The politics of political films.

• Author: Gehring, Wes D.
• Position: Mass Media - Critical essay

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IN THIS VOLATILE ELECTION year, the timing seems right for a piece on pivotal political films. Any article addressing this subject has to start with director Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), the populist classic showcasing a young, idealistic Jimmy Stewart as the title character fighting corruption in the Senate. What is forgotten today is that, while the movie was a critical and commercial hit upon its initial release, "Mr. Smith" was not without controversy. Capra's decision to premiere the picture in Washington, D.C., was a fiasco. Many senators were offended that the plot was driven by political corruption. Moreover, some officials abroad, such as the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, Joseph Kennedy, felt the film should be banned, arguing that it gave ammunition to America's enemies, but that sentiment soon changed when fans of the movie, here and overseas, embraced the freedom inherent in a society that could showcase flaws in a system and then rally the people to demand change.

A second must-see political picture is "All the President's Men" (1976), the chronicling of real-life Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein's (Dustin Hoffman) investigation of the Watergate break-in that ultimately brought down the Nixon White House. Redford was the auteur here, buying the fights to the Woodward-Bernstein book early, and then bringing in his "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) screenwriter William Goldman. The results included Oscars for best picture and script, though Goldman's fondness for male buddy storytelling was chided by the Washington Post, dubbing the movie "Butch and Sundance Bring Down the Government." As with "Mr. Smith," "All the President's Men" scored extra points for American democracy by being bold enough to reveal flaws in the system.

After these two milestone movies, what follows might be rescrambled in any order. Let us start with Redford's "The Candidate" (1972), a political satire that stays close to reality. Redford plays an at-first reluctant Senate candidate allowed to maintain--for the most part--his ideals during the campaign, because it is assumed he cannot win. Yet, here's the twist, according to Redford's handpicked director, Michael Ritchie: "[The title character was] the kind of guy who hates politics, thinks it's all [bull], then gets involved in it [and pulls an upset]." The picture's brilliant close has Redford's...