This week we inaugurate the 44th President of the United States. In honor of that event this post will highlight some of my favorite political thrillers, a genre that at least in the US is not what it used to be. My list clearly suggests that the 1960's was THE period for this category. I think part of that is because America loves war movies and the only real war we had going then was the Cold War. Hard to film scenes of those battles so the movies went up the intellectual chain to present behind the scenes battles of will. Made for some pretty "smart" movies.
A perfect recent example of the opposite trend is The Sentinel, with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland where a secret service agent is having an affair with the First Lady and gets framed for an attempted assassination of the president (those two things were not related). Not much intrigue - mainly just a lot of chases. [Kiefer should really stick to 24.] I haven't seen Frost/Nixon yet and have heard it is excellent. And, there have been other decent films in the last couple of years, like The Interpreter, Rendition and Charlie Wilson's War, so maybe this category is making a comeback. But it certainly isn't the 60's.
There are two very different movies that TIE at the head of my list. Then there are three that come in right after, then there are all the rest. (Click the movie title for the trailer)
1 - Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - The movie has a cult-like following and has gotten more airplay on cable in the last few years. A real classic. Peter Sellers was amazing in each of the three parts he played. And, a great supporting cast with George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden as the wonderful Col. Jack D. Ripper and Slim Pickens (Sellers was supposed to play this role - Major "King" Kong - as well, but broke his leg toward the end of filming. Supposedly they never told Pickens that the movie was a satire and he never saw the rest of the script. Made for a great result). Stanley Kubrick directed this film, arguably his best, and it is one that should not be missed. This film can be watched several times. The black and white filming enhanced this movie significantly. Loved the scenes in the war room.
1 - The Manchurian Candidate - The 1962 version, not the one with Denzel. Another B&W film that is served very well by that technique. For a long time this was on my top 10 overall list and is certainly among the top 25. To me, this film is the essence of what a great political thriller should be. Worth watching twice to catch a number of the complexities. Frank Sinatra was one of the stars. The movie was perceived as too intellectual by the Academy and it got very little recognition but it was a very tough year - other top films that year included To Kill a Mockingbird, The Longest Day and Lawrence of Arabia.
Coming in number 3 - 5 include:
Fail Safe (1964) - this is the best drama made on the subject of nuclear war. Henry Fonder (I mean Fonda) is great in this movie, which was also sort of the debut of Larry Hagman (better known as Master in I Dream of Genie or JR in Dallas).
Seven Days in May (1964) - Another great John Frankenheimer film. Great cast included Kirk Douglas, Bert Lancaster, Martin Balsam, Fredrick March, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien (nominated for Oscar in supporting role). [Key Scene]
All the President's Men (1976) - Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford combined to make this a big hit. Their chemistry in the film was terrific. Won four Oscars, nominated for eight. For anyone around during the Watergate scandal this movie is a must.
The next group - from number 6 -10 include:
A perfect recent example of the opposite trend is The Sentinel, with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland where a secret service agent is having an affair with the First Lady and gets framed for an attempted assassination of the president (those two things were not related). Not much intrigue - mainly just a lot of chases. [Kiefer should really stick to 24.] I haven't seen Frost/Nixon yet and have heard it is excellent. And, there have been other decent films in the last couple of years, like The Interpreter, Rendition and Charlie Wilson's War, so maybe this category is making a comeback. But it certainly isn't the 60's.
There are two very different movies that TIE at the head of my list. Then there are three that come in right after, then there are all the rest. (Click the movie title for the trailer)
1 - Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - The movie has a cult-like following and has gotten more airplay on cable in the last few years. A real classic. Peter Sellers was amazing in each of the three parts he played. And, a great supporting cast with George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden as the wonderful Col. Jack D. Ripper and Slim Pickens (Sellers was supposed to play this role - Major "King" Kong - as well, but broke his leg toward the end of filming. Supposedly they never told Pickens that the movie was a satire and he never saw the rest of the script. Made for a great result). Stanley Kubrick directed this film, arguably his best, and it is one that should not be missed. This film can be watched several times. The black and white filming enhanced this movie significantly. Loved the scenes in the war room.
1 - The Manchurian Candidate - The 1962 version, not the one with Denzel. Another B&W film that is served very well by that technique. For a long time this was on my top 10 overall list and is certainly among the top 25. To me, this film is the essence of what a great political thriller should be. Worth watching twice to catch a number of the complexities. Frank Sinatra was one of the stars. The movie was perceived as too intellectual by the Academy and it got very little recognition but it was a very tough year - other top films that year included To Kill a Mockingbird, The Longest Day and Lawrence of Arabia.
