A Masterpiece!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

Competing for their party's presidential nomination, two popular United States politicians consider using underhanded slander tactics to gain an advantage in this scathing look at the American political process. The presidential hopefuls are played by Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson respectively, however, the best performance in the film comes from Lee Tracy who received an Oscar nomination for his role as the cynical, terminally ill incumbent president who cannot decide whether the unadventurous Fonda or the spineless Robertson is better to endorse. Full of moralistic dialogue, the film feels a little preachy at times and Fonda and Robertson are painted a little too much like polar opposites for credibility, but either way, the film offers a memorable insight into dirty politics and the systems in place that breed dirty politics. There is great irony in how Fonda and Robertson spend more time working out whether or not to take down one another than they do on debating issues and policies at hand. There is also much to consider with Tracy equating Fonda making a decision on whether to take down Robertson at the same level of making a political decision in the best interest of the nation. The film has curious time capsule status too these days, or at least in terms of the tactic proposed in order to take Robertson down. Times have certainly changed, but have politics changed that much?

"The Best Man" proceeds at a Presidential nominating convention where the party members collaborates together in selecting a hopeful candidate who will rule the country. This procedure was executed way before primaries came into prominence. One of the potential candidates include Secretary of State William Russell (Henry Fonda) whose marriage with his British wife Alice (Margaret Leighton) has fizzled out for quite some time because of his philandering ways over the years. But due to make himself look good so that he might win, she agrees to act like they're act like they're the match made in heaven. President Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy) visits William and Alice on their estate to to talk about what? It's quite obvious that they discuss religion and politics and other generic stuff in between. The rival candidate to Secretary Russell is Senator Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson) who promotes himself on television. He makes hypocritical promises by lowering taxes and spending more on the military (can't we stop fighting once and for all?) Will Russell or Cantwell emerge victorious in-spite if they have hidden agendas or hidden secrets that might potentially damage their reputation or their hopes of winning the Presidency? President Hockstader discusses a little about both candidates by successfully staying as unbiased as he could. But Hockstader says something quite memorable about how power to run a country should be handled by use over contemplation. In a secluded basement room, Russell and Cantwell engage in a secret confrontation. Russell comes up by discussing the court-martial testimony. Meanwhile Cantwell digs some dirt of his own to go over the medical report Russell can't follow up on. By leaking old scandals, Cantwell assumes that his win will be a cakewalk.Granted although Lee Tracy was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance,"The Best Man" is still to this day an obscure political thriller. It seemed to take itself way too seriously without any kind of humour plus it may be too wordy for those with short attention spans. But the humanity delivers since both presidential candidates have skeletons hidden in their closets. The election here is very similar to the election of 1920 in which for the first time a president was elected in who came from the Senate, Warren Harding. He won the elections after the other front-runners couldn't come up with compromises. Like when Obama won in 2008, America wanted a change, so Harding got sworn in. Even though Harding id hardly the greatest President ever (Franklin Roosevelt takes that honour), he was a much better human than the media referred to him as (a philanderer and a drunk). Most of the Presidents have all faced dented reputations like that. Harding was surprisingly the only President of our time that was never impeached.For those who are into politics an history might compare the characters to real actual nominees in the history of voting day. William Russell looks like he could pass off as Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, Joe Cantwell is a cross between Senator Eugene McCarthy and Richard Nixon and a slight possibility that John Merwin could be a bit like Nelson Rockefeller. I'm just grateful that these chain of events seen here never happened before in real life. Who would put up with that?

Very well done movie, giving us a flavor of the classic political conventions of the past. Fonda does a great job as usual, but Cliff Robertson is simply electric as Joe Cantwell. Hollywood being Hollywood though, the conservative candidate is disparagingly portrayed. Nothing much changes does it?The black and white photography is first rate. Fonda's idealism is typical of candidates who want a new approach to politics. As shown, the process itself corrupts the idealistic candidate; compromises have to be made, promises dealt out, and eventually deals have to be made with the devil. The sitting president, played by Lee Tracy, shows a world weary cynicism about the process, which Fonda and Robertson haven't yet grasped. Excellent film.