State of the Union (1948) - State of the Union (1948) - User Reviews - IMDb
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8/10
Politics as usual
blanche-223 December 2009
It never ceases to amaze me how one can see a film about politics made in the '30s, '40s, '50s - doesn't matter when it was made, it always seems like it was made yesterday. "State of the Union," a 1941 Frank Capra film, is another political film that comes off as very fresh. A plain speaking, likable man, Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is convinced to run for President by the publisher of a newspaper, Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) who is also his mistress, and before he knows it, his words and intentions are no longer his own. Because he wants to win, he compromises and lies down with the dogs. When he stands up, he's got fleas.

Katharine Hepburn costars as Grant's wife Mary in a role intended for Claudette Colbert, and she's excellent. She got the part by sheer happenstance - she was with Tracy when Capra called to say that Colbert was out. Colbert wanted to be filmed from the left only and didn't want to work after 5. Because the studio wanted the film out before the actual 1948 Presidential election, there wasn't the time or budget to accommodate her.

All the performances in this film are marvelous. Van Johnson is very funny and charming as a newspaperman who becomes Grant's campaign manager. Adolphe Menjou is perfect as Kaye's mouthpiece who wants to go after the money people and court big business and the union heads. Lansbury is fantastic as the ambitious, cutthroat Kaye, who took over the paper from her father and knows how to use and abuse power.

By today's standards, "State of the Union" is probably too talky - Capra often has big monologues in his films, but they're always delivered powerfully. Here is no exception. A rousing film about the breakdown of idealism before political realities.
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8/10
One of the better Tracy-Hepburn collaborations
vincentlynch-moonoi11 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The plot is slick: Newspaper magnate Angela Lansbury wants to push her lover -- aircraft tycoon Spencer Tracy -- into running for President on the Republican ticket, thus making her the power behind the throne. But there are some sticky problems -- the affair, the real wife (Katharine Hepburn), and Tracy's own reticence to run. And, Lansbury wants to use Hepburn's disdain of the affair as a way to lead her to support Tracy's candidacy. The climax comes when a nationwide fireside chat is planned from the Matthews' home, and both Lansbury and Hepburn are present.

Spencer Tracy: In this film, Tracy continues a very rapid transition from middle-aged to beginning to look old. Appropriate for a presidential candidate, but Tracy was aging rather quickly, considering that in his films of the mid-40s, he still looked mid-40ish himself. Then in films of the late 40s ("The Sea Of Grass" and "Cass Timberlane") the transformation came quickly. And here, in 1948 he is looking very distinguished. Tracy is at his best, particularly at the climax of the film.

Katharine Hepburn: I consider this one of her best performances, particularly her soliloquy near the end of the film. And the chemistry between Spencer and Katharine...remarkable...and it certainly shines through here.

Van Johnson: As I was watching, I was thinking about how much better Van Johnson's smart-aleck reporter went across in this Tracy film, than did Gene Kelly's in "Inherit The Wind". Here Johnson's character attempted to show the negative side of politics, and succeeded, and it's remarkable how many lines still ring true 60 years later! Adolphe Menjou: Not one of my favorites, but brilliant here as the stereotypical smoke-filled-room era politician, and interested to note that the conservative Menjou and the liberal Hepburn were apparently at each other to the point of not speaking during the shoot (according to the new Tracy biography).

Angela Lansbury: Remarkably, Lansbury was only 23 years old when this film was made, and I think you may see parallels between her role/performance here and in "The Manchurian Candidate".

Lewis Stone: Has a small, but critical role at the beginning of the film as Lansbury's father...a powerful but spurned politician that commits suicide while suffering from intestinal cancer...and the scenes between Lansbury and Stone are critical to understanding what makes Lansbury's character do what she does.

This is a wonderful film, and one of the better examples of the Hepburn-Tracy relationship. Each shines here. And, of course, this is one of the later films by director Frank Capra, and although it is not held in as high esteem as some of his earlier films, I personally think it is one of his best. A great addition to your DVD shelf. My rating -- an "8".
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9/10
A Masterful Chemistry Class
janiceferrero12 August 2007
Politics then and now, what's the difference? "People are beginning to think that there is no difference between the Republican and the Democratic party" Sounds familiar? Special interests groups, lobbyists, mercenaries and somewhere in the middle of it all Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, projecting the hopes of all well meaning Americans, or earthlings in general for that matter. The chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn is so all consuming that whatever we see them do or hear them say we believe, we believe totally. As if this was not enough, Adelph Menjou gives his character a truth that is as relevant and uncomfortable as it is entertaining. But the crowning jewel of this wonderful film is Angela Lansbury - she was barely 20 years old when she made this movie and look at her, just look at her. Not merely holding her own with seasoned stars like Tracy and Hepburn but at times, overshadowing them. This is considered a minor Capra, I just say, you must be kidding.
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6/10
Tracy and Hepburn fight dirty politics...
Doylenf4 November 2006
It's ironic that this is probably the least well-known of the Tracy/Hepburn collaborations--and yet, it's among their best as far as performances and overall content is concerned. Everyone, including KATHARINE HEPBURN and SPENCER TRACY, looks good in this film. VAN JOHNSON has one of his most engaging roles as the good guy who sees through the manipulations of corrupt ANGELA LANSBURY and ADOLPHE MENJOU.

And so, dirty politics is the theme of this film taken from the stage play by Howard Lindsey and Russel Crouse that starred RALPH BELLAMY and RUTH HUSSEY. Unfortunately, as directed by Frank Capra, it has a certain staginess about the proceedings with actors making entrances and exits as if on cue in rather static situations. But it's a pretty polished script and it's amusing to see the wonderful ANGELA LANSBURY (all of 23) playing a sophisticated woman in her 40s with such ease and perfection.

