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The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Last Hurrah (1958)
March 21, 2012 - 7:30 pm

Directed by John Ford

In this moving, autumnal work, Tracy and John Ford (who collaborated on Up The River, 1930) ennoble the image of the dogged fighter in this portrait of an aging mayor running for re-election, deploying high-minded principle and dirty politics with equal fervor. Tracy’s unapologetic Frank Skeffington seems reconciled to both his cynicism and public virtues, allowing for a complex picture of leadership as a hardscrabble game.

Columbia Pictures Corp. Producer: John Ford. Based on the novel by Edwin O’Connor. Screenwriter: Frank Nugent. Cinematographer: Charles Lawton, Jr. Editor: Jack Murray. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, Diane Foster, Pat O’Brien, Basil Rathbone.

35mm, b/w, 122 min.