The Best Man (1964)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, and written by Gore Vidal, this excellent political campaign drama stars Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson as the two frontrunner candidates hoping to be selected as the Presidential nominee at their party's convention. Lee Tracy (giving his final feature film performance), who received his only Academy recognition with a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role, plays the "hick" President of the United States, who's secretly dying from cancer but still wields a lot of power in the process.Surprisingly still relevant for today, the film delivers an insightful, biting look at the behind the scenes wrangling, wheeling and dealing, that must go on at a wide open political convention where no clear candidate is the right choice, or has sewn up the position in advance: dirty politics, questions of character, decisions as to whether to use damning evidence against one's opponent which may jeopardize the party's chances of winning the overall election, etc..Fonda plays Secretary of State William 'Bill' Russell, whose marriage to his British wife Alice (Margaret Leighton) has been over for a long time due to his multiple affairs over the years. However, on the eve of the convention and for the purposes of his Presidential (and her First Lady) aspirations, the two agree to a "treaty" - to pretend to be as one so that he might win the nomination and (almost by default) then the presidency. She must then deal with Sue Ellen Gamadge (Ann Sothern), a powerful lobbyist who represents women's issues for the party. Russell is thought to be an intellectual who thinks about every issue (perhaps too) thoroughly, which causes some like President Art Hockstader (Tracy) to question his decisiveness. Kevin McCarthy plays Russell's campaign manager Dick Jensen.Robertson plays working man hero and Senator Joe Cantwell, who'd made a name for himself linking the Mafia with communism and writing a book titled the "Enemy Around Us"; Edie Adams plays his loving wife Mabel, the mother of their three children. Gene Raymond plays Joe's brother Don, (a former Senator?) who'd lost to Hockstader in a Presidential campaign of his own years earlier and now acts as Joe's campaign manager. Shelley Berman plays Sheldon Bascomb, a man who surfaces out of Joe's military past with a secret that might destroy his chances of earning his party's nomination - especially since Joe is supported by the conservative wing of the party.Cantwell has a bombshell of his own to drop, a psychiatric evaluation of Russell that calls into question the Secretary of State's mental health, labeling him a manic depressive that might crack under stress. Though Cantwell thinks of bringing this information to the light of day as a public service, his telling this to Hockstader so enrages the President that he withdraws his planned endorsement of ruthless Joe, calling him stupid for using a "cannon to crush a bug". Hockstader then works behind the scenes for Russell, though later lectures him about his indecisiveness to use Bascomb's dirt about Cantwell.Mahalia Jackson appears as herself, singing at the pre-convention banquet; Howard K. Smith also appears as himself, the news anchor correspondent during the convention. John Henry Faulk plays a southern state "Sons of the Confederacy" Governor T.T. Claypoole, who Hockstader kids is a progressive liberal; T.T. is instead a candidate who's not shy about voicing his racial prejudices and is slippery with his loyalties to either of the frontrunners, holding out for whomever will promise him a spot on the ticket as the vice presidential candidate. William Ebersol plays a relatively unknown candidate, western state Governor John Merwin, and Richard Arlen plays the other candidate, the former Attorney General now Senator Oscar Anderson. George Furth plays the President's secretary, aide.

Released in 1964 - It was on account of Cliff Robertson (one of my favourite actors of the 1960s) that I decided to watch The Best Man. And, after the show was all over, I was certainly very impressed by both Robertson's powerful performance and by the riveting intensity of this first-rate political drama.Filmed in b&w, The Best Man's story is set in sunny Los Angeles, during a huge political convention, where the 5 delegates running for the office of U.S President meet (along with their many, many supporters) to see which one of them will be the victorious winner in this race for the most-coveted of all positions.The two reigning front-runners in this "winner-takes-all" campaign are Joe Cantwell (played by the young and handsome, Cliff Robertson) and William Russell (played by the older and somewhat weary, Henry Fonda).Soon enough Cantwell and Russell, as the ultimate favourites, square-off for a literal political showdown.With each of these men vying to gain the all-important endorsement from the present U.S. President, Art Hocksteader, matters inevitably turn to ruthless muck-slinging where the name of the game is, yes, "Dirty Politics".With its top-notch cast, its superb direction by Franklin Schaffner, and its scathing screenplay penned by Gore Vidal, I'd confidently rate The Best Man (now 50 years old) as one of the best political dramas ever made.From start to finish, this film holds the viewer's undivided attention with its compelling story-line of a behind-the-scenes look at dirty, American politics.