Coming in number 3 - 5 include:
Fail Safe (1964) - this is the best drama made on the subject of nuclear war. Henry Fonder (I mean Fonda) is great in this movie, which was also sort of the debut of Larry Hagman (better known as Master in I Dream of Genie or JR in Dallas).
Seven Days in May (1964) - Another great John Frankenheimer film. Great cast included Kirk Douglas, Bert Lancaster, Martin Balsam, Fredrick March, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien (nominated for Oscar in supporting role). [Key Scene]
All the President's Men (1976) - Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford combined to make this a big hit. Their chemistry in the film was terrific. Won four Oscars, nominated for eight. For anyone around during the Watergate scandal this movie is a must.
The next group - from number 6 -10 include:
Z - Costa Gravas film set in Greece - (subtitle alert - French) - made in the late 60's - another one during that same rich time period. Stars Yves Montand. Won Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for best director and best movie. It is the shortest movie title to ever be nominated (Fritz Lang's "M" was not nominated).
All the King's Men - Broderick Crawford version, sorry but the Sean Penn rendition was boring. Having lived in Louisiana and parked in front of one of Huey's mansions for several years near work you can really see how this stuff happened. When Edwin Edwards (convicted felon, former Governor) was running for LA. Governor the next time around (two term limit so he had to sit out for a term before running again) against David Duke, head of the local KKK, there was a classic bumper sticker - "Vote for the crook, it's important." Edwin was quoted as saying the only way he would lose to Duke was if he was, "caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." Very few third world countries could provide more colorful politics.
Advise and Consent - one of the best films directed by Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder and Exodus, both of which appear or will appear on other top ten lists on this blog). Another star-studded cast - Henry Fonder (I mean Fonda), Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Burgess Meridith, and Frank Sinatra (as himself in a cameo). This film holds you on the edge of your seat. [Trailer - en Espanol but the movie is in English]
JFK - The Oliver Stone chronicle of the Kennedy assassination conspiracy. Very convincing. You'll never make me think Oswald did it alone again.
13 Days - Cuban missile crisis is the subject matter. Bruce Greenwood makes a good JFK (sort of reminds me of Cliff Robertson who starred as JFK in Profiles of Courage) and RFK was well played by Steven Culp. Kevin Costner was good in this film as well.
13 Days - Cuban missile crisis is the subject matter. Bruce Greenwood makes a good JFK (sort of reminds me of Cliff Robertson who starred as JFK in Profiles of Courage) and RFK was well played by Steven Culp. Kevin Costner was good in this film as well.
I have not seen The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) and have heard it is great. So it gets passed over at this time. Will be trying to find that one soon.
There were several others that were close for me. And, there could be still more, depending on how you define the genre.
Some runner's up:
Torn Curtain - Not one of Hitchcock's best but still a pretty good "spy" film (more in the "spy" category than this one, but another film made in the '60's). Paul Newman was pretty credible and Julie Andrews actually was effective in her role as well. Hard to imagine Sound of Mucous star pulling it off, but she did.
City Hall - Great cast but the plot was a little weak for them (Pacino, Cusack, Aiello, Bridget Fonda, Tony Francioso, Martin Landau)
Bulworth - Warren Beatty was excellent and Hallie Berry didn't hurt the film either. Some parts just didn't seem believable.
Power - Great premise, just not carried off as well as it could have been. Richard Gere was a good choice for the part. A Sidney Lumet film (Prince of the City - what a great film that is, Network, Serpico, The Wiz, The Verdict).
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - how could you not get behind Jimmy Stewart in this film. Could have been called "A Wonderful Life Goes Federal."
Nixon - Excellent portrayal of the end of his days. Another Oliver Stone movie. And, another movie where Anthony Hopkins shows us how versatile an actor he is. BTW - I saw "W" last week and was very disappointed. The only redemption for the film was Josh Brolin's portrayal, by the end of the film, I thought he WAS W.
I was not particularly impressed with Primary Colors, The Interpreter, Absolute Power or The Candidate although they were all pretty entertaining. Lots of that in this category; good fluff.
The next really great political thriller may be on the way. State of Play, starring Russell Crowe is due out in April. It's based on one of the best BBC TV series I've seen (by the same name). Unfortunately it also has Ben Affleck in a lead role but hopefully the film can overcome that.
And last...the film in the category I want to see is the Korean movie, Geuddae Geusaramdeul, translated as, The President's Last Bang, the story of the assassination of Park Chung-hee. The title alone makes me want to see it.
This post does not attempt to cover political comedies like Wag the Dog, Dave, The Distinguished Gentleman or my favorite political comedy, Charlie Chaplin's, The Great Dictator. [And, yes, Dr.Strangelove is certainly funny but it transcends that to being on this list.]
Enjoy the inauguration. If you are going, be careful, there is always a lot of foul play afoot in DC.Next Post: All American Movies
