John Ford’s contemporary political film follows the last campaign of a big city mayor, Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy, masterful), as he battles a younger candidate favored by the blue bloods.  Skeffington is of Irish descent and represents a style of politics that was thought to be fading as television and appearance began to play a bigger role in elections.  At wakes, parades, and in personal meetings with the public at his home, Skeffington reacts to the needs of the public directly.  His methods for getting what he wants are often underhanded (blackmailing a banker with embarrassing pictures of his son, for example) but, at least in this film, are directed towards the greater good.  All careers must come to an end, though, and the film charts what that might look like.

The film has a huge cast of older Hollywood character actors (Pat O’Brien, Basil Rathbone, James Gleason, John Carradine, Ricardo Cortez, Wallace Ford, Frank McHugh, among many others) taking a last spin in front of the cameras.  Ford must have seen parallels between the work in Hollywood that he had done with that generation of actors and Skeffington’s political career.  Both represent a fading way of life but a way that Ford obviously preferred.  The performances are generally excellent with Tracy at the middle giving an autumnal reading to a rich role.  Ford is arguably the greatest American Hollywood director and the film is a reflection on the work he did.  He still had another decade of filmmaking in front of him but he appears to have been aware that the end was approaching.  Many describe the film as “distant” but it comes straight from Ford’s heart.  It is worth seeing for anyone who enjoys Ford, Tracy, or classic Hollywood.  ✰ ✰ ✰ ½.

MJM  12-30-2011