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The Candidate (1972 film)

January 01, 1970

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.

The Candidate
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Ritchie
Written byJeremy Larner
Produced byWalter Coblenz
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
Music byJohn Rubinstein
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • June 29, 1972 (1972-06-29)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.6 million[1]
Box office$2.5 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[2]

Plot edit

Marvin Lucas, a political consultant, must find a Democratic candidate to oppose three-term California Senator Crocker Jarmon, a popular Republican. With no big-name Democrat eager to enter the unwinnable race, Lucas seeks out Bill McKay, the idealistic, handsome, and charismatic son of former California governor John J. McKay who works as a public interest lawyer.

Lucas gives 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 polling, McKay will be defeated by an overwhelming margin. Lucas says the party expected McKay to lose but not to be humiliated, so he convinces McKay to moderate 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 interpret 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 only nine points down in the polls, Jarmon proposes a debate. McKay agrees to give answers tailored by Lucas, but just as the debate ends, 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 tried to confront McKay backstage but arrived as his father congratulated 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 and McKay's father's help on the trail further close 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 they can do much 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 edit

Production edit

Robert Redford said that the film was made as "a labor of love" and was shot inexpensively and quickly.[3] Redford and Ritchie had approached perhaps ten scriptwriters before offering the job to Jeremy Larner, who was under pressure to work quickly so the film would be out in time for the 1972 presidential election campaign; he had "about a month" to write the script, and wrote "exactly from noon to 3 a.m. every day"[4] Larner, having worked as a journalist and speechwriter, said his "experiences with various politicians came into the story; I used some stuff that was directly from the campaigns".[4] He also said that without the help he received from Robert Towne he would not have been able to complete the script.[5]

The character of McKay is based on U.S. Senator John V. Tunney (although he has similarities with Jerry Brown as well). Director Michael Ritchie worked for Tunney's successful campaign in the 1970 Senate election; campaign manager Nelson Rising was an associate producer on the film.[6][7] Rising, who went on to a successful career working in law, property development, and as a civic leader, as well as continuing his work in California politics, was - according to Larner - "instrumental in finding political locations in the Bay Area, and in supplying political volunteers for many of our campaign extras".[4] In the campaign, Tunney's media adviser had "bulls-eyed the young/old contrast" between Tunney and incumbent opponent George Murphy.[8]

Ritchie, Redford and writer Jeremy Larner spent the whole summer of 1971 putting together the script.[9] The scene where McKay is berated in a men's room is based on an incident that happened to presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.[10] Larner said that "the moment when somebody hands McKay a Coke and a hot dog, so his hands are occupied, and then slugs him in the face—that really happened to McCarthy!".[4] The scriptwriter also recounted how he "wrote that character for Redford, obviously, and he told me at one point, “I can easily play a character stupider than myself. But I can’t be a bad guy—my public wouldn’t stand for it”".[4]

The character Howard Klein, played by Allen Garfield, was based on a New York political advertising consultant, David Garth, who Jeremy Larner met during the making of the movie, an encounter he described as "a big break".[4]

Redford was reunited with Natalie Wood who made a cameo appearance as herself, after she had semi-retired in 1970.[11] The two had co-starred in the 1965 film Inside Daisy Clover, as well as the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned.

Reception edit

The New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby called the film "one of the few good, truly funny American political comedies ever made," 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."[12] Variety called it "an excellent, topical drama" that was "directed and paced superbly," adding, "the entire film often seems like a documentary special in the best sense of the word."[13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and praised Redford for a "winning performance."[14] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Redford and Ritchie have teamed again to deliver what I think is nothing less than the best movie yet done about politics in coaxial America ... It has a right-now urgency that is strong and compelling."[15] Roger Ebert later said Ritchie "brought a sharply observant, almost documentary realism" to the film.[16]

