Copyright 1961. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 25 August 1961. U.K. release: floating from October 1961. Australian release: October 1961. 9,730 feet; 108 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: While campaigning for the governorship of a southern state, Bo Gillis, a folksy politician, falls in love with and marries, Ada, a reformed prostitute, whose dubious background alarms both Bo's press agent, Steve Jackson, and his political adviser, Sylvester Marin.
COMMENT: Despite its name cast, this movie seems to be totally forgotten today. True, it's a curate's egg of a picture, and not one that's likely to send Dean's fans into raptures. He sings a snatch of a song right at the beginning and that's it as far as Dino's harmonizing is concerned. His performance is great, but halfway through he drops out of the action for quite a spell while Susan Hayward takes control.
And what a naïve perspective the scriptwriters have of legislature procedure as Susan is sworn in as lieutenant-governor! And director Daniel Man's relentless use of Hayward close-ups (even in tracking shots) doesn't help either.
Nonetheless, Wilfrid Hyde White has a field day. Admittedly, his dialogue is the sharpest and most interesting in the picture. Maybe he brought his own writer along to the set. Maybe he wrote it himself. In a lesser role, Ralph Meeker's fascinating performance as a slimy police chief also deserves watching.
As said above, Ruttenberg's superb cinematography is often wasted on ineffective close-ups, but CinemaScope does come to the fore in some of the location set-ups in what certainly look like real government buildings and legislative chambers. These scenes, plus the cab trip and our first exposure to the executive office, give the film much- needed dramatic effectiveness plus an engrossing yet taut political atmosphere. What a shame, it's so often undermined!
SYNOPSIS: While campaigning for the governorship of a southern state, Bo Gillis, a folksy politician, falls in love with and marries, Ada, a reformed prostitute, whose dubious background alarms both Bo's press agent, Steve Jackson, and his political adviser, Sylvester Marin.
COMMENT: Despite its name cast, this movie seems to be totally forgotten today. True, it's a curate's egg of a picture, and not one that's likely to send Dean's fans into raptures. He sings a snatch of a song right at the beginning and that's it as far as Dino's harmonizing is concerned. His performance is great, but halfway through he drops out of the action for quite a spell while Susan Hayward takes control.
And what a naïve perspective the scriptwriters have of legislature procedure as Susan is sworn in as lieutenant-governor! And director Daniel Man's relentless use of Hayward close-ups (even in tracking shots) doesn't help either.
Nonetheless, Wilfrid Hyde White has a field day. Admittedly, his dialogue is the sharpest and most interesting in the picture. Maybe he brought his own writer along to the set. Maybe he wrote it himself. In a lesser role, Ralph Meeker's fascinating performance as a slimy police chief also deserves watching.
As said above, Ruttenberg's superb cinematography is often wasted on ineffective close-ups, but CinemaScope does come to the fore in some of the location set-ups in what certainly look like real government buildings and legislative chambers. These scenes, plus the cab trip and our first exposure to the executive office, give the film much- needed dramatic effectiveness plus an engrossing yet taut political atmosphere. What a shame, it's so often undermined!