Spencer has a role tailor-made for his abilities, a man whose integrity is so challenged that he refuses to play by the rules of the game and play party politics. Hepburn, as the wife aware of his affair with Lansbury, is forthright and honest in her performance and, thankfully, less mannered than usual.

Still timely in the way it talks about Republicans and Democrats, it's worth seeing for the marvelous cast and what they manage to do with the stage material. The title, of course, refers to politics as well as the marital union of Tracy and Hepburn.
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10/10
Another neglected gem!
bestactor1 July 2003
This is an outstanding movie that belongs in the standard viewing repertoire of great movies from the 1940's. There is a reason this movie is not so well known. It was obviously filmed as a big MGM production (you can hear the lion's roar on the soundtrack!) that became owned by Frank Capra's Liberty Films. The script is very intelligent and demonstrates a knowing cynicism of the political world, but much more believable and less sentimental than Mr. Smith or other Capra films. Most people have seen only a few Tracy-Hepburn movies. Hopefully with Hepburn's recent passing the rights owner will produce a digitally restored DVD with background explaining the history and perspective of this seldom seen classic.
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10/10
Dated, but profound
bkoganbing2 April 2004
Lindsay and Crouse wrote this very topical play for 1946 involving the upcoming race for President. Harry Truman was thought to be a dead duck, but he crossed everyone up in 1948. The story involves the race for the Republican nomination and the current political names like Dewey, Taft, Vandenberg, Stassen, etc. are dotted throughout the film. You have to have some knowledge of American history to appreciate some of the lines and issues that are being talked about.

Spencer Tracy plays Grant Matthews, a character based loosely on Wendell Wilkie, the Republican dark horse candidate from 1940 and Katherine Hepburn his estranged wife who reconciles with him for the sake of his White House run which is being quarterbacked by Adolphe Menjou, a Republican political operative and Angela Lansbury a powerful newspaper publisher who is Tracy's mistress.

Frank Capra said that the one thing about this film that stood out was that MGM gave him a lavish budget and spared no expense. It shows and I think Capra spent it on the cast which has some very familiar movie faces and there isn't a sour note in the group.

Dated though the story is, there is one scene in it that is probably my favorite Spencer Tracy scene. It's where he's sitting down to a hamburger with Adolphe Menjou and explaining the kind of speech he wants to make that night. The speech is the views he holds and the things he wants done as President. It's pure Tracy, simple, direct, profound and it should be both required viewing for aspiring actors and politicians both. I only wish that someone with Grant Matthews ideals does run for President from some party. Ironically what he talks about are issues that are as relevant today as in 1946. That part of the film is timeless.
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8/10
Dated, But Still Gets Some Great Mileage
theowinthrop27 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is probably (except for WITHOUT LOVE ?) the most forgotten of the Tracy - Hepburn film parings. As has been pointed out it has not been revived that frequently, and as a result people barely remember it. But it has a terrific cast (the two leads, Angela Lansbury, Van Johnson, Adolphe Menjou, Charles Dingle, Raymond Walburn, Irving Bacon, even Carl "Alfafa" Switzer), and for all the dated references to politics in 1947 - 48, it still has amazing relevance. Therefore, if it is not up to the best Capra films of the late 1930s to IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, it does help lead the second tier with POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES and A HOLE IN THE HEAD.

Tracy's character (as pointed out by another poster on this thread) is suggested by Wendell Wilkie. Wilkie is another figure who once loomed largely in America, but who is now as faded as old wall paper. He headed the largest privately owned utilities company in the U.S., which had to be broken up after the New Deal got underway. This was really ironic, because Wilkie was a life-long Democrat. Coming out of Indiana he had gone a long way (F.D.R.'s acid tongued Interior Secretary, Harold Ickes, referred to him - with a look towards an old poem by John Greenleaf Whittier - as "The barefoot boy from Wall Street.").

Wilkie got involved in politics in the late 1930s, with respect to his suspicions about where the New Deal was headed. He turned Republican, and in 1940 surprised the nation by beating out Thomas Dewey and Senator Robert Taft for the Republican nomination for President at Philadephia. It has been pointed out that in the movie, I MARRIED A WITCH, the slogan "Win With Wilkie" is used as a reference for gubernatorial candidate Wooley (Frederic March) as "Win With Wooley". A Bugs Bunny cartoon about "gremlins" (little mechanical problems in war machines) has the "gremlin" shout that he isn't Wendell Wilkie. F.D.R. won, but his sizable victories in 1932 and 1936 were not repeated. Wilkie actually demonstrated that the Republican Party was far from dead.

Unfortunately Wilkie never repeated this success politically. An independent, most of the party leaders felt he wasn't Republican enough. He took a trip around the globe to visit the battlefronts, and wrote an account ONE WORLD, which became a best seller - and helped prepare the American people for the successful creation of a United Nations. In 1944 FDR was approached by some advisers to consider Wilkie as his running mate for Vice President. Roosevelt was less than happy with the idea. In the end it did not matter - Wilkie died.

Keeping that in mind, Tracy's character Grant Matthews makes sense. He is a wealthy independent person. He is married but he has extra-marital affairs (as did Wilkie, which was one of the reasons his campaign did not use FDR's affair with Lucy Mercer against him). If you recall, Tracy tells a stunned Adolphe Menjou his idea of bringing democracy to the world through a United States of the world (like Wilkie's "One World").

