September 2008

State of the Union

• Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Adolphe Menjou, Lewis Stone
• Directed by: Frank Capra
• Theatrical release: 1948
• DVD release: 2006
• Video: 1.37:1 (fullscreen)
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Released by: Universal

See if any of this sounds familiar: The Republicans are afraid that the Democrats will win the White House, the Senate, and the House, all in the same general election. They need a guaranteed Presidential win, so they choose a dark horse, the very popular Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy), a straight-talking man who says he’ll tell voters not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. His biggest push comes from Republican Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury), a newspaper owner who smells a story. She also sees an opportunity for herself to get closer to the true seat of power. Because she’s also Matthews’ mistress.

Matthews’ long-suffering wife, Mary (Katherine Hepburn), knows that her husband is straying, and leaves him. But the pols know that the only way Matthews can be elected President is if he can convince the public that his family life is stable and loving. They encourage him to go to Mary, beg her forgiveness -- and ask her to campaign for him. Mary is no Republican, in fact, she’s a liberal populist, and her pride is still stung by her husband’s deceit. But she also believes that he would be the best President, so she signs on.

Soon, straight-talking Grant is getting hit by union leaders, precinct bosses, big business, and every other powerful force in American politics as, little by little, they peel away his gritty independence. His one great selling point is that he has American values and isn’t afraid to stand up to anyone. But again and again, the pols take a little piece of his soul until there’s not much left. Of course, neither the politicians nor Kay care that Matthews is selling his soul piecemeal. Only Mary sees that her husband is so focused on winning that he doesn’t notice the spiritual price he’s paying: the heartbreaking destruction of his very moral fiber.

Frank Capra usually made sweet films, but he was also a curmudgeon who loved taking a nasty satirical bite out of the hands of those in power. Of all of Hollywood’s golden-era directors, no one had a greater trust in the goodness of the American people, and no one had as great a hatred of the power mongers -- Capra was a populist in the truest sense. He was also smart enough to use his bully pulpit -- America’s film theaters -- for his own personal propaganda campaign warning people that they shouldn’t knuckle under to big business or big politics.

What makes State of the Union powerful beyond its, unfortunately, timeless story, is to see one of America’s top film couples coping with broken hearts. Though Tracy is most often remembered for his saintly dramas and romantic comedies, his Grant Matthews reminds us that he was also willing to play a guy with flexible morals. To watch Grant begin as a force of nature, then devolve into a stooge, breaks not only his wife’s heart, but ours as well. Hepburn’s combination of strength, compassion, and resigned sadness is powerful acting. As Mary sees the man she loves give away his marriage, his integrity, and his honor, all for the questionable affections of a power-hungry mistress and the creepy, sycophantic assuagements of the political managers, she descends into a hell of her own.

Tracy and Hepburn had their own long-term romantic relationship, though in their case it was Hepburn who was the mistress. Whatever pain this caused them, and Tracy’s own wife and family, the benefit for us is that their love lights up the screen. The comedies they made together -- Adam’s Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Woman of the Year (1942) -- were loaded with sparkling repartée and the type of humor any married couple would understand. That love is also what gives State of the Union such poignancy. How could Grant Matthews be so callous to such a loving wife?

Despite the star power of Hepburn and Tracy, the juiciest character is Kay Thorndyke, and 23-year-old Angela Lansbury steals most of her scenes. She creates a spine-chilling vixen with vivid delusions about her place in the arena of power, attached to a sociopath’s sense of morality.

Capra injects just enough humor to keep this satire from getting too gloomy or bitter. He also does his normal effective job of creating visual drama without ever calling attention to the camerawork or the editing. It all just comes out smoothly and naturally, with nothing getting in the way of the story, or of cinematographer George Folsey’s vivid black-and-white images. Thankfully, Universal’s DVD edition is very clear, and mostly noise-free. The fact that there are no extras is at least mitigated by the low list price of $14.98.

Although the Republican and Democratic parties are mentioned by name in the script, State of the Union is an equal-opportunity offender. There’s something in this dark satire to fit any of the politicians currently hoping to take up residence in the White House. John Edwards excuses an affair because he was a weak narcissist, when the truth appears to be that he didn’t want it to get in the way of his Presidential run. Then think of the sea change we’ve seen in Navy man John McCain between 2000 and 2008, as he’s succumbed to the power brokers and flipped his core positions for one more chance at the Oval Office. Or Hillary Clinton’s morphing from poor Mary to Grant within six years. And how about Bill Clinton’s willingness, in order to get back into power, to do a complete 180 on the few things he held dear? Or Barack Obama’s change from a man above politics to a man of politics?

What makes State of the Union timeless is the fact that politicians just don’t seem to get it. The only reason the pols are surrounded by groveling lobbyists and sinister political groupies is because those creeps want someone else to do their dirty work, and they’re willing to feed the needy egos of these politicians in any way necessary to keep their clients paying. They see it as a win-win. We lose.

Please vote this November, but before you cast your ballot, watch State of the Union. It’s a powerful reminder that we need to let the folks who operate both of the major political-party machines that the real bosses are we, the people.

. . . Wes Marshall
wesm@hometheatersound.com

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