The Best Man (1964) - Schaffner

Stars: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson

Plot: The two front runners for their party's Presidential nomination, one principled and the other ruthless, vie for the ex-President's endorsement.

Pros: Acting, intelligent script, fast pace

Cons: Very talky, somewhat dated

Based on Gore Vidal's Broadway, and running only 92 minutes, "Best Man" deals with the ethics of the political process not the current issues of 1964. Vidal, of course, attacks Joe McCarthy and Segregation, but its indirectly and not the main focus. Mostly, the movie deals with 2 issues (1) does "the ends justify the means"? and (2) should a politician's personal life matter?

The Three Politicians 

To answer these questions the film focuses on 3 politicians. The bad guy - Senator Cantwell- is a ruthless pol who believes the ends justify the means. He's a sort of combination Joe McCarthy & Nixon with touches of Bobby Kennedy. The second, our hero Henry Fonda, is a liberal former Secretary of State. Modeled after Stevenson and Dean Acheson, he's pretty much perfect except for being 'indecisive'. He wants to fight on the issues and is perfectly willing to accept defeat rather than betray his principles.

The third character, Ex-President Hockstader, is modeled after Truman with touches of FDR. Politically and morally, Hockstader is the golden mean and obviously Vidal's political ideal. Hockstader is willing to fight dirty but only to a point - and only when necessary. A man of the people but with progressive elite views. A man who likes power but uses it for the liberal good. Like Fonda he's indifferent to a politicians private life unless it effects his performance. Unlike Fonda he values toughness and is willing to tell people what they want to hear and in a way they want to hear it.

Vidal, however, never truly engages the issues. 

Why shouldn't Fonda's treatment for a nervous breakdown be known? Why should his "open marriage" remain a secret? Why shouldn't the voters know that Fonda is an atheist? Vidal and movie assume it doesn't matter, but they never make the case. Similarly, why should it matter that Cantwell is ambitious and will do most anything to succeed? Why is his use of Fonda's personal life, so beyond the pale? Vidal really never says, he just assumes.

A Confusing Ending

Further why are we supposed to cheer Fonda refusal to Cantwell's VP and his endorsement of Meriwell? I thought Fonda wanted power to do good things. And Fonda doesn't even know who Meriwell is! 

Other Points
Finally, its interesting that Vidal puts several things in the movie/play. First, its only after Fonda hears of Cantwell going after Gays in the WW II military that he decides Cantwell under no circumstances be President. Secondly, the ex-President speechifies about how a Jew and Black will one day be President and the crowd applauds. But when he mentions a "Lady President" everyone laughs, including the women in the crowd.

Summary: An interesting, well-acted political drama. Somewhat dated, it asks more questions than it answers. Rating ***