Among negative reviews, Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned the film as "a remarkably shallow, hypocritical attempt to satirize the American political process ... The problem with the filmmakers is that their disillusion is neither honestly felt nor dramatically demonstrated and earned. On the contrary, it seems merely a professional pose, a phony mask of invulnerability and moral superiority."[17] Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker called it a "dire film" with a "crass" script, and found Redford's resemblance to a Kennedy brother "merciless to watchers and unbelievably opportunistic on the part of the filmmakers; it is one of the most vulgar pieces of casting I can remember."[18] Robert Chappetta in Film Quarterly wrote that a serious flaw was that "Redford does poorly with the central dramatic element in the film: the changeover from being a reluctant candidate to wanting so badly to win that he is willing to compromise himself. Redford never conveys any real desire to win."[19] Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "little definition or sympathy is lent McKay (who remains as much a cipher in the film's mechanics as he does in the hands of the political movers), and little interest generated in the workings of a system that is only conjured up in a gallery of intermittently familiar names and faces."[20]

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."[21]

The film holds a 'fresh' score of 89% on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 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."[22]

Awards edit

The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Larner and was also nominated for Best Sound (Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa).[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 19, 2003). "Redford Reflects On Indie Films, Political Climate". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  2. ^ "Big Rental Films Of 1972". Variety. January 3, 1973. p. 36.
  3. ^ All The President's Men (1976) 2004 Special Edition, audio commentary by Robert Redford
  4. ^ a b c d e f Macfarlane, Steve (July 19, 2016). "'The Moment of Unreality': Jeremy Larner on The Candidate (And Much Else)". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Biskind, Peter (1999). Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 9780747544210.
  6. ^ Mathews, Joe (February 23, 2017). "To get things done in California, listen like Nelson Rising". SFGate.com. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  7. ^ Kelley 2012, p. 23.
  8. ^ Kelley 2012, p. 34.
  9. ^ Kelley 2012, p. 25.
  10. ^ Kelley 2012, p. 28.
  11. ^ Valemont, Pamela Lillian (2013). Drowning and Other Undetermined Factors The Death of Natalie Wood. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1300863106.
  12. ^ Canby, Vincent (June 30, 1972). "Screen: 'Candidate,' a Comedy About the State of Politics, Opens". The New York Times: 25. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Candidate". Variety: 18. June 21, 1972.
  14. ^ Siskel, Gene (August 9, 1972). "The Candidate". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 5.
  15. ^ Champlin, Charles (July 2, 1972). "'Candidate' Profiles Politics in Coaxial America". Los Angeles Times. p. 1, 55.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger (June 18, 1975). "Interview with Bruce Dern". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  17. ^ Arnold, Gary (July 22, 1972). "A Slick 'Candidate' for (Box) Office". The Washington Post. p. D1.
  18. ^ Gilliatt, Penelope (July 1, 1972). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. pp. 64–65.
  19. ^ Chappetta, Robert (Winter 1972–73). "The Candidate". Film Quarterly. 26 (2): 54. doi:10.2307/1211329. JSTOR 1211329.
  20. ^ Combs, Richard (November 1972). "The Candidate". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 39 (466): 229.
  21. ^ Null, Christopher. . Filmcritic.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2006.
  22. ^ "The Candidate". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 28, 2011.

