The USPS has issued a set of four stamps honoring great film
directors and the films for which they are most remembered. The four selected
are: John Ford (The Searchers), John Huston (The Maltese Falcon), Frank Capra
(It Happened One Night), and Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot). We will be
exploring the lives and work of these directors over the next few weeks. In
this post LR Simon discusses State of the Union (1948).
As much as there is to admire in State of the Union, the
more I think about this film, the less I like it. Technically, it has a lot
going for it, such as a stellar cast and good production values. Frank Capra’s
direction is deft as usual, and because the screenplay features political
commentary that remains relevant (one character asks whether there’s any
difference between the Republican and Democratic parties, a question that
usually comes up at least every four years), one can see why Capra was
attracted to the material.
Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) plans to make Grant Matthews
(Spencer Tracy) President of the United States, using her influence via her
newspapers to deadlock the Republican primary and then promote Matthews as a
dark horse candidate. Matthews’ estranged wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) agrees
to campaign with him because she believes in his idealism. Along the way,
Matthews compromises his positions and ideals to ensure backing from special
interests. As he compromises behind the scenes, his character starts to change
for the worse.
Thorndyke may be the character with the plan, but the story
belongs to Matthews. He has to struggle with his ideals and his newfound
ambition, and he has to decide between his wife and his lover, Kay. Most of the
time, when the story focuses on Matthews, it works; there is, however, a cute
but unnecessary and unbelievable airplane sequence that does not work with the
rest of the film.
The main weakness in State of the Union is the treatment of
the two main female characters. The characters are not written as real human
people but as representations of ideas, Kay representing ambition, lust, and
corruption, and Mary representing idealism and family. It’s another rendition
of the virgin/whore trope that still permeates literature, television, film,
and music to this day. Kay is not allowed to have any real virtues, and any
characteristics she has that could be seen positively are instead used to show
her in a bad light. Mary, in contrast, is not allowed much in the way of flaws,
and when she starts to compromise in support of her husband, he puts an end to
it—she isn’t even allowed to save herself.
Neither Kay nor Mary goes through the kind of journey that
women in earlier Capra films did—in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, for example,
Jean Arthur starts out cynical but through her growing familiarity with Smith
(James Stewart), starts to lose her cynicism and become an optimist, even
helping Smith with his apparently quixotic filibuster. In State of the Union,
Kay starts out cynical and remains cynical while Mary starts out righteous and
optimistic, and ultimately stays righteous and optimistic. If the characters
don’t feel like cardboard, much of the credit must go to Lansbury and Hepburn.
As mentioned above, however, the political commentary was
smart and strong and is not dated. For example:
“Because you politicians, instead of trying to pull the country together, are helping pull it apart, just to get votes.” Matthews (Spencer Tracy).“Oh, I’m a good Republican, but the voters do control the lease on the White House, don’t they? Not just the Republican Party.” Mary Matthews (Katharine Hepburn).“You politicians have stayed professional only because the voters have remained amateurs.” Mary Matthews (Katharine Hepburn).
Despite its flaws in its depiction of (especially) the
female characters, State of the Union continues Capra’s tradition of smart
political commentary. It isn’t in the same league as Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington, You Can’t Take It With You, or Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and overall,
it isn’t Capra’s best effort, but the actors’ performances and the political
commentary make it watchable.
References:
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