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Editorial Reviews
Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson square off as political adversaries during a presidential primary in this sardonic, insightful drama that brings out the best, and worst, in American politics.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Savary
Format:VHS Tape
This film is shot in a documentary style, similar to other political pictures from the '60s, like "The Manchurian Candidate", "Seven Days in May", "The Bedford Incident", and "Dr. Strangelove".
What it so skillfully creates is the private, "smoke-filled back room" of political conventions in days of yore. The type of maneuvering depicted in the film is probably a thing of the past, as Presidential candidates are chosen well before the actual nomination process today.
Set at a conservative party's political convention in 1964, we get to see how those in any way connected to the political process are duplicitous, dishonest, and just plain two-faced depending on who is in the room at the moment and what the person wants from them. Even when alone with another of their ilk, the games continue.
Sadly, the film is all too accurate in its depiction of politicians. The fantasy of a Mr. Smith going to Washington, filled with true patriotism and a sense of sacred duty to the People, is quickly dispelled early on in the picture.
The film is amazingly absorbing, and crackling with tension despite usually tedious subject matter of politics.
Hank Fonda plays the candidate we are meant to root for, and Cliff Robertson the Nixon/McCarthy anti-red zealot we are meant to root against. Still, there are moments when Cliff comes across as a good choice as candidate, ready to be a President.
Perhaps that was what made this film so good; every character had more than one side, more to look at. They were truly three dimensional, rather than the stock characters that litter TV and film today.
I think you'll enjoy this one even if you don't like politics or political films. Hank Fonda and Cliff Robertson really deliver. The ending has a real twist you won't see coming.
If you do like politics, you will see the inner workings of an old-style Presidential convention, multiple ballots, back-room deals, and how endorsements and pledges of support are/were won and lost.
The documentary style is classic early 1960's, and seems to be a lost art these days... along with the idea of a Mr. Smith or an honest politician.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I remember seeing this movie as a kid, and really enjoying it. (I'm Irish, so of course I love movies about politics.) I wanted to add it to my permanent collection. But the first DVD was defective; it stalled about an hour into the movie, and nothing I could do could get it to continue playing. I tried it in two players, and on my computer. I contacted amazon.com and they sent me a replacement. The replacement was even worse! It started stalling in the opening credits. I notified amazon.com again, and they surmised that it would be pointless to send me a third disc, because it would probably be defective too. Both discs have been returned to amazon.com. So, in short, I'm sure that the movie itself is just as great as I dimly remember it, but amazon.com's vendor has apparently supplied a defective batch of discs. Once this problem is worked out, I will gladly try to order again.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The tagline for "The Best Man" was "Does the Best Man always get to the White House?" Today it is obvious to most of us that the answer is "no," and that those who seek the presidency are not the best the nation has to offer. Today is Election Day 2004 and the one common denominator between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry is that they were both nominated because they were seen as candidates who could win. But when you watch this 1964 film, adapted by Gore Vidal from his play, what you will notice how much things have changed in terms of how the sausage gets made. "The Best Man" speaks to the time, now long past, when candidates were selected by political bosses in smoke filled back rooms, although Gore expands the idea to involve some dirty tricks that must have seemed beyond the pale back then, but which would be considered tame by today's standards.
"The Best Man," which obviously comes from the hollow American wish "May the best man win," takes place at a national convention where the party's nominee is in doubt. The party is not named, but we know that it is the party that already controls the White House. President Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy) is very much interested in which of the five men running will follow him as President. When you look at the two main contenders you can see why it is not clear whether these are the Democrats or the Republicans. The favorite is Bill Russell (Henry Fonda), the former Secretary of State (Ironically, two years earlier Fonda had appeared in "Advise and Consent," where his character was being nominated for that same position). Russell comes across as an "egg head" in the Adlai Stevenson mold and while he sounds like a liberal we are told he is an American at heart. However, his chief rival is Senator Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), a ruthless opportunist who rose to national prominence by holding hearings in which he went after Communists. Given Robertson's performance, which makes it seem the character wants to be Godfather rather than president, Cantwell seems more like Richard Nixon than Joseph McCarthy.
Cantwell gets his hands on information that can sink Russell's candidacy and tries to use it to blackmail his opponent into withdrawing from the race, justifying his illegal activities as being what is good for the country (i.e., "Better dead than Red"). Russell tries to fight fire with fire, coming up with some devastating personal information about Cantwell, but using it would mean sinking to Cantwell's level, and Russell does not know if he can stomach doing that, even for the highest office in the land.
Gore might be dealing with black and white notions of character in the contrast of Russell and Cantwell, but the issues being bandied about in the rooms and corridors of the convention are rather complicated. It is not just a question of accusing a man of being a womanizer (or worse), because politics is a world where being indecisive is a greater crime than having a nervous breakdown. Today we easily recognize that everything Gore has written about in "The Best Man," except for the (or worse) part, has been a major political issue in the presidential campaigns of the last forty years since the film was released.
The ultimate thesis of this film is that stopping the wrong man from becoming president is more important in making sure that the best man wins. That proposition is as depressing today as it was when "The Best Man" came out. What makes the film work to the extent that it does is that we like Russell, and the way Gore constructs the story there is really nobody else to support besides Russell. But the point becomes moot as the emphasis becomes derailing Cantwell. That reason, more than any other, will explain why you will not feel good about American politics by the time this film is over.
