in his favor. A powerful labor union meets offering further endorsement. And the unthinkable happens. I can’t help hearing “The Bum Won” (“…God forbid independent…”) from Fiorello. As the nascent Senator asks, “Now what?!”

The screenplay is by Jeremy Larner, a speechwriter for Senator Eugene McCarthy during McCarthy’s campaign for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. The character of McKay is based on U.S. Senator John B. Tunney for whom the director worked on the 1970 Senate election. Credible satire. Rent on Amazon Prime.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 can be found in Stream Selected Films of Jimmy Stewart

State of the Union 1948 can be found in Stream Selected Films of Spencer Tracy

Top photo: Bigstock

About Alix Cohen (1707 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.