Word: skeffington
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This bluff and vigorous Ford film, based on the Edwin O'Connor roman à clef about four-time Boston Mayor James Curley, winks at the chicanery involved in getting into office and staying there. Spencer Tracy, right, is Frank Skeffington, on his final run for a job he believes is his by divine right. Doing favors, making deals, smiting enemiesto Frank, that's just politics. Has anything changed in 50 years? The big-city machine the film elegizes may be gone, but the malady lingers...
...decade, Patrick Kennedy's career was set on fast forward. He had lived in Rhode Island just a year and was only a college sophomore when he decided to take on a 10-year incumbent for the state legislature in 1988. "Who's Patrick Kennedy?" Jack Skeffington asked when he heard about his upstart primary opponent. "Is it a big deal...
...doors and spent an unheard-of $93,000--$73 for every vote he got--to win a $300-a-year job. On Election Day, Ted, Joan and John Jr. stationed themselves at polling places with hired photographers and Polaroid cameras, posing for souvenir snapshots with voters. Even Skeffington's campaign manager had one taken. Patrick won in a landslide, and on election night Ted phoned Jackie and Rose to announce that it had been his "happiest election...
...center of the show, of course, is the mayoral candidate himself, Frank Skeffington, impressively brought to life by theatrical veteran Michael Ball. In his dignified portrayal of the aging political lion, Ball combines a shrewd mind with a tender heart to gain the audience's sympathy, achieving just the right balance of bravado and fragility. Alienated from his son and his own inner-life, Skeffington's whole identity lies within his political campaign--"the greatest show on Earth!"--so when he loses the election (trust me, I'm not giving anything away), he becomes physically and emotionally crippled. Certainly...
...inconsistent to be praised. Besides containing about twelve too many characters (with not an interesting female role in the bunch), the script lacks the moral ambiguity that would have made The Last Hurrah a more intellectually engaging production. The press material for the play asks the seminal question "Is Skeffington a compassionate champion of the poor, an unscrupulous back-room deal maker, or both?" and it is clear early on in one's evening that the answer will not be hard to figure out. Yes, indeed, professional politicians need to step on a few hands and cut a few corners...