Beyond Fonda's compelling performance there are several other excellent ones turned in by the supporting class (Tracy was nominated for an Oscar), most notably from Kevin McCarthy, Ann Sothern and Gene Raymond. You will also see Mahalia Jackson and Howard K. Smith playing themselves, and if you look quick you can spot Gore Vidal playing a delegate.
"The Best Man," which obviously comes from the hollow American wish "May the best man win," takes place at a national convention where the party's nominee is in doubt. The party is not named, but we know that it is the party that already controls the White House. President Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy) is very much interested in which of the five men running will follow him as President. When you look at the two main contenders you can see why it is not clear whether these are the Democrats or the Republicans. The favorite is Bill Russell (Henry Fonda), the former Secretary of State (Ironically, two years earlier Fonda had appeared in "Advise and Consent," where his character was being nominated for that same position). Russell comes across as an "egg head" in the Adlai Stevenson mold and while he sounds like a liberal we are told he is an American at heart. However, his chief rival is Senator Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), a ruthless opportunist who rose to national prominence by holding hearings in which he went after Communists. Given Robertson's performance, which makes it seem the character wants to be Godfather rather than president, Cantwell seems more like Richard Nixon than Joseph McCarthy.
Cantwell gets his hands on information that can sink Russell's candidacy and tries to use it to blackmail his opponent into withdrawing from the race, justifying his illegal activities as being what is good for the country (i.e., "Better dead than Red"). Russell tries to fight fire with fire, coming up with some devastating personal information about Cantwell, but using it would mean sinking to Cantwell's level, and Russell does not know if he can stomach doing that, even for the highest office in the land.
Gore might be dealing with black and white notions of character in the contrast of Russell and Cantwell, but the issues being bandied about in the rooms and corridors of the convention are rather complicated. It is not just a question of accusing a man of being a womanizer (or worse), because politics is a world where being indecisive is a greater crime than having a nervous breakdown. Today we easily recognize that everything Gore has written about in "The Best Man," except for the (or worse) part, has been a major political issue in the presidential campaigns of the last forty years since the film was released.
The ultimate thesis of this film is that stopping the wrong man from becoming president is more important in making sure that the best man wins. That proposition is as depressing today as it was when "The Best Man" came out. What makes the film work to the extent that it does is that we like Russell, and the way Gore constructs the story there is really nobody else to support besides Russell. But the point becomes moot as the emphasis becomes derailing Cantwell. That reason, more than any other, will explain why you will not feel good about American politics by the time this film is over.
Beyond Fonda's compelling performance there are several other excellent ones turned in by the supporting class (Tracy was nominated for an Oscar), most notably from Kevin McCarthy, Ann Sothern and Gene Raymond. You will also see Mahalia Jackson and Howard K. Smith playing themselves, and if you look quick you can spot Gore Vidal playing a delegate.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
F A B U L O U S & B R I L L I A N T
This is simply BRILLAINTLY Done!!! Fabulous Cast leads the way to where U just don't move!!! Its a Great politcal piece done in 1964
when LBJ was President!!! Read more
when LBJ was President!!! Read more
Published 1 month ago by AZRIFLEMAN
3.0 out of 5 stars
Familiar Theme, but well Executed
THE BEST MAN returns to familiar political territory, by focusing on the campaign for the nomination of a party candidate. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr. Laurence Raw
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Man
This is an excellent movie on political ethics in the context of a presidential campaign - a movie that should be watched along with The Candidate.
Published 3 months ago by jonathan allen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended
Interesting story, excellent screenplay & terrific acting. Holds up as topical after 50 years. Vidal wrote the play & the screenplay.
Published 7 months ago by Rayray
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Any man that wants to be President is crazy."
THE BEST MAN is Gore Vidal's screen adaptation of his 1960 stage drama. It includes Tony nominated Tracy reprising his role of the dying ex-president. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Annie Van Auken
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Man
Excellent (albeit idealized) look into politics circa 1960. wonderful acting by all the principles. Doubt it would occur today, but would like to think that there are some left in... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ken Sultanof
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Film, Mediocre Video Quality
Sadly, the video quality of this release is mediocre, at best. It appears to be a 2nd or 3rd generation digital transfer of a videotape copy of the film. Read more
Published on April 1, 2011 by J.A. Johnson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie- Rotten DVD
I was one of the first to get this defective DVD back in April 2010. I hated to give a bad review, because at the time I reasoned that the problem is with the studio and not... Read more
Published on February 9, 2011 by Gregory Ginn
5.0 out of 5 stars
dvdr plays well!
This is a fine, suspenseful, well-acted film about the long-lost time when political conventions had stances to decide and candidates to choose. Read more
Published on January 12, 2011 by Dennis P. Harrington
1.0 out of 5 stars
WARNING: DEFECTIVE DVD-R MASTERING
This refers to the DVD-R issue. I have bought four separate copies of it from different sellers, and they are all defective -- none will track past the 45 minute mark, or fast... Read more
Published on December 16, 2010 by Alec Howe