Bibliography edit

  • Callan, Michael Feeney (2011). Robert Redford: The Biography. Knopf. ISBN 978-0679450559.
  • Kelley, Beverly Merrill (2012). Reelpolitik Ideologies in American Political Film. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739172070.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
candidate, 1972, film, candidate, 1972, american, political, comedy, drama, film, starring, robert, redford, peter, boyle, directed, michael, ritchie, academy, award, winning, screenplay, which, examines, various, facets, machinations, involved, political, cam. 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 The CandidateTheatrical release posterDirected byMichael RitchieWritten byJeremy LarnerProduced byWalter CoblenzStarringRobert Redford Peter BoyleCinematographyVictor J Kemper John KortyEdited byRobert Estrin Richard A HarrisMusic byJohn RubinsteinDistributed byWarner Bros Release dateJune 29 1972 1972 06 29 Running time109 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 1 6 million 1 Box office 2 5 million U S and Canada rentals 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 4 1 Awards 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Bibliography 7 External linksPlot editMarvin Lucas a political consultant must find a Democratic candidate to oppose three term California Senator Crocker Jarmon a popular Republican With no big name Democrat eager to enter the unwinnable race Lucas seeks out Bill McKay the idealistic handsome and charismatic son of former California governor John J McKay who works as a public interest lawyer Lucas gives 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 polling McKay will be defeated by an overwhelming margin Lucas says the party expected McKay to lose but not to be humiliated so he convinces McKay to moderate 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 interpret 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 only nine points down in the polls Jarmon proposes a debate McKay agrees to give answers tailored by Lucas but just as the debate ends 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 tried to confront McKay backstage but arrived as his father congratulated 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 and McKay s father s help on the trail further close 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 they can do much 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 editRobert Redford as Bill McKay Peter Boyle as Marvin Lucas Melvyn Douglas as former Governor John J McKay Don Porter as Senator Crocker Jarmon Allen Garfield as Howard Klein Karen Carlson as Nancy McKay Quinn Redeker as Rich Jenkin Morgan Upton as Wally Henderson Michael Lerner as Paul Corliss Kenneth Tobey as Floyd J Starkey Christopher Pray as David Joe Miksak as Neil Atkinson Jenny Sullivan as Lynn Tom Dahlgren as The pilot Gerald Hiken as the station manager Leslie Allen as Mabel Mike Barnicle as Wilson Broderick Crawford as Commercial Narrator uncredited George McGovern as himself Howard K Smith as himself Hubert Humphrey as himself Van Amberg as himself Alan Cranston as himself John V Tunney as himself Terry McGovern as himself Natalie Wood as herself Sam Yorty as himself Jesse M Unruh as himself Bill Stout as himselfProduction editRobert Redford said that the film was made as a labor of love and was shot inexpensively and quickly 3 Redford and Ritchie had approached perhaps ten scriptwriters before offering the job to Jeremy Larner who was under pressure to work quickly so the film would be out in time for the 1972 presidential election campaign he had about a month to write the script and wrote exactly from noon to 3 a m every day 4 Larner having worked as a journalist and speechwriter said his experiences with various politicians came into the story I used some stuff that was directly from the campaigns 4 He also said that without the help he received from Robert Towne he would not have been able to complete the script 5 The character of McKay is based on U S Senator John V Tunney although he has similarities with Jerry Brown as well Director Michael Ritchie worked for Tunney s successful campaign in the 1970 Senate election campaign manager Nelson Rising was an associate producer on the film 6 7 Rising who went on to a successful career working in law property development and as a civic leader as well as continuing his work in California politics was according to Larner instrumental in finding political locations in the Bay Area and in supplying political volunteers for many of our campaign extras 4 In the campaign Tunney s media adviser had bulls eyed the young old contrast between Tunney and incumbent opponent George Murphy 8 Ritchie Redford and writer Jeremy Larner spent the whole summer of 1971 putting together the script 9 The scene where McKay is berated in a men s room is based on an incident that happened to presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy 10 Larner said that the moment when somebody hands McKay a Coke and a hot dog so his hands are occupied and then slugs him in the face that really happened to McCarthy 4 The scriptwriter also recounted how he wrote that character for Redford obviously and he told me at one point I can easily play a character stupider than myself But I can t be a bad guy my public wouldn t stand for it 4 The character Howard Klein played by Allen Garfield was based on a New York political advertising consultant David Garth who Jeremy Larner met during