Folks unfamiliar with early 1930s movies probably wonder who that old guy playing ex-Pres. Art Hockstader is, because he's so good. It's Lee Tracy, of course, and he makes "The Best Man" well worth watching.
The setting is a national presidential convention, with the two leading candidates played well by Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson. The film shows the rituals followed during these events, and really shows the viewer the backroom deals and personal attacks that are part of the game.
Fonda plays the upstanding, honorable, and somewhat cynical candidate, who is trying to play by the rules and win on his own merits. Robertson, who made a living playing slightly wacko, off-center type characters, is the venal, win-at-any-cost candidate who will stop at nothing to destroy Fonda and capture the nomination. In the end, Fonda tires of the entire ordeal and throws all his support behind an unknown candidate, who is assured of nomination.
A better-cast movie would be very hard to find. Besides Fonda and Robertson, Shelley Berman as a wimpy informer, Kevin McCarthy as Fonda's hustling top aide, plus Ann Sothern and Edie Adams, this film is packed with great talent. Howard K. Smith even plays himself!
However, the movie is stolen by Lee Tracy, as the curmudgeonly ex-Pres. Art Hockstader, who is terminally ill with cancer but determined to support the right candidate. In the early 30s, Tracy had a corner on Hollywood's fast-talking wise-guy characters, and rightly so. His star fell rapidly after the 1934 self-destruction of his reputation, but he's back 30 years later in a simply magnificent and commanding performance, just a few years before his death.
Try to catch "The Best Man" to see Tracy in action and for a true mid-1960s experience, frozen in time.
The setting is a national presidential convention, with the two leading candidates played well by Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson. The film shows the rituals followed during these events, and really shows the viewer the backroom deals and personal attacks that are part of the game.
Fonda plays the upstanding, honorable, and somewhat cynical candidate, who is trying to play by the rules and win on his own merits. Robertson, who made a living playing slightly wacko, off-center type characters, is the venal, win-at-any-cost candidate who will stop at nothing to destroy Fonda and capture the nomination. In the end, Fonda tires of the entire ordeal and throws all his support behind an unknown candidate, who is assured of nomination.
A better-cast movie would be very hard to find. Besides Fonda and Robertson, Shelley Berman as a wimpy informer, Kevin McCarthy as Fonda's hustling top aide, plus Ann Sothern and Edie Adams, this film is packed with great talent. Howard K. Smith even plays himself!
However, the movie is stolen by Lee Tracy, as the curmudgeonly ex-Pres. Art Hockstader, who is terminally ill with cancer but determined to support the right candidate. In the early 30s, Tracy had a corner on Hollywood's fast-talking wise-guy characters, and rightly so. His star fell rapidly after the 1934 self-destruction of his reputation, but he's back 30 years later in a simply magnificent and commanding performance, just a few years before his death.
Try to catch "The Best Man" to see Tracy in action and for a true mid-1960s experience, frozen in time.