Que le meilleur l'emporte

I work at a movie theatre and in a time of one-week wonders ( yes, one film with an action star lasted 3 days in our chain !) it is refreshing to see a film again where the acting is good and the story keeps your interest.

I am watching this movie after not seeing it for 30 years. It made an impression on me and I started listening to both Gore Vidal and William F Buckley because of it.

Henry Fonda's character is clearly based on Adlai Stevenson. Cliff Robertson echoes Richard Nixon so much it is scary. His arrogance is such that he gives the former President orders !

People decried the smoke-filled room politics of this era but I wonder if we got better leaders back then. They seemed to make decisions based on the courage of their convictions and not what the latest poll says. Fonda's character comments on his ignoring polls, whereas now, politicians can't seem to brush their teeth without worrying about public opinion and not what is best for the country.

The actors in this movie didn't need special effects and could ACT unlike so many of the baby-faced wanna-bes of today.

This movie reflects sex, immorality, infidelity, integrity. God and judgement day are even mentioned, something that is anathema today. And what's shown in here shows that times change but one could replace current politicians for these actors and see them immediately.

Lee Tracy is great in this movie and it could be easily watched for just his performance.

Of note, is the glad-handing by William Russell at a public pool. No security guards, no secret service people.

And mention of a nervous breakdown by Fonda's character. Remember Thomas Eagleton?

If you haven't seen this movie, see it and Seven Days In May afterward. It will give you an idea of how poliiics was looked upon in a totally different era.

George Senda Concord, Ca.

Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson are neck and neck for the Presidential nomination in "The Best Man," a 1964 film based on the play by Gore Vidal, who also wrote the screenplay. The film sports an outstanding cast including Margaret Leighton, Kevin McCarthy, Edie Adams, Lee Tracy, Edie Adams, Ann Sothern, Shelley Berman, Gene Raymond and Howard K. Smith.

Fonda is William Russell, a wealthy man of principle, though he cheats on his wife; Robertson is Joe Cantwell, who chases Communists, is a "man of the people," and plays dirty. At one point, each candidate has something on the other that could lose them the nomination. Nowadays, of course, these items would have come out long, long before the convention. "One word from me and Joe Cantwell is out of politics," Russell muses to his wife (Leighton). But can he say the word? This is a fascinating look at the machinations of getting a President nominated, and asks the question, can a man retain his integrity and still be a politician? Vidal's answer comes as not much of a surprise.

Fonda played presidents and politicians throughout his career. As Russell, he has reserve and dignity. He keeps you guessing. Robertson does a great job as a disloyal sleaze. Lee Tracy, who started in silents, is fantastic as the current, ill President, repeating the role he played on Broadway. The rest of the cast is uniformly good.

So much of what is stated in "The Best Man" remains true today. I doubt these races are handled much differently now. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Especially in politics.

Two men vie for the presidential nomination of a party. Based on a play by Vidal, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the political machinations on the campaign trail. Although the name of the party is not identified in the film, the candidates display elements of both Democratic and Republican values. Fonda is the decent, old-school liberal while Robertson is his ruthless, right-leaning rival. Both turn in excellent performances. The standout in the fine supporting cast is Tracy as a former president who must decide which candidate to endorse. This is an ideal companion piece to "Advise and Consent," made a couple of years earlier and also starring Fonda.

In a Presidential convention, William Russell (Henry Fonda) and Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson) are the leading candidates. Russell is a principled intellectual with personal issues that could haunt him. His estranged wife Alice is supportive publicly. Cantwell is a populist on the outside, and a ruthless opportunist on the inside. His wife is superficial. They struggle for the endorsement of the departing President Art Hockstader. Cantwell threatens to Hockstader that he would release Russell's secret psychiatric hospital records. In his all important speech, Hockstader doesn't give a direct endorsement throwing the convention open. He has concerns about Russell but vows to stop Cantwell.

This is a political movie of the era. The main characters are referencing politicians of the time. It loses a little with the passage of time. Fonda and Robertson are exceptional. Writer Gore Vidal injects the movie with plenty of behind the scenes realism. It is more real than most political thrillers of that era.

A sharp as nails look at US politics, maybe a bit old fashioned, but in a good way, with great performances and writing, and very well put together. It pits the packaged candidate of "the people", a scary Cliff Robertson against the principled liberal played by Henry Fonda, with Lee Tracy as the dying ex-president whose endorsement both vie for. While he favors Robertson for his decisiveness, he fears his utter lack of principles, but can't support the wavering Fonda. Sex, mental illness, shady characters dredged up by political operatives (in this case a great part by Shelley Berman), the fabulous portrayals of both of the wives (especially a cute and dangerous Edie Adams), the film transcends the characters, and hits home as much today as when it came out in 1964.