Plot Synopsis:
The legendary John Ford directs screenwriter Frank S. Nugent’s adaptation of Edwin O’Connor’s novel, the barn-burning political film/character study, The Last Hurrah (1958). The singular Spencer Tracy stars as an old-school Irish-American pol, mayor of “a New England City” that just might be Boston; as he faces a potentially rough fifth campaign, he is observed by his journalist nephew (Jeffrey Hunter), fighting charges of graft and abuse of power even as he is assisted and/or opposed by a gallery of colorful characters. The extraordinary supporting cast includes Pat O’Brien, Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp, James Gleason, Ricardo Cortez, et al; the film was gloriously shot by Charles Lawton, Jr. (The Lady from Shanghai).