The Presidency Through a Cinematic Lens
Historical judgments are best made from the safe distance of many centuries. With that caveat, it is reasonably safe to say that no one has done more to reshape the modern presidency than Donald Trump. While we can only imagine how his impact will be portrayed on film in the future, we can look back at how the office has been depicted over time.
Frank Capra's 1948 film, State of the Union, featuring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Angela Lansbury, remains relevant today as it delves into how idealism is often influenced and exploited by those with a vested interest in political outcomes. Similar to Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and Meet John Doe (1941), the character Mathew Grant, portrayed by Spencer Tracy, grapples with the conflict between his idealism and the practicalities of modern politics.
Thursday, May 21st
All the King's Men
In 1949, Columbia Studios released All The King’s Men, written, produced, and directed by Robert Rossen. The movie was based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel of the same name, which focused on the political career of Huey Long, who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination in 1935.
All the King's Men follows the trajectory of Willie Stark, the protagonist, from an idealistic country lawyer to a populist demagogue whose supporters are willing to resort to violence to thwart his impeachment. The film and the book have garnered increasing attention since the events of January 6, 2021, when a populist mob attacked the nation's capital. This has prompted many to ask how a demagogue can influence citizens to flout the most fundamental norms of a democratic society.
How to Watch
Reviews
Paul Batters, May, 2018
Will Neill, February, 2021
John Lusk Babbott, November, 2016
May 28th
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate, based on the 1959 novel by Richard Condon and directed by John Frankenheimer, was released in 1962, starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, and Angela Lansbury.
The movie’s title quickly entered the political lexicon, reflecting the fear and frenzy of the McCarthy Era and Cold War preoccupation with Communist subterfuge. As recently as the Obama and Trump administrations, its specter has risen with accusations of foreign influence in presidential elections.
“The Manchurian Candidate feels astonishingly contemporary; its astringent political satire still bites, and its story has uncanny contemporary echoes. The villains plan to exploit a terrorist act, ‘rallying a nation of viewers to hysteria, to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy.’” Roger Ebert
June 4th
The Best Man
The Best Man, released in 1964 and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner with a screenplay by Gore Vidal, is based on Vidal’s 1960 play of the same name. The movie portrays two flawed presidential candidates: one liberal, William Russell, played by Henry Fonda, and one conservative, Senator Joe Cantwell, played by Cliff Robertson, neither of whom can stand the other. Cantwell attempts to sabotage Russell’s campaign, threatening to release embarrassing details from Russell’s personal life. Russell can retaliate with equally devastating information he has on Cantwell. In the end, the best man steps back from the brink, preserving his personal integrity but in a devastating way for his rival.
It is very easy to view a film like The Best Man as quaint, but the reality is that politics and, perhaps more importantly, politicians, seldom change when it comes to mudslinging and competitiveness.
Jacob deBlecourt, "Anthology of Awful: Political Nostalgia in Film"