Campaigns, clips, democrats, elections, gore vidal, history

Gore Vidal Saw This Coming

In 1960, American author and member of the designated ruling class Gore Vidal wrote a little play about how his good friend John Kennedy managed to fuck over intelligent wimp Adlai Stevenson and gain control of the Democratic party (and eventually the presidency). The play was called The Best Man, and it was made into an entertaining (and out of print) movie of the same name in 1964. It's the story of a hotly contested fight for the nomination that goes down to the wire, and all the smears and dirty tricks that make this country great. Do you see the parallels? DO YOU SEE? Well, they're actually kinda tenuous and not that informative, but it's a gripping little movie. Here's a clip, taken from a '90s BBC documentary on Vidal.

5:28 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Pareene
697 views
13 comments

Comments

Smitros at 05:43 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

He's still around?
8Millionth at 05:47 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

I've seen the movie twice.

I'm a big Henry Fonda (rather than his contemporaries Jimmy Stewart or John Wayne) fan.
GollyG at 06:02 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

So Vidal wrote this scathing play about "his good friend"? And then Hollywood released the movie directly after Kennedy was assassinated? While everyone was still in mourning? Tacky, all round.
VaraneseHaedjinn at 06:04 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

Comment on Gore Vidal Saw This Coming YES! great movie. fonda is the "intelligent wimp" and cliff robertson is the former first lady -- er, um -- dirty trickster -- um, er-- people's candidate. seems to me obama has been channeling fonda forever, what with his tall, lean frame, easy going style and those great narrow suits. fighting hard against the stevenson wimp thing, of course. anyway, no home video on the movie but TCM has it skedded for june 20. enjoy!
LoveHandles at 06:17 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

@GollyG: You expected something else from Gore Vidal?
PandoraSpocks at 06:25 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 192

The movie was excellent for its time and included a evangelical right-wing Democrat (played by Cliff Robertson) who was totally ruthless. As far as I recall any Kennedey parallel was pretty subtle since the eventual nominee turns out to be neither of the favorites.
Priam at 06:54 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

@PandoraSpocks: You mean a yellow dog democrat?
ginger rant at 10:56 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

Okay, so I know this thread is supposed to be all intellectual and shit, but was that Darren Stevens in the clip?
jackvinyl at 11:10 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*

@ginger rant: Good eye. That is Darren #1, Dick York.
La Cieca at 11:24 PM on 05/06/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 66

I'm still trying to figure out how a play that opened in March of 1960 could be about how JFK became President. And as PandoraSpocks points out, in the play and the movie, neither of the rival candidates actually gets the nomination. It seems pretty obvious that Vidal's main inspiration was mostly the 1952 Democratic convention, when Harry S Truman threw his support to the dark horse Adlai Stevenson.

If there were any hint that the character of the sleazy, blackmailing Cantwell was based on JFK, surely no studio in their right mind would cast Cliff Robertson, who had already played the real Kennedy in PT 109 the previous year. When I saw a revival of The Best Man a few years ago, Chris Noth in the part seemed like a very handsome version of Richard Nixon, not JFK at all.
PattyCake at 03:24 AM on 05/07/08
Reply by Email
*

Such a brilliant 'quee-ah.'
raincoaster at 04:14 AM on 05/07/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 337

JFK knew he was going to be president someday, and Gore Vidal as a relative by marriage, knew him well enough to know how it would go down. Palimpsest is a fascinating book, I'm telling you.

I couldn't love Gore Vidal more if he were The Croc Hunter returned from the dead. And you cross him at your peril: Capote, Buckley, Mailer...all dead.

I'm just sayin.
NeverEnough at 08:53 AM on 05/07/08
Reply by Email
*

@raincoaster: Oh weird-- I'm about halfway through Palimpsest and am fully obsessed with Gore Vidal now. And there are few things hotter on God's green earth than a young Gore Vidal...