The Last Hurrah
Directed by John Ford
Written by Frank S. Nugent from the novel by Edwin O’Connor
1958/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Mayor Frank Skeffington: One more regret at my age won’t make much difference.[/box]
For me, the best thing about this old-fashioned homage to all things Irish-American was the chance to see so many great character actors from the 30’s and 40’s. Not that Spencer Tracy is bad.
Mayor Frank Skeffington (Tracy) is running for his fifth term as mayor. He seems like a shoe-in. The old fox knows how to play his largely Irish-American constituency like a violin. Rabid opposition from a newspaper editor (John Carradine) and others who trace their ancestry to the Mayflower is only a minor thorn in his side.
Skeffington’s nephew Adam Caufield (Jeffrey Hunter) works as a sports columnist for the opposition newspaper. Skeffington invites Adam to tag along during the campaign. Thus we see the politicking through an outsider’s eyes. With many familiar faces including Donald Crisp, Jane Darwell, James Gleason, Pat O’Brien, and Basil Rathbone.
If I had not read the credits, I would have sworn that this was directed by Frank Capra only with less bite than his films ordinarily had. Instead, of course, it is John Ford in humorous mode. This is a very highly rated film but for some reason I was not impressed. All the acting is excellent though.
Trailer
