How to get into politics: 101 A&C/The Best Man

[mrsl]

The Best Man and Advise and Consent. Back in the early 60's when I was a smarter than thou high school senior we went and saw Advise and Consent and I didn't have the vaguest idea what was going on in it, nor did I care. The only politics I cared about were how cute JFK was. About 10 years later A&C and The Best Man were both on in one evening and I sat and watched, and learned how dumb I had been when I was a H.S. senior. The Best Man should be mandatory for everyone to watch during presidential election years and A&C should be shown whenever a new cabinet member is selected by the Pres. It definitely would have helped some folks during all of those Bush choices that were thankfully eliminated. Perhaps not as dramatic as the movies were, both films exhibit fine examples of what goes on and why it is so important to know the candidates.

Besides that however, nobody plays a mean, nasty, disgusting louse like Charles Laughton. He can be so slimy you want to climb into the film and kick him across the screen. Then he can also be sweet and funny like in Witness for the Prosecution with tongue in cheek, or pitiable when his selfish and thoughtless niece wants his help when he just found out he's dying, and she says she doesn't care because he's old.

A&C is just loaded with big named stars but the best part is seeing Walter Pidgeon and Gene Tierney in a clinch while having an on-going 'back street' affair, although neither is married, but Walter rarely gets to be the lover boy and I loved the scene with them. Hank Fonda is again the strong, immovable rock. I wonder if he got tired of always being so good. Franchot Tone either had a really good make-up man, or he was quite sick while playing the dying Pres. I never liked Hank's wife in The Best Man, but thought both Edie Adams and Cliff Robertson were great as the crooked politician and his 'go for the gold' wife.

Personally, I believe both of these movies should be essentials on TCM not for the political reasons but for the acting which is top level from everybody in both films.

Anne

[klondike]

or pitiable when his selfish and thoughtless niece wants his help when he just found out he's dying, and she says she doesn't care because he's old.

Anne

Is the scene you're referring to from In This Our Life, whose climax features a conceited socialite trying to evade the consequences of running over a child in the street?
If it is, the two performers were Bette Davis & Charles Coburn.

[mrsl]

Thanks Klondike but I knew that and just figured everybody else did. You remind me of that idiot reporter at Obama's last press conference when he spoke for 55 minutes about health care, and 5 minutes about that Senator who was arrested in his own home. The next day and week, the whole media was full of how racist Obama is, and what a facist, socialist, communist, and anything else they could think of. I wrote a two paragraph post about what good movies I watched that day, and the acting talents involved, and you pull out one sentence about Charley and Bette. Post Script: I didn't mean that YOU are an idiot, I strictly meant the reporter.

I love you man. I guess I shouldn't write what I thought of The Grapes of Wrath, except that I thought it was amazing.

Anne

[klondike]

I didn't know it myself, Anne, til I saw that particular Bette Davis movie just last year; and I imagine there are at least a few folks enjoying this site who haven't been lucky enough to see it yet.
Everybody makes factual errors when they post, here and there, sooner or later - the Gods know I make plenty of 'em.
And when I am in error, I fully expect somebody who knows better to post right in & correct my statement, for everybody's edification, respectfully & politely . . like I did in this thread.
I did read your entire opening post Anne, and found it pleasant & thought-provoking; I just had nothing at that time to add, or comment on, except to help clarify one of your Laughton references.
And don't worry, when I attend press conferences, I keep my remarks strictly topical & relevent.

[mrsl]

Klondike: Again I owe you an abject apology for misunderstanding you. I DID know the name of the movie and the scene has been discussed so often, I thought it was a familiar to everyone by now, but I keep forgetting the younger members.

I have tried for two days to contact you, because once again my password was screwed up. I was sure I wrote the correct one down in my notes, but once again I probably muffed it. BTW your 'mighty sled dog' did not work, have you changed your address? Since I couldn't get on here and use the P/M I had to use the regular e-mail.

Anne

[ken123]

Advise & Consent is actually is retelling of the Alger Hiss - Whittaker Chambers Hearings before HUAC in 1948 which brought Richard Nixon to the forefront of the American Political Scene.