The Last Hurrah (1958)

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  • THE LAST HURRAH


    DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY JOHN FORD
    COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION



    Information from IMDb


    Plot Summary
    An aging politician tries to get re-elected one last time
    in the changing world of the 1950s when TV started
    to play a bigger part in politics.
    Based loosely on the career of multi-term Boston Mayor
    James Michael Curley, this film examines the good and evil inherent
    in politics and all the things that go into an election.
    Tracy's uphill battle to stay in office is set against
    the political machinery that preyed on ethnic hatred and old-time money. Written by Ed Lorusso


    Full Cast
    Spencer Tracy ... Mayor Frank Skeffington
    Jeffrey Hunter ... Adam Caulfield
    Dianne Foster ... Maeve Caulfield
    Pat O'Brien ... John Gorman
    Basil Rathbone ... Norman Cass, Sr.
    Donald Crisp ... Cardinal Martin Burke
    James Gleason ... 'Cuke' Gillen
    Edward Brophy ... 'Ditto' Boland
    John Carradine ... Amos Force
    Willis Bouchey ... Roger Sugrue
    Basil Ruysdael ... Bishop Gardner
    Ricardo Cortez ... Sam Weinberg
    Wallace Ford ... Charles J. Hennessey
    Frank McHugh ... Festus Garvey
    Carleton Young ... Winslow
    Frank Albertson ... Jack Mangan
    Bob Sweeney ... Johnny Degnan
    William Leslie ... Dan Herlihy
    Anna Lee ... Gert Minihan
    Ken Curtis ... Monsignor Killian
    Jane Darwell ... Delia Boylan
    O.Z. Whitehead ... Norman Cass Jr.
    Arthur Walsh ... Frank Skeffington Jr.
    Phil Adams ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Alex Akimoff ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Fred Aldrich ... Campaign HQ Extra (uncredited)
    Richard Alexander ... Mourner Given Cigar at Wake (uncredited)
    Don Anderson ... Police Officer at Wake (uncredited)
    Frank Baker ... Banker Member of Plymouth Club (uncredited)
    Bobette Bentley ... First Blonde (uncredited)
    Steve Benton ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Gail Bonney ... Woman, scene 190 (uncredited)
    Danny Borzage ... Pete (uncredited)
    Rand Brooks ... Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
    John Bryant ... Man at Campaign HQ (uncredited)
    Jack Chefe ... Crowd Extra (uncredited)
    Dick Cherney ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Charles Cirillo ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Richard Dale Clark ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Ruth Clifford ... Nurse (uncredited)
    Edmund Cobb ... Man, scene 139 (uncredited)
    Bud Cokes ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Hal K. Dawson ... Managing Editor (uncredited)
    Richard Deacon ... Graves, Club Secretary (uncredited)
    John Deauville ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    George DeNormand ... Banker (uncredited)
    Joe Devlin ... Man, scene 54 (uncredited)
    James Dime ... Campaign HQ Extra (uncredited)
    Clint Dorrington ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Mimi Doyle ... Mamie Burns (uncredited)
    Tommy Earwood ... Gregory McClusky (uncredited)
    Eddie Fetherston ... Bit Role, scene 36 (uncredited)
    Charles B. Fitzsimons ... Kevin McCluskey (uncredited)
    James Flavin ... Police Capt. Michael J. Shanahan (uncredited)
    George Ford ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    William Forrest ... Doctor Tom (uncredited)
    Joseph Forte ... Managing Editor, scene 36 (uncredited)
    Raoul Freeman ... Banker Member of Plymouth Club (uncredited)
    Sam Harris ... Member of Plymouth Club on Stairway (uncredited)
    Jack Hendricks ... Bit Role, scene 36 (uncredited)
    William Henry ... Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
    Chuck Hicks ... Fighter (uncredited)
    Stuart Holmes ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Chuck Howard ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    William Hudson ... Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
    Charles Anthony Hughes ... Man, scene 139 (uncredited)
    Thomas E. Jackson ... Man, scene 54 (uncredited)
    William Janssen ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Mike Jeffers ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Roy Jenson ... Fighter (uncredited)
    Roland Jones ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Richard Keene ... Man, scene 139 (uncredited)
    Fred Kennedy ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    June Kirby ... Second Blonde (uncredited)
    Webster Lagrange ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Harry Lauter ... Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
    Johnny Leone ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Robert Levin ... Jules Kowalsky (uncredited)
    Edmund Lowe ... Johnny Byrne (uncredited)
    Wilbur Mack ... Banquet Guest (uncredited)
    Hank Mann ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Eve March ... Neighbor Woman, scene 54 (uncredited)
    Frank Marlowe ... Bit Role, scene 36 (uncredited)
    Mae Marsh ... Mourner at Wake (uncredited)
    Philo McCullough ... Politician (uncredited)
    Joe McGuinn ... 2nd Man, scene 188 (uncredited)
    Edward McNally ... Ward Heeler (uncredited)
    Paul McVey ... Banker (uncredited)
    Harold Miller ... Banquet Guest (uncredited)
    Jimmy Murphy ... Office Boy (uncredited)
    Forbes Murray ... Banker Member of Plymouth Club (uncredited)
    Tom Neal ... Tom - Mourner at Wake (uncredited)
    Bill Neff ... Man at Campaign HQ (uncredited)
    William H. O'Brien ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Brian O'Hara ... Man, scene 61 (uncredited)
    Joe Palma ... Cop at Campaign HQ (uncredited)
    Emma Palmese ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Harvey Parry ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Jack Pennick ... Police Sgt. Rafferty (uncredited)
    Bob Perry ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Clete Roberts ... News Reporter (uncredited)
    Molly Roden ... Neighbor Woman (uncredited)
    Victor Romito ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Buck Russell ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Dick Ryan ... Man, scene 139 (uncredited)
    Cosmo Sardo ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Frank J. Scannell ... Man, scene 63 (uncredited)
    Jordan Shelley ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Charles Sherlock ... Rally Marcher (uncredited)
    Stephen Soldi ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    George Spaulding ... Man, scene 54 (uncredited)
    Ted Stanhope ... 1st Man, scene 188 (uncredited)
    Anna Stein ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Bert Stevens ... Political Rally Marcher / Man at Political HQ (uncredited)
    Harry Strang ... Harry - Mourner at Wake (uncredited)
    Brick Sullivan ... Ward Heeler (uncredited)
    Charles Sullivan ... Charlie the Chauffeur (uncredited)
    Frank Sully ... Fire Lieutenant (uncredited)
    Julius Tannen ... Mr. Kowalsky (uncredited)
    Harry Tenbrook ... Caterer at Wake (uncredited)
    Charles Trowbridge ... Member of Plymouth Club at Front Door (uncredited)
    Phil Tully ... Man, scene 63 (uncredited)
    Harry Tyler ... Robert, Elderly Retainer (uncredited)
    Ruth Warren ... Ellen Davin (uncredited)
    James Waters ... Young Politician (uncredited)
    Helen Westcott ... Mrs. McCluskey (uncredited)