Tracy's relationship with Hepburn is that of a good man who has fallen into a trough in his home-life. Apparently at one point they shared a great deal, but Tracy's ego takes off when manipulated by Lansbury, as opposed to Hepburn who is more down-to-earth. It is only when she bitterly throws her own opinions aside and makes a hated speech for his campaign that he realizes how much she compromised her ideals for him, and how much he's compromised - and for what? His Presidency would owe a lot to the likes of Walburn, Dingle, and Florence Auer: a questionable Southern Republican, a crooked labor leader (who thinks John L. Lewis and William Green are anathema), and a woman's whose power base is due to prejudice against certain foreign groups. He'd also owe Menjou (more about him later) and Lansbury would expect free access to the Oval Office.

The most interesting of the group is actually Menjou. One of American's best political managers he is bitter. His Connover is not a bad man (actually he is quite tolerable), but he has been shunned because of a connection he could not avoid with the "Ohio Gang" that put Warren Harding in the White House in 1920, and then stole millions (Connover didn't). He'd like to get the Chairmanship of the Republican Party to get back at his foes - not a nice thing but it is understandable. In the end he does not get too upset when plans go awry. He's kept on the payroll as a political editor for Lansbury. Actually one feels good for him.

Similarly one feels good for Van Johnson. A cynic, like Lionel Stander in MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, he regains his ideals observing Hepburn's reactions to the political crap, and is involved in finally turning Tracy around. Lansbury is aware of this, and fires him. He smiles with happiness to be well out of the job for her.

The best moment to me in the film is a nice moment when Tracy is contemplating the run for the White House offered by Lansbury and Menjou. He stands in front of the White House next to an actor named Maurice Cass, who is only in this scene in the movie. Cass is rhapsodizing about how wonderful it is that every President since John Adams has lived in the White House. Tracy says it needs a paint job. Cass takes him to task for only seeing that. Tracy sticks to his guns about the paint job, but he lists all of the great figures who fought for freedom (including Crispus Attucks, by the way) and how the White House is their monument. At the end he and Cass go off for a drink together. A simple moment - pure Capra-corn, but really worth it.
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10/10
My favorite Tracy-Hepburn film
stphifer30 August 2006
This is my favorite Tracy-Hepburn film and one of my favorite Frank Capra films. I recommend reading Capra's out-of-print biography, "The Name Above the Title" for the interesting story of the reaction to this film by official Washington in 1948.

Quite reminiscent of "Meet John Doe," the story tests the character of a man against the political power-brokers who want to use him for their own purposes. Ideals battle pragmatism in ways that still ring true 50+ years later.

Angela Landsbury is a wicked woman (can we call her a fem fa tale?) in an amazing performance foreshadowing her role in 1962's "Manchurian Candidate." Adolphe Menjou's sleazy political boss is about a greasy as they come.

All in all there is nothing like a Capra film to make me what to stick to my principles and listen to the people who really love me. Add to Capra's theme of the inherent wisdom of the people this first rate group of actors and you have two hours of time well spent.
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Hepburn Steals the Show
Michael_Elliott28 December 2009
State of the Union (1948)

*** (out of 4)

Political drama from Capra has an honest Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) being selected to run for President but soon his honest ways are thrown out by a newspaper woman (Angela Lansbury) and a political spinner (Adolphe Menjou). The two of them plan on riding him into the White House but his wife (Katharine Hepburn) begins to have second thoughts on what their turning her husband into. Of all the Tracy/Hepburn teamings this one here is probably the least known, which is a little bit surprising considering Capra directed it and the wonderful supporting cast but on second thought it might be understandable as this isn't the typical film that they'd appear in together. The movie features some terrific performances but a few questionable bits a comedy keep it from being a bigger hit. There were some scenes that I would have left on the cutting room floor including an extremely silly sequence where plane-tag is played. With a few more of the comedic moments edited out you would have been left with a major hit but as is this film still manages to be quite powerful. What really makes the film go is Hepburn and it's funny to learn she got the role by accident after another actress pretty much walked off after certain demands of hers couldn't be met. Hepburn steals the film from Tracy as she really digs in and gives the movie all of its heart and soul and I think the actress really should get this film mentioned more when people discuss her wonderful career. Tracy is once again Tracy meaning that he turns in the expected great performance. The supporting cast includes nice work from Lewis Stone, Van Johnson, Charles Dingle and even Carl "Alfafa" Switzer in a small role. Menjou and Lansbury are very good in their supporting roles of what would turn out to be good villains. Capra pretty much handled this type of material earlier in MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON but he makes it all seem fresh again here. The ending has a nice punch to it even though you'll certainly see it coming from a mile away. It's rather funny to see how political movies from the 1930s and 40s still hold up perfectly well today but then it's rather sad to see how nothing much has changed in the political world.
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10/10
Marital or political union on shaky ground
lora6423 July 2001
My impressions: Fast paced, fast talking, no letup, enough dialogue for three movies! It's a frank look at the underbelly of politics, the wheelings and dealings of the back room. Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is the likely candidate for the presidency but he's filled with such fine idealism that he becomes more of an encumbrance to his supporters who think that getting ahead means sacrificing one's ideals, pandering to those in authority, or whatever it takes to gain votes. Enter on the scene Grant's wife, Mary (Kate Hepburn) who is adamant and uncompromising when she sees how dishonest and insipid his public speeches are forced to become. But right triumphs in the end.

I must say Angela Lansbury, here in the role of a wealthy heiress, is remarkably poised and mature as an older woman in spite of her youthful looks -- a very talented lady. Both Adolphe Menjou and Van Johnson keep up the pace of dialogue and events splendidly as substantial supporting cast members.

