The Last Hurrah (1958)

 Frank, an experienced politician, is running for reelection as mayor of an important city. The local newspaper owner has a grudge against him, and is backing a newcomer rival. Frank turns the funeral of an impopular man into a campaign event. He then tricks a banker into making a loan to a housing project.

Dramatic comedy which pits an Irish-descended populist politician against the dark forces of old elites. Although its basic ideology is rooted in liberal democracy, what the film shows is how that system is inherently inefficient, and the only way to make it work minimally is by circumventing rules through cunning or deceit. Aside from that, the paradox which the film exposes is that its protagonist is advanced in political ideas yet backward in political methods, whereas his antagonists are the opposite: reactionary in political ideas yet progressivist in political methods. The film's purported aim is to depict the end of an era in politics. The humor is tame, the drama is sentimental, the analysis is superficial.

Rating: 46