The Last Hurrah

The ageing mayor Frank Skeffington runs one last time. His methods are old-fashioned: door to door, funerals, favours given and collected. His opponent is a product of a newer politics built on television advertising. John Ford adapted Edwin O'Connor's novel, generally taken to be modelled on the career of Boston mayor James Michael Curley. Spencer Tracy plays Skeffington. The real subject is not the election but the end of a political generation. Ford does not deny the machine's corruption, and he plainly prefers it to the distant, bloodless politics television brought with it. The cast is full of familiar faces Ford had worked with over the years, which strengthens the film's tone of farewell. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood political portraits and Spencer Tracy. Who it is not for: anyone wanting balance. The film openly favours its hero and barely looks at the people machine politics cost.