The Great McGinty
Written and Directed by Preston Sturges
1940/USA
Paramount Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Skeeters: If it wasn’t for graft, you’d get a very low type of people in politics. Men without ambition. Jellyfish.
Catherine: Especially since you can’t rob the people anyway.
.Skeeters: Sure. How was that?
Catherine: What you rob, you spend, and what you spend goes back to the people. So, where’s the robbery? I read that in one of my father’s books.
Skeeters: That book should be in every home.[/box]
In his first effort as a writer-director, Preston Sturges shows all the elements of comedic brilliance that have endeared him to his fans to this day.
From exile in a banana republic, Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) tells the story of his rise from a bum to governor of a great state and subsequent fall due to “one crazy minute” of honesty.
Ward-heeler Skeeters (William Demerest) finds McGinty in a soup line and offers him $2 to vote for a mayoral candidate. McGinty is so good at this kind of thing that he does it 37 times. This brings him to the attention of the local Boss (Akim Tamiroff), who admires McGinty’s pugnacious spirit and makes him a collector for his protection racket. He rapidly rises to alderman and proves good enough at dispensing graft that the Boss decides to make him the “reform” candidate for mayor. Unfortunately for himself, the Boss thinks McGinty needs to marry to attract women voters and Dan’s adoring secretary (Muriel Angelus) is quickly chosen as the token bride.
But six months into the marriage, McGinty unexpectedly falls in love with his wife and her children and when he is elected governor, she inspires him to do “one crazy thing” against his better judgement. With the Sturges stock company at their eccentric best.
What genius does it take to be able mix biting satire with some of the most over-the-top slapstick like Sturges can? At his best, he has me grinning for minutes at a time when I am not laughing out loud. This was a great start to a short but inspired directing career.
This has got it all. It might just be Tamiroff’s best performance. His many slug-fests with Donlevy are a highlight of the movie. But the actors in the smallest parts, even those without dialogue, consistently make me smile. It is a shame Angelus retired so early. She is excellent here.
Sturges won the Academy Award for his Original Screenplay.
Clip – Tamiroff tries to get Donlevy to take the plunge
