The Candidate (1972 film)

The Candidate
Theatrical poster
Directed by Michael Ritchie
Produced by Walter Coblenz
Written by Jeremy Larner
Starring Robert Redford
Peter Boyle
Music by John Rubinstein
Cinematography Victor J. Kemper
John Korty
Edited by Robert Estrin
Richard A. Harris
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • June 29, 1972 (1972-06-29)
Running time
 109 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Candidate is a 1972 American political comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Peter Boyle, and directed by Michael Ritchie. The Academy Award-winning screenplay, which examines the various facets and machinations involved in political campaigns, was written by Jeremy Larner, a speechwriter for Senator Eugene J. McCarthy during McCarthy's campaign for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.

Plot

Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle), a political election specialist, must find a Democratic candidate to oppose California Senator Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter), a popular Republican. With no big-name Democrat eager to enter the unwinnable race, Lucas seeks out Bill McKay (Robert Redford), the idealistic, handsome, and charismatic son of former California governor John J. McKay (Melvyn Douglas).

Lucas gives Bill McKay a proposition: since Jarmon cannot lose and the race is already decided, McKay is free to campaign saying exactly what he wants. McKay accepts in order to have the chance to spread his values, and hits the trail. With no serious Democratic opposition, McKay cruises to the nomination on his name alone. Lucas then has distressing news: according to the latest election projections, McKay will be defeated by an overwhelming margin. Lucas says the party expected McKay to lose but not to be humiliated, so he moderates his message to appeal to a broader range of voters.

McKay campaigns across the state, his message growing more generic each day. This approach lifts him in the opinion polls, but he has a new problem: because McKay's father has stayed out of the race, the media interprets his silence as an endorsement of Jarmon. McKay grudgingly meets his father and tells him the problem, and the elder McKay tells the media he is simply honoring his son's wishes to stay out of the race.

With McKay is only nine points down in the polls, Jarmon then proposes a debate. McKay agrees to give answers tailored by Lucas, but just as the debate is ending, McKay has a pang of conscience and blurts out that the debate has not addressed real issues such as poverty and race relations. Lucas is furious, as this will hurt the campaign. The media try to confront McKay backstage, but arrive as his father congratulates him on the debate; instead of reporting on McKay's outburst, the story becomes the reemergence of the former governor to help his son. The positive story, coupled with McKay's father's help on the trail, further closes the polling gap.

With the election a few days away, Lucas and McKay's father set up a meet-and-greet with a labor union representative to discuss another possible endorsement. During the meeting, the union representative tells McKay that he feels that they can do a lot of good for each other if they work together. McKay ostensibly tells him that he is not interested in associating with him, but the tension is quelled with uncomfortable yet unanimous laughter. After a publicized endorsement with the union rep, and with Californian workers now behind him, McKay pulls into a virtual tie.

McKay wins the election. In the final scene, he escapes the victory party and pulls Lucas into a room while throngs of journalists clamor outside. McKay asks Lucas, "What do we do now?" The media throng arrives to drag them out, and McKay never receives an answer.

Cast

Production

The character of McKay is based on US Senator John V. Tunney. Director Michael Ritchie worked for Tunney's campaign in the 1970 Senate election.[1] In the campaign, Tunney's media adviser had "bulls-eyed the young/old contrast" between Tunney and incumbent opponent George Murphy.[2]

Ritchie, Redford and writer Jeremy Larner spent the whole summer of 1971 putting together the script.[3] The scene where McKay is berated in a men's room is based on an incident that happened to presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.[4] In the original script, there was a dialogue planned for McKay's mistress, however was cut by Redford's request[5]. Larner, stunned by Redford's concept of his personal image, stated that "[Redford] told me his public would not accept the mistress as a personality[5]."

Redford was reunited with Natalie Wood who made a cameo appearance as herself, after she had semi-retired in 1970.[6] The two had co-starred in the 1965 film Inside Daisy Clover, as well as the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned.

Reception

The film was critically acclaimed, with most praise going towards the script and lead performance. New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby applauded Redford's performance and commented that "The Candidate is serious, but its tone is coldly comic, as if it had been put together by people who had given up hope."[7]

Christopher Null, from filmcritic.com, gave the film 4.5/5, and said that "this satire on an American institution continues to gain relevance instead of lose it."[8]

The film holds a 'fresh' score of 90% on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, based on 29 critical reviews with the consensus: "The Candidate may not get all the details right when it comes to modern campaigning, but it captures political absurdity perfectly -- and boasts typically stellar work from Robert Redford to boot."[9]

Awards

The film won a Best Writing Oscar for Larner and was also nominated for Best Sound (Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa).[10]

Trivia

Former California Governor John J. McKay's character, played by Melvyn Douglas had some real world connection as Douglas' actual wife, Helen Gahagan Douglas was a former U.S. Congresswoman and the 1950 Democratic nominee for United States Senate from California - the same Senate seat that the fictional characters were competing for.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Beverly Merrill Kelley, Reelpolitik Ideologies in American Political Film, 2012, Lexington Books, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Kelley, p. 34.
  3. ↑ Kelley, p. 25.
  4. ↑ Kelley, p. 28.
  5. 1 2 Callan, Michael Feeney (2011). Robert Redford: The Biography. Knopf. p. 226.
  6. ↑ Pamela Lillian Valemont, Drowning and Other Undetermined Factors The Death of Natalie Wood, 2013, Lulu.com.
  7. ↑ "N.Y. Times review by V. Canby June 30, 1972". Movies2.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  8. ↑ Filmcritic.com review Archived 2006-10-23 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "The Candidate". Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-28.
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