The Last Hurrah (1958)

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

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screen play), Edwin O'Connor (based upon the novel by)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, Dianne Foster

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Spencer Tracy	...	Mayor Frank Skeffington
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Adam Caulfield
Dianne Foster	...	Maeve 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

Storyline

An aging politician tries to get re-elected one last time in the changing world of the 1950s when TV started to play a bigger part in politics. Based loosely on the career of multi-term Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, this film examines the good and evil inherent in politics and all the things that go into an election. Tracy's uphill battle to stay in office is set against the political machinery that preyed on ethnic hatred and old-time money.

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Plot Keywords:

mayor | politics | irish american | election | politician | 

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Taglines:

Big book! big cast! big picture!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das letzte Hurra

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early in the film Skeffington says that his signature will never be as valuable as Button Gwinnet's, who apparently had publicly signed few documents in his life. Gwinnet, a delegate from Georgia, was the second signer of the Declaration of Independence, after John Hancock. Gwinnet's signature is quite rare and is considered the most valuable American signature by collectors, with sales recorded as high as $150,000, matched or exceeded only just behind signatures of Gaio Giulio Cesare (aka Julius Caesar) and William Shakespeare. However, it is not quite so rare as suggested by Skeffington, as there are at least 51 examples of Gwinnet's signature known to exist, and at one time during the 1920s five samples of his signature were owned by a dealer in rare books named Rosenbach.

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Goofs

When Frank Jr. bursts into the bedroom to see his dying Father, the doorknob comes apart and the interior knob falls off. As the Doctor immediately follows him into the room the doorknob back intact.

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Quotes

Mayor Frank Skeffington: One more regret at my age won't make much difference.

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Connections

Version of The Last Hurrah (1977)

User Reviews

politics and sentiment

A homespun and sentimental take on politics, with Spencer Tracy playing Frank Skeffington, an old style Irish Catholic big city mayor caught in a cooked up scandal by his blue blood Prostestant Republican enemies. Crowded scenes add to the pace as the characters whip through the sharp Frank Nugent screenplay like a hot knife going through butter. Directed by John Ford, the film previews the changes that have since taken place in American politics i.e. television imagery and big money, and here we see them presented in a political campaign pitting Skeffington against a younger, telegenic, politically inept opponent financed by the city's conservatives. With John Carradine giving a memorable performance as ultra-conservative newspaper publisher and ex-Klansman Amos Force, and personal favorite Ken Curtis playing a monsignor, the film blends the typical Ford elements: fairness and tolerance against hypocrisy and greed.