If the term can be coined, this is a "politician's movie" yet still of interest to the ordinary viewer.
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9/10
A Classic, But...
Homeric11 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, this is a great film with great actors, a great director, a great script, and so on. I own the DVD and enjoy watching it very much. Tracy and Hepburn are terrific together, as always. And their chemistry really shines, as always. And that is what causes one little problem for me. I never believe for an instant that Tracy would cheat on Hepburn for Lansbury. Lansbury's character is too cold and calculating and quite frankly just not very attractive, while Hepburn is at her most charming and attractive best. There is no chemistry between Tracy and Lansbury and I just cannot help thinking that there's no way in heck that he'd go for her over Hepburn. Actingwise, Lansbury can more than hold her own with either Tracy or Hepburn, and that is saying quite a lot, but she just doesn't have that indefinable something that would make her a great catch for someone like Tracy's character who already has Hepburn.
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6/10
Spencer Tracy is nice as a liberal mutimillionaire seeking the Repuplican Presidential nomination
ma-cortes9 February 2022
This is a political fable but basically an emotive drama dealing with an American businessman (Spencer Tracy) who is encouraged by opportunities to run the presidency and while leaving his integrity behind in the process . Along the way , the cunning and powerful named Kay Thorndyke (Dame Angela Lansbury) helps him become Republican nominee for President . Then the party machine starts to worry as he begins speaking for himself and against ambition and corrupt politicians . His estranged wife (Katharine Hepburn) is asked to return so they can masquerade as a loving couple for the sake of his political career . As she attempts to help him , as the backstage political machinations erode his personal convictions . How's the State of the Union? It's GREAT!

Another Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn vehicle with wonderful wisecracks , being adapted from a highly successful , topical Broadway play , but the writers Anthony Veiller , Myles Connnolly and Frank Capra himself changed dialogue constantly to reflect the news . Capra and his colleagues at Liberty Picture originally hoped to cast Cary Cooper and Claudette Colbert . Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are a joy to see , as usual . Here shines Spencer Tracy giving an excelent acting , providing a tour-de-force in his outburst at the end that reminds one of the speech he was to make nearly twenty years after at his last film : Guess who's coming to dinner . But this movie loses much of its impact due to much overtalking and the overuse of obvious political stereotypes in its main and supporting players . Hepburn and Menjou were at odds politically , over communist witch hunts in Hollywood with the House Un-American Activities Committee or House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCU) , but they are really splendid together onscreen. Remaining secondary cast are frankly fabulous , as they're very well accompanied by Angela Lansbury who has a magnificent nasty role which she performs icily and to the hilt , along with Van Johnson , Adolphe Menjou , Lewis Stone, Charles Dingle , Howard Smith , Raymond Walburn , Margaret Hamilton , among others.

The motion picture was well directed by Frank Capra who carries out a sharp dissection of political chicanery and delivering good acting from the prestigious actors . Frank Capra was an expert in manipulating emotions such as proved in his films of the 1930s and 1940s , as he influenced the lives and beliefs of people of the nation with movies as 'Mr Deeds goes to town' ,' It happened one night' , 'You can't take it with you' , 'It's wonderful life' , 'Mr Smith goes to Washington' , ' Mr Deeds goes to town' , and 'Meet John Doe' . State of the Union (1948) rating : 6.5/10 . The flick will appeal to Spencer Tracy , Katharine Hepburn fans , as well as Frank Capra enthusiasts.
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Spencer Tracey is Grant Matthews, a famous aircraft tycoon courted by the Republican Party to become their candidate for President of the United States.
Nehmer1 May 1999
`Is there any difference between Democrats and Republicans?' `The difference is that they're in and we're out.' -- A line from State of the Union, one of only a handful of political films to use direct partisan language.

Based on a 1945 play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, State of the Union marked Frank Capra's return to the political genera. This film is also the third of nine pictures featuring Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn. In this outing, Tracey plays Grant Matthews, a famous aircraft tycoon courted by the Republican Party to become their candidate for President of the United States. The film's title, in addition to referring to the country, is also a metaphor for Matthews' relationship with his wife, Mary (Hepburn). The two are having marital problems sparked by Matthews' affair with a newspaper heir Kay Thorndyke (played by a 22-year-old Angela Lansbury convincingly portraying a woman in her forties).

Once the campaign is underway, the classic theme of a good man sacrificing his ideals in order to win begins to surface. Matthews' speeches are reworked as to not offend any big political establishments (e.g. big business, labor, agriculture, etc.), and soon he begins to loose his own voice along with his identity. Finally, in the film's climax, Matthews is forced to choose between a certain nomination for the presidency or a wife who represents his true character.

Incidentally, for a movie centered on a republican character, State of the Union does not focus on a conventional conservative theme, nor does it only target liberals. The film ribs big business, `the American Dream is not about making money,' in addition to labor. And even though Harry S Truman is the subject of several quips, he was said to have really enjoyed the film, often playing it on his presidential yacht.

