State Of The Union (1948)

An idealistic businessman (Spencer Tracy) is pushed into politics by his mistress (Angela Lansbury, just 22 years old but effectively playing a woman in her mid to late thirties), who is a powerful and influential newspaper publisher. His estranged wife (Katharine Hepburn) at his side, he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination but his idealism is compromised by both his ambitious mistress and a political strategist (Adolphe Menjou). Based on the play by Russell Crouse and Howard Lindsay and directed by Frank Capra (MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON). You can see what attracted Capra to the material as it fits in perfectly with his previous themes of the individual working within the system to defeat unchecked political corruption. I'm not a fan of Capra's films from the mid 1930s (his little man against the machine scenarios give me a headache) on but this has the splendor of a first rate cast of actors who do wonders with the recycled material. Politically, the film seems rather naive and I'm not that confident that much has changed in the political landscape in the ensuing decades. See it for the acting (especially Hepburn who does wonders with the "wife" role). With Van Johnson, Lewis Stone, Margaret Hamilton and Charles Dingle.