Preston Sturges was one of the most brilliant (and unfortunately today largely unknown) screenwriter/directors. He was the master of the screwball comedy and his hilarious convoluted plots had an uncommon realism and a “speaking truth to power” tone that made them stand out from the usual banal Hollywood fare of his time. His masterpiece in this regard was The Great McGinty. I show it each year to my high school Political Parties students for it perfectly captures the intricate workings and corruption of the urban political machine. Cinephile Murray Rothbard probably loved this 1940 film, as his editor of The Progressive Era, Patrick Newman details in this recent Mises University splendid presentation, “The Progressive Era and Crony Political and Local Reform,” and article “Why Progressives Wanted Less Democracy and Lower Voter Turnout.”
Other Preston Sturges’ cinematic treasures you should not miss include Sullivan’s Travels (1941); The Lady Eve (1941); The Palm Beach Story (1942); and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). An open secret to Sturges’ success was his remarkable ensemble of cast he used repeatedly in his films.
ADDENDUM: One of Murray Rothbard’s close friends and colleagues, the economist/historian Walter E. Grinder related the following to me concerning The Great McGinty —
1:57 pm on September 7, 2019Great movie and super-star director! You were right, Murray Rothbard and I were great Preston Sturges fans. We often visited one of several theaters in NYC that showed nothing but old movies. They occasionally showed Sturges films: and, when we saw that Sturges and Co were in town, one or another of us would quickly remind the other that we should go to one of the late-night showings. Also, we never missed a W.C. Fields movie.
