Dan McGinty's (Brian Donlevy) life had a meteoric rise and fall and now he finds himself on the other side of things. Working as a bartender in a banana republic he entertains a drunk American banker Tommy (Louis Jean Heydt) and his gal pal (Steffi Duna) with his life story. Told in a flashback, we follow McGinty has goes from being a hobo to the governor of his state. At first he's hired by Skeeters (William Demarest), the right hand man to crooked mobster known as The Boss (Akim Tamiroff), to vote under assumed names in a rigged election. McGinty, wanting to make an extra buck, votes a whopping 37 times impressing The Boss who takes him under his wing. McGinty is transformed into a mayoral candidate complete with a new wife Catherine (Muriel Angelus) and her two children. McGinty is along for the ride until things get complicated. He finds himself falling for Catherine despite their strictly business arrangement, for family life and pushes back when The Boss makes certain demands of McGinty once he's governor.
The Great McGinty (1940) is Preston Sturges directorial debut. Up until this point he had been a screenwriter working on dialogue and adapting screenplays. Sturges wrote The Great McGinty, originally entitled The Story of a Man. The story goes that Paramount offered him $10 for his original script but Sturges refused to sell it unless he could direct the film as well. This was a brilliant career move. The film went on to be a box office hit and won Sturges an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. He went on to direct a dozen more films including The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942) and Unfaithfully Yours (1948). In his film The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprise their roles as McGinty and The Boss.
The Great McGinty is a charming picture. It's lighthearted approach to the rather heavy topic of political corruption and morality makes this a big spoonful of medicine you want to take. Donlevy is fantastic as the stubborn vagabond with a heart of gold. If you know me, you know that I simply adore Akim Tamiroff and will watch him in anything. The Boss is a plum role for Tamiroff and he gets a lot more screen time than he usually does in a film and he has some great conflicts with Donlevy that are just fun to watch. And of course William Demarest is at his best as The Boss's sidekick schemer. I was sad to read that this was Muriel Angelus's final film. She plays Catherine McGinty with grace and charm and left Hollywood after that to return to the theater. The wardrobe in this film especially McGinty's flamboyant suits and Catherine's fabulous gowns were designed by the great Edith Head.
Kino Lorber Classics recently released The Great McGinty (1940) on Blu-ray. This edition includes a brand new 4K master restoration which looks fantastic. It also includes English subtitles (which I mention because I use these all the time), audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan and Kino Lorber Classics movie trailers.
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Thank you to Kino Lorber for sending me a copy of this set for review.