Last week, I took an opportunity to look at the many great documentaries that have highlighted the many aspects of political campaigns. As a pastime that goes back to the birth of this country, it’s fascinating to know how the history of documenting information helps to build personalities, creating these figures into icons whose actions continue to be reflected through history. By capturing these moments, it endears the past and helps us to learn from the accomplishments and failures, making heroes of the common man and turning mundane events into triumphs.
Then, of course, there’s the fiction. Even more than documentaries, dramatists have used political campaigns to reflect the various struggles of any given time. It has allowed the familiar action to take on new life, becoming a complicated narrative of morality, struggling to find the humanity in people who believe that they have what it takes to run this country. It’s arguably more of a pastime than the documentaries, in large part because these stories have a vivid life to them. Even if there’s some basis in reality, there’s enough distance that we can write off the horrifying elements as cautionary, more reflective of what could be instead of what was.
For the sake of this column, I have limited my focus on campaign dramas to the 20th century. This is in part because these stories were more prominent during this time, often coming as commentaries on The Cold War or Watergate. It’s not that the world became less harrowing, but stories back then were allowed to be more adult and confrontational, finding a piece of morality within these stories that everyone in the audience could root for. The following are a handful of my personal favorites for a variety of reasons. The most noteworthy reason of all is that they hold up, managing to convey ideas that have never gone out of fashion – for better or worse.
This isn’t to say that I have seen every political campaign drama, but these are ones that took the subject often in creative directions and allowed for a conversation to be had. It was one that eventually became part of America’s DNA, and helped to shape the future as well. This is also a list composed of films that spend the majority of the narrative in the state of a campaign. It’s a time of transition and question what values we should all be carrying. It’s a good way to look at modern politics through a warped prism, giving us warnings about life if we don’t try to make the future better.
1. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. One day while on the radio, a musician (Andy Griffith) begins to express his values that appeal to small town America. As more interviews happen, he becomes more involved with politics until he winds up in the midst of a campaign. His message grows out of control as he becomes addicted to power, becoming corrupt and eventually goes crazy in his own personal skyscraper. He has lost sight of the message and, word has it, he doesn’t even care about the people he set out to help.
To be totally honest, it’s a bit uncanny to compare it to the modern president. At the time it was more of a cautionary tale, one of which is layered with these minor persuasions that make evil seem more and more attractive. It helps that Griffith manages to deliver a homely yet haunting performance where even his cowboy yells over the radio become grating remarks of his loud incoherency. He’s out of control, but the public doesn’t know it. How is he possibly going to be taken down? In director Elia Kazan’s take, it’s a little more optimistic than reality.
More than anything, it’s the cautionary suggestion that sometimes power corrupts, that trying to appeal to Middle America isn’t always a straightforward act. It’s one where evil hides in plain sight, sacrificing identity for a few extra points. It’s also the danger of having a platform that forces one to be reactionary, constantly being at odds with the world around them. Approval is an addictive force, and sometimes it comes at a terrible cost.
2. All the King’s Men (1949)
If there ever was to be only one movie ever made about political campaigns, let it be this towering achievement that chronicles the rise and fall of Willie Loman. With a career-best performance from Broderick Crawford, he towers over the crowd, the campaign banners hanging with the brim of hope. He seems like a great guy, who will lead this nation to victory. You buy into his beliefs as he speaks at a microphone, the crowd cheering him on in a blissful state. Loman is an ideal candidate through and through, and one who defines charisma.
Like most great campaign dramas, the corruption is an evil mistress ready to take Loman down. It’s a spiral into amorality that is an astounding example of classical dramatic structure. Even if it came out during a less controversial time, the struggle between good and evil remains a stark and powerful tale of what not to do. Then again, the private fall of Loman is one full of personal betrayal that is never seen by the public. As one wonders how he’ll get out of this without losing his reputation, the twists grow more clever, reflecting the need for sacrificial lambs and how one man, no matter how flawed, can symbolize hope. What it lacks in modern familiarity it more than makes up for in a tale for humanity, looking for conscience in our public officials.
3. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
On the one hand, it’s not a traditional campaign drama. Instead, it is the story of a brainwashed soldier going after a candidate, eager to take him down. But what causes someone to be so disloyal to their country? Is there any way that this man can believe in the virtues that this great nation has bestowed on him? It’s an espionage thriller with some of the most masterful shot compositions, capturing a neurotic intensity. It speaks to the fears of a nation amongst a Cold War and a need to capture the values of the common man.
It’s a scenario that’s more than a farce, drawing from real-life events that make everything more haunting. What it lacks in reality it more than makes up for in plausibility, the idea that a cultural innocence can be ruined, taking away what’s special about freedom. It comments on something that remains prescient in the American ideology with amazing performances from a great cast who have rarely been better. While it asks what happens next, it asks us to question ourselves and what we would do for our country, even in the face of potential doom. It’s one of the definitive films about a fraught time in American history, and it has aged like a fine wine thanks to it being rich with ripe paranoia that feels all too real.
4. The Candidate (1972)
Following a string of fun and charismatic films in the 1960s, Robert Redford began his turn towards more politically conscious movies with another story of a politician whose intentions become corrupted. Who wouldn’t want to vote for Redford? He’s young, charming, and has this bright-eyed look at a future. As he campaigns up and down California, he confronts people looking for a change, wishing to break out of the ideologies of Nixon era politics. You believe him as he shakes every one of their hands. He’s media-friendly in the best ways possible and will do anything to make you happy.
The issue is that his corruption is much more slight than the other names on this list. For starters, he never entirely gives in to the dark side, instead reflecting the downside of compromise. In a society where everyone needs to give a little to get a little, he’s forced to question his platform constantly, eventually losing the plot of his own campaign. Even if he wins by the end, one has to ask if it was worth the sacrifice, the sense of optimism fading with the reality that he can no longer achieve what he set out to do. It’s a subtle yet nefarious journey, finding small defeats more powerful than a big one, and it all makes for a powerful and unique story made all the better by Redford and Peter Boyle’s excellent chemistry.
5. Nashville (1975)
On the surface, it’s easily the most unconventional campaign drama on this list. If you remember this Robert Altman classic for anything, it’s the massive cast that has all gathered together in Tennessee to perform a concert. There are dozens of musical numbers that are only outdone by the bigger cast, taking up space as they begin to capture the atmosphere of America, singing about a need for change, believing that their messages will be heard as their lives intersect and build to something poignant, adding depth to the political subtext that exists just out of frame.
Even if the campaign doesn’t come across as the best part, the atmosphere and ensemble will do plenty to win over even those nascent to country music. It’s a well-crafted experience that delivers from beginning to end, reflective of how the 1970s were a fraught time for opinions with lots of change and revolution on the way. It’s an epic like no other, and one that could go on another hour and still be just as good. It may not always say its intentions out loud, but it always feels like Altman’s saying it loud and clear.
Honorary Mention
The Best Man (1964)
This is a bit of an oddity that has been lost to time but is definitely worth tracking down. This story of a national convention finds two opponents from the same party fighting over who deserves the nomination. What follows is a story of how these individuals are both right and wrong for the job, realizing that competition is incapable of always satisfying everyone. It’s a drama adapted from a stage version that brings with it a bravado and force that is compelling from beginning to end, presenting the struggle with full vivid detail.
What makes it even more impressive is how despite discussing the ideas for what should lead a party, the actual title is never given. Is it Democrat or Republican? Maybe it’s some random third party Whatever it is, the filmmakers clearly have no interest in isolating audiences by picking sides. They figure that it’s best to just let the in-fighting do the work, allowing a sense that even if these people agree on a lot of things, they won’t always be copacetic on who should lead them.
What are your favorite 20th century dramas about political campaigning? Did I miss any major ones that are worthy of checking out?
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