    Writing Credits
    Frank S. Nugent (screen play) (as Frank Nugent)
    Edwin O'Connor (based upon the novel by)


    Cinematography
    Charles Lawton Jr.


    Trivia
    Orson Welles was John Ford's original choice to play Frank Skeffington but Welles either lost or refused the part after intensely anti-Communist Ford friend Ward Bond publicly questioned Welles's loyalty to the U.S. Ford was furious at Bond. Welles and Ford were fans of each other's work.


    Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel "The Last Hurrah", on which the movie is based, is a fictionalized version of former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, a celebrated rogue who raised municipal corruption to an art form.


    Goofs
    When Frank Jr. bursts into the bedroom to see his dying Father, the doorknob comes apart and the interior knob falls off. As the Doctor immediately follows him into the room the doorknob back intact.


    Memorable Quote
    Mayor Frank Skeffington:
    One more regret at my age won't make much difference.


    Filming Location
    Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • The Last Hurrah is a 1958 film adaptation of the novel
    The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor, and starred Spencer Tracy
    as a veteran mayor preparing for yet another election campaign.


    Tracy was nominated as Best Foreign Actor by BAFTA and won the Best Actor Award
    from the National Board of Review, which also presented Ford the award for Best Director.


    The film tells the story of Frank Skeffington, a sentimental but iron-fisted Irish-American
    who is the powerful mayor of an unnamed American city.
    As his nephew, Adam Caulfield, follows one last no-holds-barred mayoral campaign,
    Skeffington and his top strategist, John Gorman, use whatever means
    necessary to defeat a candidate backed by civic leaders such as banker
    Norman Cass and newspaper editor Amos Force, the mayor's dedicated foes.



    Like the novel, the film was based in part on the career
    of former Boston mayor James Michael Curley.
    Curley opposed the film's production,
    but not because of the negative dramatization; rather,
    he believed that The Last Hurrah might prevent Hollywood
    from making a biographical film of his life.


    User Review


    Quote

    Delightful film.
    28 November 2006 | by robert-mulqueen (United States)


    I believe that I have watched "The Last Hurrah" six or eight times. It is not history. It is John Ford. Well, ... there's a bit of political, social and cultural history in this film and in the novel by Edwin O'Connor. It is a commentary, from Ford's point of view and with the customary Ford schmaltz, on big city politics in the first half of the 20th Century. Although the film never mentions the locale, it is Boston. The novelist, O'Connor, a New Englander from Rhode Island, admitted that the Frank Skeffington character was based roughly on James Michael Curley, who served as mayor of Boston four different times and as governor or Massachusetts and as a Congressman from Massachusetts. Curley wrote his autobiography in 1957, a year after O'Connor published his novel.


    Ford uses many of the stock company actors which he regularly used in the 1950s and '60s. But Spencer Tracy is splendid as Skeffington. When I later read the novel, I thought of Tracy as Skeffington and I constantly heard the harp music theme used in the film in my mind. "Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. How do you thank a man for a million laughs?"

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().