At the box office, State of the Union performed better in smaller outlets than large markets. It premiered at New York's Radio City Music Hall to a opening week of $137,000, `this is a bit under hopes, especially in view of intensive advance campaign and strong reviews,' reported Varitey. In Los Angeles, the film opened at No. 1 with $52,000 but `not a smash.' Though in markets such as Minneapolis, Kansas City and Seattle, the film pulled big numbers. Overall the film was a success, but it did not match the box office bounty of Capra's earlier films including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or the other Tracey/Hepburn parings for that matter (e.g. Adam's Rib, Pat & Mike, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner).
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6/10
Tracy and Hepburn Wade Through Capra-Corn as Lansbury Sharpens Her Talons
EUyeshima24 July 2007
This somewhat forgotten 1948 dramedy is not the undiscovered gem of the Tracy-Hepburn pairings, but the 2006 DVD provides an opportunity to take a look at the political corruption running rampant in Washington at the time, clearly as prescient now as it was relevant then. The subject is well suited to film-making legend Frank Capra, who made the classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" a decade earlier and echoes a similar theme of an honest man surrounded by those who tear at his ethics. Adapted by Anthony Veiller and Myles Connolly from a play by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay, the plot centers on Grant Matthews, a pulled-from-his-bootstraps industrialist who has not lost touch with the common folks, a quality seized upon by Machiavellian newspaper publisher Kay Thorndyke, who uses her considerable media power to shape him into a viable candidate for the presidency.

Thorndyke also happens to be Matthews' lover, even though he is still married to stoic, disillusioned Mary, his estranged wife who has remained in the marriage not only for the sake of their two children but also in the dimming hope that he will come back to her. Initially, Matthews balks at the idea of becoming President, but he recognizes an ambition to improve the country. At the same time, Thorndyke and her cohort, proto-Karl Rove political adviser Jim Conover convince him to make compromising speeches to win the votes of powerful lobbies. If you know Capra films, you know how it will all turn out. The main problem I had with the film is the pacing and the relative inconsistency in tone. Much of the time, it feels truncated with little transition between scenes, and farcical moments are mixed with more serious ones in ways that make the film feel emotionally askew at times.

The performances can't be faulted. Spencer Tracy is well cast as the plainspoken Matthews, while Katharine Hepburn lends her much-needed verve and snap to the cautiously hopeful Mary. All of 22 but looking far more commanding and mature, Angela Lansbury almost steals the picture as Kay, even though her character is so venal and humorless that it is hard not to hiss when she's on screen, especially with her dragon-lady cigarette holder. It's easy to see the future Mrs. Iselin in John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate". Adolphe Menjou plays Conover in his typical blowhard manner, while Van Johnson is unctuous in a likable sort of way as reporter Spike McManus. Capra lays out his familiar flag-waving cornpone thickly here, sometimes quite effectively, but the attempts at slapstick humor are pretty laborious. This remains an interesting curio in his canon. The DVD provides a fairly clean print but has absolutely no extras, not even chapter stops.
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10/10
Let the hens runs the country
detore23 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Although the political references are dated (Hoover, Harding,FDR, Truman) this film is wonderful. If you just cued to the speeches about cutting taxes and the American Dream it could be an editorial out of the magazine The Nation. In 1948 Hollywood was able to take incredible actors and actresses, record more words in five minutes than a movie today speaks in an hour, and still appeal to the "common folk" politically. Hokey but sophisticated, patriotic but cynical, State of the Union grapples with the corruption behind political machines. Its main weakness is the presentation of a powerful woman as someone who belongs "in a kennel" and the good woman the mother with two kids who kneels and sews a loose thread in her husband's suit (even though she knows he is cheating on her). Hepburn manages to be powerful, strong willed, but a typical mid-century hausfrau-there for her man. You may not agree with its presentation of women, but its politics are as astute anything you will read on a blog today.
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10/10
Mr. Smith Tries to Go to Washington - and hits the rocks. Or, what would have happened if Willkie had allowed himself to be corrupted
richard-178724 November 2019
This may be Frank Capra's next movie after *It's a Wonderful Life*, but it bears no resemblance to that sentimental feature. Rather, it is a deeply cynical follow-up to *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington*. The politicians are even more corrupt and disdainful of the common man/voter. They are even more sure that they can manipulate voters, who are repeatedly condemned for being too lazy to vote in the primaries - of which there were far fewer in 1948. There is not just one Edward Arnold character this time, they are everywhere, all convinced that they can manipulate their part of the American voting public.

This gets hard to watch at times. Anyone who says that Capra only made sentimental movies clearly never saw this one. And whereas the male lead in *Mr. Smith* is not pulled down into that filth, the male lead in this movie succumbs to it at one point. That's Spencer Tracy, and it's not fun to see him sink so low - though he gives a truly magnificent portrayal here.

There is a lot first-rate acting here, especially by Lansbury, in a role that foreshadows her appearance in The Manchurian Candidate as a would-be kingmaker , Hepburn, and Johnson - in fact, this is probably the finest acting I've seen from Van Johnson, who usually wasn't called on to act.

It's sometimes painful to see American politics depicted so cynically, even if it seems very much on the mark today.

-------------------------------

I wrote the above in 2019, before I realized that the play on which this movie was based, and therefore this movie itself, are a sort of extrapolation on how corrupt politics could have dragged into the mud one of the truly remarkable American politicians of the 20th century, Wendell Willkie. Matthews/Tracy's second speech, in the hotel room at the dinner table with Hepburn and Menjou, summarizes Willkie's uncommon universalist view of the role of government in uniting not just all Americans, but finally all the peoples of the world. (Willkie's book on this subject was titled *One World*.) Matthews is from a town named Glenwood; Willkie from Elwood, IN. (At least in this movie. Glenwood is not mentioned in the Broadway play, of which more below.) Willkie, like Matthews, had a long-standing extra-marital affair with an intelligent woman, Irita van Doren, who helped him polish his written work. In the movie she is conflated with the head of a publishing empire, who in real life was Henry Luce, the publisher of Time, Life, and Fortune, a strong Willkie backer from early on.

