Politics (1931)

Director:

Charles Reisner

Writers:

Zelda Sears (story) and
Malcolm Stuart Boylan (story) ...

Release Date:

25 July 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Rain | Racketeer | Mayor | Police Chief | Wedding

Cast

Marie Dressler	...	Hattie Burns
Polly Moran	...	Ivy Higgins
Roscoe Ates	...	Peter Higgins (as Rosco Ates)
Karen Morley	...	Myrtle Burns
William Bakewell	...	Benny Emerson
John Miljan	...	Jim Curango
Joan Marsh	...	Daisy Evans
Tom McGuire	...	Mayor Tom Collins
Kane Richmond	...	Nifty Morgan
Mary Alden	...	Mrs. Mary Evans

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When Daisy Evans (Joan Marsh) leaves the movie theatre, she pauses to look at a poster for The Stolen Jools (The Slippery Pearls (1931)) ("with 55 famous stars"), a popular two reel short subject of 1931.

Quotes:

Ivy Higgins: [at the commencement of Myrtle and Benny's marriage ceremony] And, you know, it isn't every young couple that can have the wedding ceremony performed by Her Honor, the Mayor.
[indicating Hattie]
Hattie Burns: No, and it isn't every young couple that can have as Matron of Honor, the Commissioner of Garbage.
[indicating Ivy]

Soundtrack:

A Hot Time in the Old Town

Lysistrata Redux

This sprightly programmer, starring Marie Dressler, transforms the story to modern politics ca. 1931. Dressler and the women are anxious to close the speakeasies -- this was made during Prohibition. There is a strong cast of women, including Polly Moran, Joan Marsh and Karen Morley. The men are played by supporting comics, including Roscoe Ates, on whose voice Porky Pig was modeled.

Dressler was an interesting character. A big legitimate stage star, she was one of the leaders of the strike that formed Actor's Equity. By the late 1920s, she was washed up, until screenwriter Frances Marion wrote a role for her, and by 1931, she was MGM's biggest star. Her character was a fat, good-intentioned, foul-mouthed harridan, and she could tread the line between comedy and drama as surefootedly as anyone in the industry.

Charles Reisner directs without much visual flair in this movie. He relies mostly on cuts to move the story along, moving the camera only slightly to maintain composition.

POLITICS is pretty well dated, but it remains a fascinating film, if only for the performance of Miss Dressler.