Stream Classic American Political Films – Fiction
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.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Based on the unpublished story “The Gentleman From Montana” by Lewis R. Foster, loosely based on the life of Montana U.S. Senator Burton Wheeler who had a similar experience investigating the Harding administration. Directed by Frank Capra. When a recently deceased senator has to be replaced, Governor Hubert “Happy” Hopper (Guy Kibbee) flips a coin and ends up with Jefferson Smith, head of The Boy Rangers. Assumption is that the naïve young man will be easily manipulated. Instead, the party finds itself saddled with a staunch idealist.
Smith is shepherded through his appointment by his secretly crooked, late father’s friend Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains) and Paine’s cynical, dismissive secretary Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur). To keep him busy/distracted, they suggest the young man organize a bill which he doesn’t realize is part of a larger graft scheme. When he comes too close to the truth, the state political machine smears Smith. The film’s centerpiece is a lengthy filibuster. A satisfying if not realistic ending. Raise that flag high.
This one made a star of Jimmy Stewart and placed him in public affection as our preferred “everyman.” (Tom Hanks has assumed the mantle.) Capra said of Stewart: “I knew he would make a hell of a Mr. Smith … He looked like the country kid, the idealist.” Initially the Hays Office (which set industry moral guidelines) objected to the unflattering portrait of the government – it eventually came around. (They look like pikers now.) Rent on Amazon Prime.
State of the Union 1948 Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Russell Crouse and Howard Lindsay. Directed by Frank Capra. Idealistic aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is maneuvered into running for president by his lover, Republican newspaper magnate Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) who plans to be the power behind the throne. Assuming ambition and applause will change his mind, strategist Jim Conover (Adolph Menjou), and campaign manager Spike McManus (Van Johnson), convince him to go on a speaking tour.
Grant’s ex-wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) agrees to participate in the campaign. She’s aware of her husband’s relationship with Thorndyke but not of his mistress’s Machiavellian plotting. This is a flat-out battle between a man of the people and forces that insidiously corrupt. Well written, directed, and acted. Hepburn stepped in for Claudette Colbert at the last minute. During production, Menjou testified as a friendly witness before the HUAC. On set, Hepburn was “cordial” when they had scenes together but otherwise cut him dead. Free with TCM.com, rent on Xfinity.
