State of the Union (1948)

Simply A Masterpiece

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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).

[Warning: Proceed if you don't care about spoilers] Frank Capra's State of the Union is a startling peek into the world of politics in American civilization. It gives its viewers an amazing insight into what goes into political campaigns, and basically walks us through each step of the hurdle. The movie takes us on a journey that leads to a path to presidency, and it does it in so many levels with so many strong characters. The lead character is Grant Matthews who is a successful industrialist with high moral standards and principles. He is the aspiring Presidential candidate chosen by the conniving politician Jim Conover who is all too familiar with the political world. Alongside, we see the stern, bold character Kay Thorndyke who runs a newspaper inherited from her father, and is romantically involved with Grant Matthews. An important character present in the movie is Mary Matthews, wife of Grant Matthews, who knows her husband too well and is apprehensive about his decision to enter the political domain. The movie presents a dramatic eye-opener into the world of politics through the story of Grant Matthews who is put into the shoes of a Presidential candidate, and it is the account of how this incident affects the lives of each character in the movie.The movie is fast paced in terms of politics as the viewers are quick to dive into learning about the process of selecting the President of United States. The entire plot starts when power-hungry politician Jim Conover tags up with the newspaper magnate Kay Thorndyke to find someone who could represent the Presidential Nominee for the Republican Party. However, the movie is one-sided as we only get to see the Republican side of the story. The movie pictures Republicans as effective opportunists who exploit the general interests of the American people by abusing the political system to advance their intents and motives just to gain votes from the public. During a time when America needed a President, Jim Conover sees an opportunity when Kay Thorndyke presents Grant Matthews, who is a self-made man, an industrialist who made airplanes with only two years of high school, a friend of the labor industry and a man of high integrity. All of these factors made Grant Matthews a potential dark horse in the Republican Party, which would benefit Jim Conover and other republicans in countless ways. And thus Jim Conover initiates the relentless political campaigns to raise Grant Matthews to the top for reasons that were more beneficial to him and his political party than to the United States of America.The movie also sheds light on the symbiotic relationship that exists between the media and politics. In the movie, there are benefits to both the Republican Party and The Thorndyke Press if Grant Matthews becomes the President. The news of a dark horse emerging from the Republican Party coming through a particular press would skyrocket their market value and put them on the top of the press chain. So both parties, having much to gain, join forces and utilize every unit of their power to bolster the Grant Matthews as President campaign. This mutual relationship between the press and the political world is timeless as it is prevalently seen in the news even to this day. Various media outlets get to publish the latest scoops and earn a good reputation for themselves, and the political parties get to influence the public by giving the media their side of the story. The movie spectacularly displays the bitter truth of how the media and politicians have been joining forces to sway public opinion. The movie is very politically condensed as it packs a great deal of information to any viewer aspiring to learn about the American political system. It brings forth the harsh reality that you can't make everybody happy in a world where people have differing opinions and different ideologies about every little issue in our society. To put up with everybody and gain their approval, you have to pull some strings here and there. Politics requires a man to compromise his morale and ethics in order to climb up the political ladder. The movies shows how an honest man like Grant Matthews had to give up his ideals and lower his standards in order to enter the deceptively travestied world of politics.

Capra did others including Mr Smith Went To Washington, but are they better than this one? Spencer Tracy is great in the role of the candidate for the Republican's in 1948 (the year the film is set in). Katherine Hepburn is solid as his wife (with 2 children). Angela Lansbury is great as the other woman Tracy has been kind of courted by as his marriage with Hepburn has had some tension as of late.Watch for Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West) making eyes at Van Johnson in this movie. The script is fantastic as Tracy comes off as an independent Airplane Manufacturer who wants to help this country. He is an independent mind running and being crushed by establishment Republican Politicos in much the same way as the Democrats have crushed Independent Candidates in elections since 2000. Democrats and Republicans have both been Conservative since the Reagan era. This film paints them as the same party, and yes, they still are.Thing to watch is Tracys speech at the end, reminds me very much of speeches done by Bernie Sanders with an Idealistic view. This is a very good movie, well worth the viewing.

The plot is slick: Newspaper magnate Angela Lansbury wants to push her lover -- aircraft tycoon Spencer Tracy -- into running for President on the Republican ticket, thus making her the power behind the throne. But there are some sticky problems -- the affair, the real wife (Katharine Hepburn), and Tracy's own reticence to run. And, Lansbury wants to use Hepburn's disdain of the affair as a way to lead her to support Tracy's candidacy. The climax comes when a nationwide fireside chat is planned from the Matthews' home, and both Lansbury and Hepburn are present.Spencer Tracy: In this film, Tracy continues a very rapid transition from middle-aged to beginning to look old. Appropriate for a presidential candidate, but Tracy was aging rather quickly, considering that in his films of the mid-40s, he still looked mid-40ish himself. Then in films of the late 40s ("The Sea Of Grass" and "Cass Timberlane") the transformation came quickly. And here, in 1948 he is looking very distinguished. Tracy is at his best, particularly at the climax of the film.Katharine Hepburn: I consider this one of her best performances, particularly her soliloquy near the end of the film. And the chemistry between Spencer and Katharine...remarkable...and it certainly shines through here.Van Johnson: As I was watching, I was thinking about how much better Van Johnson's smart-aleck reporter went across in this Tracy film, than did Gene Kelly's in "Inherit The Wind". Here Johnson's character attempted to show the negative side of politics, and succeeded, and it's remarkable how many lines still ring true 60 years later! Adolphe Menjou: Not one of my favorites, but brilliant here as the stereotypical smoke-filled-room era politician, and interested to note that the conservative Menjou and the liberal Hepburn were apparently at each other to the point of not speaking during the shoot (according to the new Tracy biography).Angela Lansbury: Remarkably, Lansbury was only 23 years old when this film was made, and I think you may see parallels between her role/performance here and in "The Manchurian Candidate".Lewis Stone: Has a small, but critical role at the beginning of the film as Lansbury's father...a powerful but spurned politician that commits suicide while suffering from intestinal cancer...and the scenes between Lansbury and Stone are critical to understanding what makes Lansbury's character do what she does.This is a wonderful film, and one of the better examples of the Hepburn-Tracy relationship. Each shines here. And, of course, this is one of the later films by director Frank Capra, and although it is not held in as high esteem as some of his earlier films, I personally think it is one of his best. A great addition to your DVD shelf. My rating -- a very strong "7".