the making of the movie an encounter he described as a big break 4 Redford was reunited with Natalie Wood who made a cameo appearance as herself after she had semi retired in 1970 11 The two had co starred in the 1965 film Inside Daisy Clover as well as the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned Reception editThe New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby called the film one of the few good truly funny American political comedies ever made 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 12 Variety called it an excellent topical drama that was directed and paced superbly adding the entire film often seems like a documentary special in the best sense of the word 13 Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 5 stars out of 4 and praised Redford for a winning performance 14 Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Redford and Ritchie have teamed again to deliver what I think is nothing less than the best movie yet done about politics in coaxial America It has a right now urgency that is strong and compelling 15 Roger Ebert later said Ritchie brought a sharply observant almost documentary realism to the film 16 Among negative reviews Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned the film as a remarkably shallow hypocritical attempt to satirize the American political process The problem with the filmmakers is that their disillusion is neither honestly felt nor dramatically demonstrated and earned On the contrary it seems merely a professional pose a phony mask of invulnerability and moral superiority 17 Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker called it a dire film with a crass script and found Redford s resemblance to a Kennedy brother merciless to watchers and unbelievably opportunistic on the part of the filmmakers it is one of the most vulgar pieces of casting I can remember 18 Robert Chappetta in Film Quarterly wrote that a serious flaw was that Redford does poorly with the central dramatic element in the film the changeover from being a reluctant candidate to wanting so badly to win that he is willing to compromise himself Redford never conveys any real desire to win 19 Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that little definition or sympathy is lent McKay who remains as much a cipher in the film s mechanics as he does in the hands of the political movers and little interest generated in the workings of a system that is only conjured up in a gallery of intermittently familiar names and faces 20 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 21 The film holds a fresh score of 89 on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 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 22 Awards edit The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Larner and was also nominated for Best Sound Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa 23 See also editList of American films of 1972References edit Ebert Roger January 19 2003 Redford Reflects On Indie Films Political Climate RogerEbert com Retrieved November 23 2018 Big Rental Films Of 1972 Variety January 3 1973 p 36 All The President s Men 1976 2004 Special Edition audio commentary by Robert Redford a b c d e f Macfarlane Steve July 19 2016 The Moment of Unreality Jeremy Larner on The Candidate And Much Else Brooklyn Magazine Retrieved May 18 2021 Biskind Peter 1999 Easy Riders Raging Bulls How the Sex n Drugs n Rock n Roll Generation Saved Hollywood Bloomsbury Publishing p 50 ISBN 9780747544210 Mathews Joe February 23 2017 To get things done in California listen like Nelson Rising SFGate com Retrieved May 18 2021 Kelley 2012 p 23 Kelley 2012 p 34 Kelley 2012 p 25 Kelley 2012 p 28 Valemont Pamela Lillian 2013 Drowning and Other Undetermined Factors The Death of Natalie Wood Lulu com ISBN 978 1300863106 Canby Vincent June 30 1972 Screen Candidate a Comedy About the State of Politics Opens The New York Times 25 Retrieved November 23 2018 The Candidate Variety 18 June 21 1972 Siskel Gene August 9 1972 The Candidate Chicago Tribune Section 2 p 5 Champlin Charles July 2 1972 Candidate Profiles Politics in Coaxial America Los Angeles Times p 1 55 Ebert Roger June 18 1975 Interview with Bruce Dern Chicago Sun Times Retrieved January 1 2019 Arnold Gary July 22 1972 A Slick Candidate for Box Office The Washington Post p D1 Gilliatt Penelope July 1 1972 The Current Cinema The New Yorker pp 64 65 Chappetta Robert Winter 1972 73 The Candidate Film Quarterly 26 2 54 doi 10 2307 1211329 JSTOR 1211329 Combs Richard November 1972 The Candidate The Monthly Film Bulletin 39 466 229 Null Christopher The Candidate Filmcritic com Archived from the original on October 23 2006 The Candidate Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved July 15 2023 The 45th Academy Awards 1973 Nominees and Winners oscars org Retrieved August 28 2011 Bibliography edit Callan Michael Feeney 2011 Robert Redford The Biography Knopf ISBN 978 0679450559 Kelley Beverly Merrill 2012 Reelpolitik Ideologies in American Political Film Lexington Books ISBN 978 0739172070 External links editThe Candidate at IMDb nbsp The Candidate at AllMovie The Candidate at the TCM Movie Database The Candidate at the American Film Institute Catalog The Candidate at Rotten Tomatoes nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Candidate 1972 film amp oldid 1213788252, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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