After that hamburger dinner in the hotel, however, Matthews, unlike Willkie in real life, diverges from his ideals and starts to sell out to special interest groups because he thinks that that is the only way he can get the Republican nomination against Dewey, Taft, Vandenberg, and Stassen. (He sinks much lower in the movie than in the play. The scene on the airplane where Matthews/Tracy is won over by Menjou and the messages from party hacks is new with the movie.) Willkie, to his credit, did not sell out, but was pushed out of the 1944 race for the Republican nomination by the other three, who did not share his progressive and internationalist ideals.

As a result, this movie, even more so than Tracy and Hepburn's previous *Woman of the Year*, can be watched in two very different ways. You can either watch it as audiences would have seen it in 1948, as a riff on Willkie and what corrupt politics could have done to even so idealistic a candidate. Or you can watch it with no knowledge of its historical references, as a sometimes funny but often deeply cynical political comedy.

Like *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington*, this cynical depiction of national politics clears everything up at the end in just a few minutes, with Matthews'/Tracy's third, magnificent speech, almost as magnificent as James Stewart's astounding delivery of the protagonist's filibuster at the end of *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington*. In both cases, the quick turn for the better comes off as unrealistic. Quite intentionally so, I suspect. If Capra made this movie several years after *Mr. Smith*, it was because he didn't believe Washington politics had gotten any better.

The saddest thing about this movie is that Matthews'/Tracy's final speech, though dating from the late 1940s, sounds as if it could have been delivered in 2020. Capra was right: we don't learn from our mistakes and our politicians don't get any better.

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This movie so intrigued me that I decided to read the play, which was a big hit on Broadway just two years before. A comparison of the two is all to the advantage of the movie, which makes the following changes:

1. The first two acts of the play, up to the final scenes in the Matthew household where Grant/Tracy meets the various political figures, are carried over often verbatim from the play. Scenes are added, like those in the airplane, to create variety. The scene where Mary makes up Grant's bed on the floor after discovering that he had seen Kay is more developed in the movie, more romantic with all the dialogue after the two get in their separate beds. It makes Mary's character more sympathetic. She is not all that sympathetic in the play. In general the movie follows the play, however, but makes Mary more likable and Kay nastier but also more active in the political shenanigans. (The scene where Kay plants her glasses next to Grant's bed is added to make her look more calculating, for instance.) Grant's Willkie-like speech about one world in the hotel room over hamburgers is developed further in the movie.

2. The last act, the scenes around the radio/tv broadcast from the Matthews home, is new with the movie, and a big improvement over the play. Some of the material is adapted from the play, but the connivers are made to look far more evil. Some is a recollection of the broadcast scene in *The Man who came to Dinner* (1942). Mary makes more of a fool of herself in the play, but we only hear about it. Grant's final speech in the play, though truly inspiring, would have lost its impact after 1946 and definitely after Truman's election in 1948, by which time the United Nations had begun to function, Italy was a democracy, and Europe had settled down somewhat. The play makes it much clearer that there are corrupt politicians in both parties. The movie seems more pro-Democrat.
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8/10
Frank Capra Scores Again In Political Films
DKosty12330 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Capra did others including Mr Smith Went To Washington, but are they better than this one? Spencer Tracy is great in the role of the candidate for the Republican's in 1948 (the year the film is set in). Katherine Hepburn is solid as his wife (with 2 children). Angela Lansbury is great as the other woman Tracy has been kind of courted by as his marriage with Hepburn has had some tension as of late.

Watch for Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West) making eyes at Van Johnson in this movie.

The script is fantastic as Tracy comes off as an independent Airplane Manufacturer who wants to help this country. He is an independent mind running and being crushed by establishment Republican Politicos in much the same way as the Democrats have crushed Independent Candidates in elections since 2000. Democrats and Republicans have both been Conservative since the Reagan era. This film paints them as the same party, and yes, they still are.

Thing to watch is Tracys speech at the end, reminds me very much of speeches done by Bernie Sanders with an Idealistic view. This is a very good movie, well worth the viewing.
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10/10
As true, or truer today, as it was 60+ years ago.
sbrix24 December 2009
Sadly, politics haven't changed, and probably never will, in the intervening 61 years since this movie was made. As with most Capra movies, it's not hard to get the message, but that doesn't make it any less hard hitting. Also, as with most Capra movies, it allows the viewer to wonder "what if" if only for a couple of hours. All of the major actors are stellar, but then again, they were seldom anything but in most of their films. It was a little distracting to see Spencer Tracey looking down to apparently read some of his final speech, but the speech and the entire movie were very powerful. It should be required viewing for today's political science classes.
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10/10
A Stately Classic.
happipuppi1312 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is, for it's time, incredible!

It's the best serious film out of all the Spencer & Kate films. No need to be confused it's not a "comedy" in the traditional sense. It's sort of like the TV show M*A*S*H, there's serious moments and there's comedic moments, I like the mix and don't feel that a film has to comply to one form or the other.

It's amazing to watch Spencer Tracy's character unwittingly turn from a man who believes in everything he says and (had he been elected) backs it up, to the kind of "politician" no one likes, all talk but saying nothing concrete. It really sickened me to watch Adoplh Monjou and the other sleazy types turn the people's choice into a chump!

Angela Lansbury was obviously warming up for her role in,"The Manchurian Candidate". She's hard, evil and manipulative, which makes it so hard to believe this is the same woman who later played "Ms. Potts" in "Beauty and The Beast".

Katharine is great as the wife who has been cheated on but has to now stand by her husband because it "wouldn't look right" for a candidate to be "seperated". (Lansbury's character is the "other Woman".)

