The Last Hurrah (1958)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Edwin O'Connor (novel)
Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)

Release Date:

November 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Big book! big cast! big picture!

Plot:

Frank Skeffington is an old Irish-American political boss, running for re-election as Mayor of of a US town for the last time.

Plot Keywords:

Politics | Mayor | Irish American | Boston | Election

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Mayor Frank Skeffington
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Adam Caulfield
Dianne Foster	...	Mave Caulfield
Pat O'Brien	...	John Gorman
Basil Rathbone	...	Norman Cass, Sr.
Donald Crisp	...	Cardinal Martin Burke
James Gleason	...	'Cuke' Gillen
Edward Brophy	...	'Ditto' Boland
John Carradine	...	Amos Force
Willis Bouchey	...	Roger Sugrue
Basil Ruysdael	...	Bishop Gardner
Ricardo Cortez	...	Sam Weinberg
Wallace Ford	...	Charles J. Hennessey
Frank McHugh	...	Festus Garvey
Carleton Young	...	Winslow

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #19086) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel "The Last Hurrah", on which the movie is based, is a fictionalized version of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, a celebrated rogue who raised municipal corruption to an art form.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Doris Day Show: The Last Huzzah (#5.16)" (1973)

Wonderful political drama/comedy by Ford

"The Last Hurrah" tells the story of old-time, machine driven, local politics. Both the good and the bad sides.

On the good, you had a cluster of politicos who worked hard for their citizenry. Efficient, powerful and determined, they could get the job done, with a pat on the back or the wink of an eye.

On the bad you had a cluster of politicos who expected a quid pro quo for favors they delivered. They expected those they helped to help them at the polls. They also usually helped members of their own group more than other people, as well.

In "The Last Hurrah", this type of old-time politics is coming to an end. Television campaigns are being introduced, and at least one of the candidates is learning that you can reach more people in a two minute ad, than you can by standing on local street corners giving speeches. It is the dawn of a new political era.

Spencer Tracy plays Mayor Skeffington, an old political pro, who is about to run his last campaign. He believes in the old ways. Pressing the flesh, meeting his constituency face to face. He is more apt to apply the pressure of his office in order to get what he wants, than he is to seek a consensus on matters. Tracy is perfect in this role. In many ways it is Tracy's last hurrah. He would appear in only a handful of films after this one. Since the film was made in 1958, you could also say that his style of acting is giving way to a new breed as well.

Jeffrey Hunter is effective as Tracy's nephew. A political neophyte, who learns to admire Skeffington the man, and mayor.

Tracy is surrounded by one of the best supporting casts to be seen on film. His "backroom" boys are Pat O'Brien, James Gleason, and Edward Brophy. Watching them, you get the sense of the type of "cigar filled rooms" they worked in to get deals done.

Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp, John Carradine are all perfect in their roles as well. Wallace Ford and Frank McHugh add "local flavor" to their roles as traditional opponents to Skeffington.

But it is Tracy who carries this film, and he does so handsomely. I am one who believes that many of his best performances were his last ones. I think because he seemed more natural and there seems to be less effort and fewer mannerisms in these performances. "The Last Hurrah" demonstrates this.

Tracy at the top of his game with many of his, and Ford's, old cronies, making another classic.