Main Cast: Florence Auer, Spencer Tracy, Irving Bacon, Katharine Hepburn, Art Baker, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Tom Fadden, Adolphe Menjou
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 124 minutes
Plot
Frank Capra's only MGM film, State of the Union was adapted by Anthony Veiller and Myles Connolly from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Spencer Tracy plays an aircraft tycoon who is coerced into seeking the Republican Presidential nomination by predatory newspaper mogul Angela Lansbury. Campaign manager Van Johnson suggests that, for appearance's sake, Tracy be reunited with his estranged wife Katharine Hepburn (replacing Claudette Colbert, who'd ankled the project after a pre-production donnybrook with director Capra). Realizing that Tracy and Lansbury are having an affair, Hepburn nonetheless agrees to grow through the devoted-wife charade because she believes that Tracy just might make a good President. Her faith is shattered when Tracy, corrupted by the Washington power brokers, publicly compromises his values in order to get votes. Only in the film's last moments does Tracy prove himself worthy of Hepburn's love and his own self-respect by admitting his dishonesty during a nationwide radio-TV broadcast. Much of the biting wit in the original Broadway production of State of the Union is sacrificed in favor of the director's patented "Capracorn," but the film is no less entertaining because of this. As usual, the supporting cast is impeccable, from featured players Adolphe Menjou (whose off-camera political arguments with Hepburn threatened to shut down production at times) and Margaret Hamilton, to bit actors like Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Tor (Plan 9 From Outer Space) Johnson. Because the television rights to State of the Union belonged to Capra's Liberty Films, the picture was released to TV by MCA rather than MGM's syndication division. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Another one of director Frank Capra's delightful blends of romantic melodrama and socio-political morality play, State of the Union is one of the most loved of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's collaborations. Most similar to earlier Capra films, Meet John Doe (1941) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), State is less idealistic and sentimental than those two classics, thanks to a more complex portrait of its main character. In the lead role, the always-effortless Tracy gets a chance to play against his righteous typecasting: the parallel between his character's questionable political integrity and his faltering marriage is a fascinating one. Hepburn and Angela Lansbury are also very good as, respectively, his wife and his manipulative mistress. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Originally, actress Claudette Colbert was cast as Mary, the wife of Grant Matthews (played by Spencer Tracy,) but rumors of disagreements with Capra and a reported "back" injury led to the weekend casting of Hepburn, Tracy's longtime companion. Other behind the scenes tensions were between Adolphe Menjou, a onetime member the McCarthyist group Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, and his former co-star Katharine Hepburn, as well as Hepburn and the much younger Angela Lansbury.
The film was produced entirely by Capra's own company, Liberty Films. In order to cast MGM contract player Tracy in the film, the latter studio bought the distribution rights. In fact, many of the major actors in the film were under contract with MGM also.
Capra bought the film after its initial theatrical release. After Capra's company folded, Liberty Films' assets were acquired by Paramount Pictures. It has since had limited availability on VHShome video and until recently has been unavailable on DVD. EMKA, Ltd./NBC Universal currently owns the rights to the film due to it being a part of Paramount's pre-1950 library. Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a DVD version on August 29, 2006.
Plot
Upon the urgings of newspaper manager Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury), aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. Before embarking on his journey, he reunites with his estranged wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) at the urging of campaign manager Spike McManus (Van Johnson). Despite knowing that her husband and Thorndyke are having an affair, Mary puts up the front of a loving wife because she knows he has solid values. After her husband sacrifices his values for votes, Mary questions her actions and her belief in her husband. But when Grant realizes what this is doing to Mary, he denounces his political backers as phonies on live radio, and declares that he will run for office honestly. Grant and Mary are reconciled.
