The Best Man (1964)
Country: US
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Lee Tracy, Kevin McCarthy, Margaret Leighton
Synopsis:
Contenders for the presidential nomination converge at the Democratic Convention, among them two front runners vying for the outgoing President's endorsement: one is principled while personally unfaithful, the other is a family man who believes in winning, whatever the cost.
Review:
Gore Vidal's Shakespearean drama of personal ethics and realpolitik has one or two touches typical of its author, the homosexual smear being the most obvious, but more generally his is the jaundiced view of twentieth century politics as being the last place for a Lincolnian figure such as that played by - who else? - Henry Fonda, a man for whom 'doing the right thing' is more important than beating his opponent at his own game. The beauty of the piece is that there is a third path, in the shape of the pallid outsider who may well be turned into a good leader. The performances are all cut-glass precise, and Schaffner's televisual techniques include handheld and archival footage to offset the more conventionally blocked interior scenes.
Country: US
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Lee Tracy, Kevin McCarthy, Margaret Leighton
Synopsis:
Contenders for the presidential nomination converge at the Democratic Convention, among them two front runners vying for the outgoing President's endorsement: one is principled while personally unfaithful, the other is a family man who believes in winning, whatever the cost.
Review:
Gore Vidal's Shakespearean drama of personal ethics and realpolitik has one or two touches typical of its author, the homosexual smear being the most obvious, but more generally his is the jaundiced view of twentieth century politics as being the last place for a Lincolnian figure such as that played by - who else? - Henry Fonda, a man for whom 'doing the right thing' is more important than beating his opponent at his own game. The beauty of the piece is that there is a third path, in the shape of the pallid outsider who may well be turned into a good leader. The performances are all cut-glass precise, and Schaffner's televisual techniques include handheld and archival footage to offset the more conventionally blocked interior scenes.
Country: US
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Lee Tracy, Kevin McCarthy, Margaret Leighton
Synopsis:
Contenders for the presidential nomination converge at the Democratic Convention, among them two front runners vying for the outgoing President's endorsement: one is principled while personally unfaithful, the other is a family man who believes in winning, whatever the cost.
Review:
Gore Vidal's Shakespearean drama of personal ethics and realpolitik has one or two touches typical of its author, the homosexual smear being the most obvious, but more generally his is the jaundiced view of twentieth century politics as being the last place for a Lincolnian figure such as that played by - who else? - Henry Fonda, a man for whom 'doing the right thing' is more important than beating his opponent at his own game. The beauty of the piece is that there is a third path, in the shape of the pallid outsider who may well be turned into a good leader. The performances are all cut-glass precise, and Schaffner's televisual techniques include handheld and archival footage to offset the more conventionally blocked interior scenes.