Personally, I don't find this film "dated" at all. Just because it's 1948 doesn't make it's message of "dirty tricks" outdated. We'd be fooling ourselves to believe this sort of thing doesn't still go on.

A smaller yet still ingenious idea, was to include the then new medium Television in the film. Talk about making a movie as 100% real and relevant as possible.

I love how Tracey comes to his senses at the end and totally humiliates the very people who have basically been brainwashing him!

Getting them on camera and they all run out hiding their faces in shame.

Ten Stars from me. Without a doubt.

See it anyway and anytime you can. (END)
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8/10
Compromising situations
TheLittleSongbird21 January 2019
One understandably expects a lot from 'State of the Union'. Really like to love most of Frank Capra's films, with 'It's a Wonderful Life' being an all-time favourite. Have always considered Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy extrenely talented actors and their pairing was deservedly legendary and one of the most famous cinematic pairings. The involvement of Adolphe Menjou and Angela Lansbury also promises a lot.

'State of the Union' may not be one of Capra's all time best, but it doesn't deserve to be merely known as a minor Capra. It is also a shame that it is one of the lesser known Tracy and Hepburn films (with them doing nine between 1942 and 1967, starting with 'Woman of the Year' and ending with 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' just before Tracy's death), when to me it is actually one of their best. If asked which one is my favourite, it would be 'Adam's Rib' followed by 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', while their weakest 'The Sea of Grass' was still watchable despite being heavily problematic. While not considering 'State of the Union' a classic as such, it is very interesting and very good still with an awful lot in its favour.

It is not the most refined of films on a technical level with some instances of uncharacteristically choppy editing.

Maybe it emphasises its points a little too much at times, so subtlety is not always there. The warmth present in other Capra films is not as strong here, though that is a comparison nit-pick.

Hepburn and Tracy however are both superb, Tracy being nicely understated but always engaged while Hepburn attacks her more interesting character without ever losing interest or going too shrill. Their chemistry really fires on all cylinders in a film that is something of a chemistry master-class. They are terrifically supported by the rest of the cast, with Angela Lansbury coming close to stealing the show in a more mature role for her at that time and never coming over as too lightweight. Menjou is his usual never less than solid self, and any tension behind the scenes between him and Hepburn doesn't come over in the film. Van Johnson stretches his comedic chops and is amusing while Lewis Stone brings dignity to his role.

Capra directs with his usual distinctive touch, never letting the film falling into corn or schmaltz though the film may lack the "warmth" of some of his other films. The story is always engaging and at its best enthralling, and the performances and the chemistry helps enormously in it coming alive. This coming alive feel is even more apparent in the clever script that crackles in wit and dazzles in sophistication, with enough insightful moments and some emotionally powerful ones, Tracy's climactic speech for one.

Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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10/10
How Washington goes N*U*T*S every four years!
mark.waltz24 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Recently, I saw the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man", a 1960 play about a presidential convention overrun with scandal concerning secrets of two candidates. The head of the women's division in that play was portrayed by Angela Lansbury who 64 years before played the head of a powerful newspaper manipulating, err.. supporting Spencer Tracy for the Republican Nomination. (That was before the term "Republican" became a dirty word...) In between this movie (based upon a hit Broadway play that was still running when this movie was released) and that Broadway play, she played another political power, albeit a viperously evil one, in John Frankenheimer's extremely controversial "The Manchurian Candidate". So the world of politics has really turned for this magnificent actress who wouldn't become the huge star she is today until a certain Broadway musical and later a smash hit TV series made her a house-hold name.

It is insinuated that Lansbury has been "the other woman" in the marriage of Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the model couple with two adorable children. Once, in fact, it is said that Hepburn threw Lansbury out of their house. So now Lansbury, as the deviously intelligent Kay Thorndyke, has taken over her late father's newspaper, and convinces political bigwig Adolph Menjou that Tracy is their puppet..I mean, man. Knowing that an underlying element of scandal is afoot concerning Lansbury and Tracy, Menjou insists that Hepburn support her husband, becoming more of an Eleanor Roosevelt than a Bess Truman. Tracy is the honest sort, an older version of director Frank Capra's previous heroes Mr. Deeds and Mr. Smith, although Lansbury is extremely close to Jean Arthur's Babe in "Mr. Deeds" and Barbara Stanwyck's Ann Mitchell, perhaps a bit more crafty and self-serving. Hepburn comes off like Donna Reed's wife in "It's a Wonderful Life", exploding when she needs to, particularly a wonderful drunken bit at a party where she must try and be cordial to Lansbury.

The wonderful supporting cast can't be topped; In addition to those I've mentioned, there are wonderful performances by Lewis Stone (in a cameo as Lansbury's dying father), Van Johnson (as the typical grinning "fair-haired" boy, Lansbury's ace reporter with mixed loyalties), Charles Lane, and the wonderful Margaret Hamilton who shines as the flirtatious maid with a crush on Johnson. Some other less known faces have magnificent moments too, particularly Maidel Turner as a judge's wife with a taste for booze; Raymond Walburn (a Capra regular) as the buffoon judge; and Florence Auer as a larger-than-life supporter of Tracy's campaign (as long as her agenda is met). Irving Bacon is hysterically funny as the bartender in the party sequence with a justified mistrust of Lansbury.

Most Capra films were often dramas with bits of comedy thrown in (to take away the sentimentality of the plots, hence the term "Capra-Corn") and this film is no exception. Probably one of the best known sequences of this film is the aviation scene where Tracy and a pilot pal show off their flying skills. Johnson prepares to get sick as the plane does loopty-loops while Hepburn simply knits. This adds a more human touch to Tracy's character so when he starts to get sidetracked by Lansbury's manipulations, you'll root for him to find his way back.

