Synopsis
The Great McGinty (1940) — watch online on iFILM. Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay and reportedly sold it to Paramount for next to nothing just to secure the directing credit. The gamble paid off: his debut feature became one of Hollywood's sharpest political comedies.
Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) is a Depression-era drifter who gets hired to stuff ballot boxes — and turns out to have a gift for it. The city's corrupt political machine, run by a boss played by Akim Tamiroff with the right mix of menace and absurdity, promotes him steadily upward. Petty criminal to mayor. One uncharacteristic moment of honesty unravels everything he has built.
The Academy handed Sturges the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1941 for this script. The satire holds because the system he is describing has not changed much. Stream The Great McGinty (1940) on iFILM.
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