You're a Communist if you Disagree
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GuyOnTheLeft — 12 years ago(April 30, 2013 10:15 AM)
Choice (B).
See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc -
Devinm1978 — 12 years ago(July 20, 2013 11:28 AM)
Your comments could not be more true! At the time if this film, calling one's political enemy "communist" was a tactical weapon. Today, that word has been replaced by "racist" - as Penn Jillette said on Larry King, you call someone a racist and they automatically lose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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charlesheld — 12 years ago(October 02, 2013 12:48 PM)
Actually it was Helen Gahagan Douglas's Democratic primary opponent Manchester Boddy, the owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News, who coined the phrase "Pink Lady" to describe her.
Both the retiring Democrat incumbent Senator Sheridan Downey and Nixon's future Presidential rival John F. Kennedy supported Tricky Dick, the latter in secret. -
gary_overman — 10 years ago(April 21, 2015 07:46 AM)
Your comments could not be more true! At the time if this film, calling one's political enemy "communist" was a tactical weapon. Today, that word has been replaced by "racist" - as Penn Jillette said on Larry King, you call someone a racist and they automatically lose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
If no one else had said this, I was going to. Mrs. Iselin's calling anyone who disagreed with her 'communists' was obviously wrong, but is the the use in modern times of 'racist' if you oppose the policies of Obama, not wrong as well? -
Eric-62-2 — 10 years ago(April 25, 2015 01:26 PM)
It always struck me that Senator Jordan was not exactly the biggest paragon of saintly virtue that this film tries to make us think he is. Part of the problem is casting John McGiver, whose most memorable roles were always playing windbag blowhards (especially his TZ episode) that its impossible to take him seriously as such a figure of nobility.
I was I have to say struck by how the script has Jordan vowing to initiate "impeachment" proceedings against Islein if he angles for the Vice-Presidency at the Convention. Anyone with a shred of understanding of Civics 101 would be going, "Huh?" First off, Senators are not impeached by their colleagues, the worse thing they face is expulsion. Even leaving that aside, manipulating delegates at a Convention to angle for a nomination thrown open presumably is hardly what one might consider an "impeachable offense". Finally, granting that the purpose of the plot is to make Islein VP so he can become President, you might expect Jordan to be thinking about the idea of Islein as VP, "Good! That means he's out of the Senate in the most dead-end job possible!"
So you see, the fact that Jordan is not the brightest of bulbs when it comes to the Constitution himself, makes it hard for me to think of the guy as the epitome of all that is noble and virtuous. Not that he has it coming to him, but there is such a thing as going too far over the top. -
gary_overman — 10 years ago(April 27, 2015 09:39 AM)
It always struck me that Senator Jordan was not exactly the biggest paragon of saintly virtue that this film tries to make us think he is. Part of the problem is casting John McGiver, whose most memorable roles were always playing windbag blowhards (especially his TZ episode) that its impossible to take him seriously as such a figure of nobility.
I was I have to say struck by how the script has Jordan vowing to initiate "impeachment" proceedings against Islein if he angles for the Vice-Presidency at the Convention. Anyone with a shred of understanding of Civics 101 would be going, "Huh?" First off, Senators are not impeached by their colleagues, the worse thing they face is expulsion.
Even leaving that aside, manipulating delegates at a Convention to angle for a nomination thrown open presumably is hardly what one might consider an "impeachable offense". Finally, granting that the purpose of the plot is to make Islein VP so he can become President, you might expect Jordan to be thinking about the idea of Islein as VP, "Good! That means he's out of the Senate in the most dead-end job possible!"
So you see, the fact that Jordan is not the brightest of bulbs when it comes to the Constitution himself, makes it hard for me to think of the guy as the epitome of all that is noble and virtuous. Not that he has it coming to him, but there is such a thing as going too far over the top.
Good point, eric.
I'm sure however, that Jordan would have had other more substantial grounds for any action taken against Iselin. Like you say, that is not grounds for expulsion, or any other senatorial discipline.
I did like how the pompous bag of wind, Mrs. Iselin was not what she appeared to be throughout the film, but was herself revealed.
I thought that was a neat touch.
All-in-all, I liked this film. But then, I like a lot of Frankenheimer films. -
hodie — 12 years ago(January 29, 2014 06:12 PM)
Technotrone, what exactly is your experience with Conservative
circles?
What names would be call conservatives? Let's face it, there probably are some.
Senator Jordan called the Iselins' party a "fascist gathering."
Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!