The Great McGinty
1940, NR, 81 min.
Directed by Preston Sturges, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, William Demarest.

The cinematic yang to the yin of Meet John Doe. Whereas in Frank Capra’s inspirational tale, a poor joe gets tapped by a crooked party boss to help grease the political machine, then fights to regain his integrity, in Sturges’ cynical story (which beat Capra’s to the screen by several months), a poor joe also gets tapped by a crooked party boss to help grease the political machine ñ then really likes it. Only a misguided impulse toward honesty threatens his brilliant career. Donlevy isn’t Sturges’ most appealing lead, but he’ll do, and Tamiroff really works it as his patron, the Boss. See the recent Austin Chronicle piece at www.auschron.com/issues/dispatch/2000-01-14/screens_feature.html. The Austin Film Society’s Preston Sturges Film Festival.

This article appears in January 14 • 2000.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.