Mr. Ace

For all its professionalism and excellent music, this is not a very significant film. I actually fell asleep several times during the long gaps of any intrigue leading forward. It becomes interesting not until towards the end, but there is one very interesting character, who actually sustains the whole film: Roman Bohnen as the professor. He raises your interest the moment he first appears, and you look forward to his return throughout the film, which fortunately frequently is repeated. He is the only clever one, while the others are not very convincing. George Raft is always himself as a gangster, and it's impossible to ever like him - his name is enough to deter you from any film he is in. But Sylvia Sidney is even worse - she is probably the least possible convincing actress for a politician.

The twists towards the end save the intrigue and the script, which isn't bad, but the one thing lacking is credibility. They say that all is fair in politicis, but the end proves this wasn't politics at all but merely the old worn-out story of bitter opponents ending up as lovers.

Margaret Wyndom Chase (Sylvia Sidney) is a hard-driven Congresswoman who is bent on becoming her state's next governor. She is a tough dame and seems willing to jump into the pig sty that is politics to get elected. However, one of the movers and shakers in the state, Eddie Ace (George Raft) has decided not only not to help her but work against her because of his brilliant and modern thinking that 'a pretty woman has no place in politics'!! But after he does what he can to sink her candidacy, Eddie inexplicably helps her with a second chance...presumably because he's suddenly developed a conscience! Considering that he's supposed to be a hard-bitten and rather amoral man, this is utterly preposterous...severely undermining the film.

George Raft is relatively wooden (as usual) and Sidney and the rest are reasonably good. But the huge plot problem I mentioned above does a lot to hurt the film. I honestly think the film could have worked very well if they'd removed the leading character (Eddie Ace) from the film!! The notion of a woman fighting for respect and acceptance in politics in the 1940s would have been really interesting.

Women in politics weren't common in 1947 when this came out. Therefore, this was a surprisingly straight forward look at the theme with an ambitious socialite who's no sweet "goody goody". I do agree with the reviewer who would have liked more emphasis on Sylvia Sidney and her campaign and less on George Raft and the inevitable romance.

And so this is disappointingly mediocre, not going where it could have gone. Even so, it's an interesting film to watch, especially in this age. And actually, I believe that it stands as a better "woman in politics" movie than most with the theme. Don't expect a gangster movie although Raft naturally is close to being one in this.

Congresswoman Sylvia Sidney announces her candidacy for governor, and asks political boss George Raft for his support. He wines her and dimes her and tells her she cannot win, because beautiful women shouldn't be in politics. So she goes to another member of his machine and cuts a deal with him for the nomination in the one-party state.

Miss Sidney's character, named Margaret Wyndham Chase, is clearly modeled on Maine senator Margaret Chase Smith. She even wears the hideous hats that Mrs. Smith affected. The political machine, named the Tomahawk Club, is modeled on New York City's Tammany Hall.

One of the issues I have with Mr.Raft's performances in movies is his impenetrable mien. He says things, and they are things that he believes, it there is rarely any hint of what he is actually thinking. Here that actually works to the performance's benefit; he seems a character who is precise, intelligent and impenetrable. This leaves Miss Sidney to carry the emotional weight of this political romantic comedy.

This was a period during which Hollywood was making movies about practical politics and the effects of the machine. With the end of the Second World War, soldiers were coming home and expected changes. Capra tried a couple of movies, and even John Ford got together his non-western stock company for THE LAST HURRAH. By the time that came out, there were stirrings of change in society and politics, and the movies were no longer part of the National conversation. Nowadays, political movies usually have a sour, satirical edge to them.

Sylvia Sidney is a wealthy woman who wants to be governor in "Mr. Ace" from 1946, also starring George Raft, with Stanley Ridges, and Jerome Cowan.

In order to have a chance at winning, Margaret (Sidney) has to get the backing of Eddie Ace, a political boss. Eddie doesn't want to endorse her. For one thing, he seems to have fallen for her; for another, she's an independent thinker, and he senses she won't follow instructions.

It's always fun to see a younger Sylvia Sidney. Here, with her hairdo and suit, she reminds me a little of Bette Davis. She gives a very good performance. Raft is his usual tough guy self.

The attitude toward women in politics in this film is interesting. It was a little more unusual back then that it is now, though there were some formidable women in the game, including Melvyn Douglas' wife Helen Gahagan Douglas, Nellie Taylor Ross, governor of Wyoming, and Miriam Ferguson in Texas. It's mentioned in the film that 29 members of the House of Representatives up to that time were women.

It's an okay watch.