State of the Union (1948)

Fantastic!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Producer: Frank Capra. A Liberty Films Production. Copyright 23 March 1948 by Liberty Films, Inc. An M-G-M picture, released through Loew's Inc. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 22 April 1948. U.S. release: 30 April 1948. U.K. release: 4 October 1948. Australian release: 19 August 1949. 11,139 feet. 124 minutes. U.K. and Australian release title: The WORLD AND HIS WIFE.SYNOPSIS: "Liberal" aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews is touted as a dark horse contender for the Republican nomination in the upcoming Presidential campaign. Mary Matthews, estranged from her husband, is asked to join Grant on his cross-country platform-thumping tour, to quell rumors about his liaison with Kay Thorndyke, the newspaper publisher backing his campaign bid. NOTES: The play opened on 14 November 1945 at the Hudson and ran a most highly successful 765 performances. Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Hussey, Myron McCormick, Minor Watson and Kay Johnson starred. The play was directed by Bretaigne Windust for producer Leland Hayward.COMMENT: When Spencer Tracy is not handing us the "wonderful America for honest men" bit, this film is quite entertaining. A pity producer/director Frank Capra couldn't make virtue as attractive or interesting as the less savoury characters so well portrayed by Menjou, Lansbury, Dingle, Watkin, Turner, Smith, Walburn et al, who, of course, have all the best lines. One suspects most of these are lifted from the original play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and that screenwriters Anthony Veiller (who also acted as Associate Producer) and Myles Connolly contributed most of the dull stuff spoken by Tracy and Hepburn as well as the irrelevant and utterly incredible business in the airplane. George J. Folsey's photography is far more attractive than the careless mis-spelling of his name on the film's credits would indicate.Despite the billing, it's actually Menjou's picture, not Tracy's. Nor Hepburn's. Menjou has all the memorable lines of caustic wit and delivers most of the trenchant satire. Tracy is stuck with all the Boys Town rhetoric and empty jingoism; whilst, Hepburn, making a late entrance, is the Voice of Conscience. That her voice is tiring and tiresome is not her fault. The part was originally tailored for Claudette Colbert with all the wit and snappy comebacks of the Broadway Mary removed. When Colbert walked out and Miss Hepburn was signed, there was no time to put all the crackle back into the part (not that Tracy minded this, as he had no wish whatever to be up-staged).

Maybe it's me, but I couldn't really like this film.Tracy and Hepburn are usually very watchable, and Tracy's performance here is good, if limited by the amount of work he has to do. I thought Hepburn was miscast and missed her usual repartee that we have seen in her other films.A personal dislike of mine is the sort of wise-cracking, cynical guy played by Van Johnson. Again, I normally enjoy his work, but this sort of character often employed in this type of film from the 40s and 50s (see Kip Lurie in "Adam's Rib") I find becomes very wearing very quickly.Angela Lansbury is and looks good in a role that foreshadows her role in "The Manchurian Candidate". She is a plus.I felt the plot was also pretty weak, tough it does show that nothing much has changed in US politics it seems.

Where did this come from? Being unheard of for so many years I fully expected either a load of rubbish or a press & politically sabotaged surprise. It turns out to be both. Clearly based on a stage production (and a successful one) the movie also feels too much like a filmed play. Technically it's both big-budget-slick, and messy. It also looks as if it might have been tampered with after the completion of the initial edit - with some of the worst continuity cuts seen in a major release or maybe they had trouble with Tracy's drinking and lines?? The movie is politically on target as would be expected from Mr Capra and reminds us of the present day arena. Tends to suggest the Democrats remain as out for themselves as ever while the common worker gets shafted. This picture is not treated as 'idealistically' as earlier politically themed Capra shows but, it does suffer with going on for too long. It also suffers with some eye-rolling poor technical details - such as some hi-jinks in a light plane with Tracy in the pilot seat. Performances are all top notch with many classic faces from the era but the length makes the staginess seem even more apparent. Some knowledge of American political history would help keep up with the one liners and comments that flow freely. Seems Katharine Hepburn took over from Claudette Colbert at the last minute but, as she'd been assisting Tracy with his rehearsals was already up to speed. A 23 yr old Angela Lansbury makes for a formidable newspaper heiress out to ruin the aspirations of Tracy's candidature and would imagine that John Frankenheimer or his casting agent would have seen this performance before casting her in The Manchurian Candidate. 'Union' is harder to settle into than other Capra offerings, but interesting for its observations of the day and how some still hold true.

. . . to become U.S. President. I would not be surprised if Leader Trump has watched STATE OF THE UNION at least 40 times, because EVERY lesson it teaches about American Politics figures prominently in the Advent of Our Brave New Trump World. "Jim Conover" totally forecasts Steve Bannon, helping Spencer Tracy's businessman candidate "Grant Matthews" to pit all the Usual Suspects Wannabes of the Republican Party against each other until they all fall to the wayside. Though "Grant" is said to have been a war hero 30 years earlier, this is only a minor deviation from Leader Trump's resume, since it's only mentioned once (and, unlike "Grant," Leader Trump did not have the option of participating in a Victorious War, and only Losers such as John McCain take part in Losing Wars!). The most important thing that a Young Leader Trump learned from STATE OF THE UNION is that first-baby mom and "First Lady" is a terrible mix. Katharine Hepburn as Grant's estranged wife is from the Same Generation as Grant himself, and this "Mary Matthews" proves to be the anchor which Deep-Sixes Grant's campaign here. Leader Trump took Grant's Come-Uppance to heart, dumping his first TWO wives for Good Measure. The fact that Grant's business actually MAKES something (war planes) proves to be another potential Achilles Heel for a would-be president. No corporation subject to product defects and skilled labor walkouts can possibly be as safe as Trump's Casino Chain, in which "the House always wins!"