Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007030146
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This 1964 black-and-white picture is about two candidates fighting it out at the national convention for their party's presidential nomination. Henry Fonda is William Russell, a smart liberal in the Adlai Stevenson/John F. Kennedy mold. Cliff Robertson is Joe Cantwell, a conservative demagogue whose ambition is equalled by his low-level, mudslinging tactics.
Some of the political issues of the time seem slightly dated. But the growing importance of television in political campaigns, the questionable balance between image and substance in candidates, and scintillating hints of sexual scandal are as topical and important today as they were in 1964.
"The Best Man" is not simply an exercise in partisan politics, though it makes no bones about its biases. It's solid, engrossing drama. Vidal's fast-paced script, based on his play, sketches in a vivid, memorable supporting cast, played by a troupe of veteran character actors: Kevin McCarthy as Russell's sharp assistant, Lee Tracy as the influential ex-president, Edie Adams as Cantwell's wife, Ann Sothern as a shrewd power behind the scenes and Shelley Berman as a nervous mouse of a man who claims to have the dirt on one of the candidates.
But the two leads carry the film. Fonda was at the peak of his considerable acting power then. He looks and sounds exactly like a presidential candidate, as does Robertson.
Director Franklin Schaffner keeps the action moving without overplaying unusual camera angles to add tension to the hallways and hotel rooms where most of the film takes place. Haskell Wexler's black-and-white photography is so crisp and sharp that "The Best Man" loses little in the translation to the small screen.
If this is one of those movies that you've missed, you're in for a treat. If you've seen it before, you'll be happily surprised by how well it has aged.
Though it's not as well known, "The Best Man" stands up well to three other significant political films of the period, "The Manchurian Candidate," "Dr. Strangelove, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and "Fail-Safe."
\ "Dr. Strangelove," the film itself, and Dr. Strangelove, the character played by Peter Sellers, are indelible pieces of popular culture. The central image of the film is unforgettable: Powerful men sitting in the dark "war room," and calmly discussing the murder of millions while the instruments of war hurtle beyond their control. Writer/director Stanley Kubrick's film was nominated for several Oscars in 1964.
I haven't seen "Fail-Safe" since its original release in 1964, but if memory serves, it's a taut, effective cold-war thriller. Fonda plays a president who has to deal with his Soviet counterpart via the hotline when the "fail-safe" systems fail and a plane armed with nuclear bombs heads for the Soviet Union. This is one of director Sidney Lumet's early efforts, told with his typically understated style.
The 1962 conspiracy thriller, "The Manchurian Candidate," was re-released theatrically and then on video in 1987. It is still one of the most captivating films of its time. Frank Sinatra is occasionally overbearing in the lead. But Lawrence Harvey, as the luckless Raymond, is a sympathetic tragic assassin and Angela Landsbury, as his mother, is a brilliant villainess. Though the role isn't as large, James Gregory is also very good as a thinly-veiled Joseph McCarthy. Director John Frankenheimer has yet to equal this early success.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy directly affected both "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Dr. Strangelove." Sinatra, also one of the producers, kept his film out of distribution for years because some of the plot details were so similar to reality. "Dr. Strangelove" was in production when Kennedy was killed. Originally, it was meant to end with a comic food fight in the War Room and the president being hit with a pie in the face. That kind of broad slapstick would not have been funny in 1964.
THE ESSENTIALS:\ `The Best Man': 1/2 MGM/UA. 104 min. Not rated, contains mild profanity.
\ `Dr. Strangelove': RCA/Columbia. 93 min. Not rated, contains mild profanity.
\ `Fail-Safe': RCA/Columbia. 111 min. Not rated.
\ `The Manchurian Candidate': 1/2 MGM/UA. 127 min. Rated PG for violence, mild profanity. 7 1 VIDEO Video
by CNB