Two men vie for the presidential nomination of a party. Based on a play by Vidal, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the political machinations on the campaign trail. Although the name of the party is not identified in the film, the candidates display elements of both Democratic and Republican values. Fonda is the decent, old-school liberal while Robertson is his ruthless, right-leaning rival. Both turn in excellent performances. The standout in the fine supporting cast is Tracy as a former president who must decide which candidate to endorse. This is an ideal companion piece to "Advise and Consent," made a couple of years earlier and also starring Fonda.

Although dated because Gore Vidal placed too much emphasis on the importance of a convention, THE BEST MAN is one of those movies that should be shown the week just before a Presidential primary, convention, debate, or election is held. It is an important statement on what the public really deserves from its leaders, and also what the public frequently ends up getting.The date of the events would be roughly 1968 or possibly 1972, as Joe Cantwell (Clift Robertson's character) served in World War II. The World War II Presidents lasted from General Eisenhower to George H. W. Bush, but the youth of Cantwell limits his having a run after 1972. Cantwell (as was pointed out in another review) is based on Joe McCarthy, although the candidates seem to be Democrats, not Republicans. To be fair he is an amalgam of several figures: Huey Long (with Gene Raymond as a brother Earl - although Earl is made the older brother), and Estes Kefauver, the Tennessee Democratic Senator who fought the Mafia and ended up Stevenson's rival in 1956, and then his Vice Presidential running-mate. Cantwell has made a hard-hitting reputation against communists and mobsters. But he does not care what methods he uses to achieve his goals. At one point one sees him strong-arming delegates through blackmail.As was pointed out his rival, William Russell, is based on two time candidate and loser Adlai Stevenson. Russell actually has an even earlier lineage. His name is the same as Lord William Russell, a 17th Century Whig "liberal" nobleman, and political writer, who was executed for treason in a questionable trial in 1683 in what was called "the Rye House Plot" (supposedly against the life of King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York). Gore Vidal obviously chose the name to suggest a hopelessness in the man's ambitions from the start.Russell also turns out to have had a nervous breakdown of a quasi-violent nature that was covered up by the then President Art Hochstedter (Lee Tracy). This is based on the tragedy (in the Truman Administration) of our first Secretary of Defence, the brilliant James Forresthal, who killed killed himself (threw himself out of a window) from a hospital he was being treated at in 1949. Russell (in Vidal's fiction) was Hochstedter's Secretary of State at the time of his breakdown.Cantwell has massive appeal to the group that Nixon would label "the silent majority". He is one of them, and he knows that they think the way he does. To achieve what they want they will do anything. He has a contempt for effete, liberals like Russell. Russell, who has written a book on his views of the world (similar to Democrat - turned Republican - Wendell Wilkie), loathes Cantwell and his strong arm methods. Russell is married (his wife is played by Margaret Leighton). She resents his womanizing, but like Eleanor Roosevelt admires the man - and will support him if he will refrain from humiliating her in the White House. Cantwell is a family man with children (his wife is played by Edie Adams). He does compartmentalize home-life and political being, but Adams also understands this.Cantwell is ready to spring the report his brother acquired of the nervous breakdown of Russell. But Russell's assistant (Kevin McCarthy) has found evidence of a nasty rumor about Cantwell in the army. A fellow soldier stationed with Cantwell (Shelley Berman) is ready to expose that Cantwell had a homosexual episode while in the service.Both candidates hope to get ex-President Hochstedter's blessing for the nomination. But though he likes Russell, Hochstedter doubts Russell's fighting ability and decisiveness. Hochstedter hates Cantwell (who openly despises him as well), but he knows Cantwell can fight. But he is aware that Cantwell (to win his point) can overkill ridiculously. He also is aware that for himself time may be running out.Other figures are on the sidelines: A southern governor who wants to put a stop to this nonsense about integration (played by blacklist hero John Henry Faulk), an outspoken "Pearl Mesta" type of Washington hostess, giving social tips to the potential first ladies (Ann Southern). And other favorite son candidates, including Richard Arlen.Gore Vidal's family has been involved in American politics for many decades, his grandfather being Senator Thomas Gore of Oklahoma. Distantly he is related to our former Vice Presient Al Gore. So he has made his fable of politics very rich and thought provoking. Who indeed should our political fates be in the hands of? His conclusion is as clever as his viewpoints are wise.