In this year of an election, some might call these political dramas of a different time quite dated. Yes, if you take away the cell phones, blogs, tweets, over-abundance of social media that can destroy a candidate before they even have a chance to defend themselves, they are dated. But seeing them is a reminder of while they were still ruthless and sometimes deadly, there was still more truth and honesty than there is today. Tracy's speech towards the end is up there with his beautiful soliloquy at the end of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Hepburn, the Meryl Streep of her day, proves that while she may be known to everybody else as just a wife and mother, she's got a lot more in her than everybody (especially Lansbury) believed. I think this is perhaps Lansbury's finest screen performance while at MGM (certainly her best photographed), but the Oscars tended not to acknowledge villains all that much. Lansbury's well-dressed viper is up there along with Gale Sondergaard for her sometimes quiet calculated cat-like manner. She would be a check-mark on my ballot box for this performance any day.
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Worthwhile Idea, Fine Cast
Snow Leopard1 September 2004
The worthwhile idea and the fine cast make this work pretty well, even with an occasionally uneven script that might have been more noticeable with lesser performers trying to carry it. Overall, it's among the better of the Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy pairings, in large part because of Angela Lansbury and Adolphe Menjou, who both have interesting roles that are well-suited to their abilities.

The idea of Tracy as a political outsider who is thrust into a run for the Presidency is a good one, creating dramatic possibilities, and also providing an opportunity to express some worthwhile ideas. "State of the Union" delivers solidly, especially in the first department.

The story is set up pretty well, with Tracy's and Hepburn's characters drawn into the machinations of Menjou's and Lansbury's devious characters. And things develop in an interesting fashion from there. Sometimes, though, when the dialogue turns to issues of substance, it does not work as well, and there are several times when only Tracy's simple sincerity and believability keep it on track. A lesser actor saying the same lines would not have worked very well.

A number of the Hepburn/Tracy classics have an uneven screenplay that gets less than the full potential of good subject matter. To some degree, it's just because they are tackling some difficult and worthwhile issues. The writing in this one has fewer weak spots than it does in "Woman of the Year" or "Adam's Rib", both of which had good ideas, but were worthwhile primarily because of Tracy and Hepburn. Like those movies, when "State of the Union" is pretty entertaining, yet when it deals with issues of substance, even when you agree with the worthwhile sentiments, it's not always as convincing.

Fortunately, the interesting story and strong cast are enough to make this one generally entertaining and worth seeing. The occasional stretches of weak dialogue are only a distraction, for the most part. It's worthwhile, though it it could have been even better.
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3/10
Boring and corny
HotToastyRag11 November 2017
When State of the Union started, I was at the edge of my seat. Angela Lansbury, newspaper tycoon, has handpicked the next Republican candidate for president, and she sells the idea to Adolphe Menjou, a top political adviser, and Van Johnson, a campaign manager. The man she wants has no political background. He's a successful businessman and a millionaire, and he connects with the common man because he's not a typical politician. Sound familiar? Here's the even better part: It turns out Angela is having an affair with the candidate, and when his wife shows up to squelch infidelity rumors and promote a good family image, Angela sneaks into their bedroom and places her reading glasses on the nightstand, knowing the wife will find and question them. Exciting, isn't it?

Well, that's as exciting as it gets. The rest of the film tries to show the dirtiness of politics, but to anyone who's ever paid attention to the political realm, it doesn't even scratch the surface. Spencer Tracy is cast as the likable, honest politician, but he comes across as neither. He seems angry and stupid, even though that's not how his character is written. Fredric March would have been a better casting choice, in my opinion. He pontificates and gets in his own way—and on the audience's nerves—while his wife, Katharine Hepburn pretends to argue but really always goes along with whatever the politicians tell her to do. Normally, she's a fantastic actress, but in this film, she rushes her lines and says them without much feeling. It felt like a rehearsal the actors didn't know was being filmed. She does say one funny line, though: "No woman could ever run for President. She'd have to admit to being over thirty-five!"

Boring and corny to the very end, this is a movie to skip unless you're a die-hard Tracy-Hepburn fan. As for me, whenever I see them on screen together, I can't help but remember how mistreated Kate was. I don't think they're movie-magic, and I don't see sparks flying off the screen. I see an angry, arrogant man and his abused partner.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, there's a scene in this movie that will not be your friend. When Spencer Tracy pilots his airplane, the camera swirls excessively and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"
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6/10
Filmed Play
kenjha30 December 2011
This political drama is based on a play, and it sure looks like it. There are scenes after scenes with characters engaging in long conversations, mostly about politics. It basically looks like a filmed stage play and it soon becomes tiresome. Capra tries to break up the monotony by including a scene featuring planes barnstorming, but it looks out of place and feels tacked on just to make it cinematic. This is one of the weakest entries in the Tracy-Hepburn series, but the stars are not to blame. They try their best, but are let down by the material. Lansbury is fine in a role that's a precursor to "The Manchurian Candidate." Johnson provides the comic relief.
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Ronald Reagan stole this line.
gordon_0214018 February 2003
In the 1980 New Hampshire primary, an exasperated Ronald Reagan blurted out the famous line "I'm paying for this microphone!" when a moderator threaten to turn off the microphones at an unruly debate. It was a hugely successful and defining moment for Reagan, nailing down his image as a man of rugged independence who refused to suffer fools gladly -- to say nothing of his ability to craft a clever quip. However, given his Hollywood roots, it seems more likely he consciously or unconsciously lifted this line from Spencer Tracy's character in "State of the Union."
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