The Senator Was Indiscreet

This wonderful vehicle carried so many great character roles and made statements about how things run. Many ring true today. It provided a deliciously skeptical view of politics in general and the American idea that "any boy can can grow up to be President"! The rise of State Highway Divisor Melvin Ashton to the US Senate and the brink of the Presidency may explain how some of our more recent candidates have made it to stage center. My favorite running gag from this film was the characterization of the Bolshevik waiter by the wonderful Hans Conried. It is a snapshot of 1947 America with the impending threat of the Red witch hunt. His portrayal rings true with his bewildered observation of the American political process. It suggests that America was more than a match for Conried's "complete report een treepliket to the Kramleen by 5 PM". It is a DISCREET suggestion of the excess attention focused on the artistic community at the time by the guardians of our liberty. William Powell again comes through in a comedic role. The film's ending is a great piece of irony and social comment. He finally made it as the Big Kahuna, albeit on a slightly smaller stage!

In the "good old days", in this case 1947, politicians were career opportunists and just as self serving and corrupt then as they are now. Happily, in the movies - unlike in real life - we can laugh at the trouble they get themselves into.

After 35 years of serving his state's constituents, senator Ashton wants to be president. And just what qualifications does he offer, asks his scoffing party leader? From a list "mama" found in a magazine, #3 is to have a dog. Ashton says, " I have a dog. I hate the hound. He's bit me 4 times, but I have one." This mild satire kept me laughing from beginning to end. Powell, as expected, is terrific, and Ray Collins stands out among the supporting characters. The "Senator" is not a classic comedy as is "My Man Godfrey", but it's not necessary or possible that every comedy hit a home run in order to be deemed worthy of our time.

I know this is going to sound preposterous, but try to imagine a politician who is completely incompetent. An idiot. A total buffoon. That is the story of Sen. Melvin G. Ashton, played by William Powell.

Ashton, planning for a career after being a senator, decides that the only other job he's qualified for is to become president. He seeks the job not just for himself, but for the benefit of all the relatives he has on his payroll. Through the movie, he quickly shows the wisdom he has picked up from his years in office with lines like, "If you can't beat 'em, bribe 'em!"

Ashton commences on a coast-to-coast tour to announce that he is NOT running for president and take some courageous stands on issues ("Ashton is against inflation, against deflation, for flation.") The villainess in the movie is a reporter played by the fetching Ella Raines, who vows to kill Ashton's campaign by quoting him accurately.

For some reason, the party leader doesn't want Ashton to be president. However, Ashton has kept a diary through the years that detail the shenanigans of other politicians and he's ready to use it as blackmail. The only problem is he loses the diary, and then the search is on to find it, by both party people that want to destroy it and others that want to publish it.

The people who will like this movie best are the ones that enjoy light comedies. I absolutely loved it. After seeing it, I'm sure you'll join Steven Colbert in asking, "Melvin G. Ashton: Great senator or greatest senator?"

As Will Rogers said he got a lot of his material from reading the Congressional Record. If Rogers were alive he'd have gotten several humorous monologues from William Powell as Senator Melvin Ashton, United States Senator from some unfortunate state and pompous windbag extraordinaire.

I'm reminded of former Senator Roman L. Hruska from Nebraska who in defending Richard Nixon's nomination of G. Harrold Carswell for the Supreme Court said that in his defense mediocre people also need representation on the Supreme Court. Or Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas who became Vice President under Herbert Hoover who went into partnership with a doctor who prescribed the extract from goat glands for his patients. Sad to say we do have a boob who gets through every now and then.

And Powell has decided that he's got so many relatives on the public payroll now that only the presidency will satisfy all the demands being made on him. He's decided to run for president with a cross country tour denying his ambition on every occasion to the dismay of party bosses like Ray Collins who is updating his role of Boss Jim Gettys from Citizen Kane.

Unfortunately this lummox decided to keep a diary which could sink the whole immediate world something like the expense account kept by that hood from Kansas City in Casino. Powell's publicist Peter Lind Hayes is mad to get it back thinking that investigative reporter Ella Raines might have it. Hayes knows what a boob he is, but also knows the accolades from the political manager types he'll get if he can put the boob over. That's an attitude that's fresh and alive today with many.

Bill Powell looked like he was having a ball in the part of Ashton. 1947 was the year Powell decided to surrender to age and began playing fatherly types. He was after all 55 years old. Had he not been nominated for Life With Father, Powell might well have gotten an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in this part.

One part of the film I'm afraid audiences might not get. As Powell contemplates that his political career might be finished they go through many jobs he could fill and it seems he just hasn't the qualifications for anything. One possibility might be as a sports 'czar' or commissioner of some professional sport as would have a colleague of Powell's just was made.

Albert B. 'Happy' Chandler who was a corn-pone politician of the highest order who was a former governor and then United States Senator from Kentucky became baseball's commissioner in 1945 succeeding Kenesaw M. Landis.

Landis who when he took the job was guaranteed a lifetime contract and ruled like a 'czar' of the major leagues. When he died the owners wanted a presentable front with some reputation and turned to Chandler. He actually surprised them all by overruling the whole lot of them and permitting the integration of major league baseball as Branch Rickey wanted. That show of independence cost him his job when his seven year contract was up and Chandler was succeeded by a group of nonentities that Melvin Ashton would have been superbly qualified to be among for the most part. Powell was just a tad ahead of his time.

Written by Charles MacArthur and directed by George S. Kaufman a pair of the best wits of the last century, The Senator Was Indiscreet is as fresh a political satire now as it was then. It's a short film with a laugh guaranteed every ten seconds.

William Powell, all dolled up in age makeup and a fluffy white mustache, plays a doddering old senator in this 1940s political satire. On the surface, he's an old fool who can be controlled by the party. He has delusions of grandeur about being the next presidential nominee. Underneath, he's savvy and dangerous. He's kept a diary full of illegal backroom deals other members of the party have made the past few decades, and he intends on publishing the diary unless he gets the party's support during the primaries.

Bill, you naughty boy! With a young and impressionable kid, Peter Lind Hayes, and an ambitious reporter, Ella Raines, out to help and hurt him, he doesn't quite know who he can trust. Friends and enemies are all after the infamous diary, and he'll be lucky if he makes it out alive! If you like sarcastic political flicks like Born Yesterday and State of the Union, give this one a shot. You'll see the familiar faces of Hans Conried, Ray Collins, Whit Bissell, and Allen Jenkins, as well as a very adorable cameo from someone who stood by Powell's side in thirteen other movies. . .