If you’re the type of voter who shows up at the polls at the crack of dawn, because you think that one person can make a difference, you should see either of these two Frank Capra classics: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) or MEET JOHN DOE (1941). In the first, Jimmy Stewart plays an idealistic young Senator who helps expose corruption in Washington, and in the second, Gary Cooper plays a baseball player who gets mixed up in a corrupt political campaign. Both films suggest that an individual, if he is pure of heart, can move mountains.
For you JFK conspiracy buffs out there, try John Frankenheimer’s THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962). Frank Sinatra stars in this taut suspense story that is impossible to describe without giving away too much of the plot. But it will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end, as will Sinatra’s other political thriller, SUDDENLY (1954). This one stars Sinatra as an assassin bent on killing the President as his motorcade drives through a small town. Both films show why Sinatra, one of the greatest singers in history, was much admired as an actor.
You want corruption? Womanizing? Scandals? Well, you may not get it with Al Gore or George W. Bush, but you’ll get a whole lot of it with Robert Rossen’s ALL THE KING’S MEN (1954). Broderick Crawford stars as a small town lawyer who fights against the corruption of his local city council. An honest man with courage, he discovers that the only way to achieve success is to become as corrupt as those he fights against.
If your candidate loses, you can fight the post-election blues with DUCK SOUP (1933). The Marx Brothers' most admired film has Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly, dictator of Freedonia, who commands the undying love of his people by telling them exactly how much worse off they will be with him in power. Chico and Harpo play peanut vendors who also happen to be spies for the neighboring Sylvania as well as prominent members of the Firefly administration. One of the funniest movies ever made, directed with great flair by Leo McCarey. Follow DUCK SOUP with Laurel and Hardy’s brilliant short film CHICKENS COME HOME (1931), where Ollie’s campaign for Mayor is threatened by a woman from his past, and you will have experienced nearly an hour an a half of some of the funniest gags ever filmed.
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