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IMDb > The Great McGinty (1940)
The Great McGinty
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The Great McGinty (1940) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   1,040 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 20% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Preston Sturges (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Great McGinty on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 August 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Dan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics. But endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty... full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
Top Ten Movies About U.S. Politics
 (From CinemaSpy. 3 November 2009, 9:45 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Looks like the suit got YOU! more (20 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Brian Donlevy ... Daniel 'Dan' McGinty
Muriel Angelus ... Catherine McGinty
Akim Tamiroff ... The Boss
Allyn Joslyn ... George
William Demarest ... Skeeters - The Politician
Louis Jean Heydt ... Tommy Thompson
Harry Rosenthal ... Louie (bodyguard)
Arthur Hoyt ... Mayor Wilfred T. Tillinghast
Libby Taylor ... Bessy (maid)
Thurston Hall ... Mr. Maxwell
Steffi Duna ... The Dancing Girl
Esther Howard ... Madame Juliette La Jolla
Frank Moran ... The Boss' Chauffeur (as Frank C. Moran)
Jimmy Conlin ... The Lookout
Dewey Robinson ... Benny Felgman
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Biograhy of a Bum (USA) (working title)
Down Went McGinty (UK)
more
Runtime:
82 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
Sweden:15 | UK:U (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This film was Muriel Angelus' last screen appearance. more
Quotes:
Daniel 'Dan' McGinty: [to the Politician about getting paid for multiple voting] Never mind the applesauce! How do I get the bucks? more
Movie Connections:
Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Louise more

FAQ

A NOTE ABOUT SPOILERS
more
11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
Looks like the suit got YOU!, 7 August 2000
Author: fowler1 from nyc

The conventional wisdom on McGINTY is that it's lesser Sturges, more important as his directorial debut than as a standalone comedy. Pish and tosh. This is a supremely satisfying comedy and had it been Sturges' only directing credit, would still mark him as a filmmaker to remember. (And, no, that's not a subtle swipe at his others, merely a defense of this too-often overlooked movie.)Maybe the best asset of McGINTY is its budget constraint, which steered Sturges towards the 'ensemble' casting which would become one of his hallmarks. The movie is filled stem to stern with sharp-eyed turns by primarily supporting players (including the leads, Donlevy & Tamiroff, who are excellent). What I can't help but notice is how the Sturges films of the 40s are really the last gasp of the great breakneck comedies of the pre-Code 30s, just prior to the 'screwball' era, when Hollywood was still allowed to poke fun at people/institutions/conventions of the Real World. In fact, McGINTY -with only minor casting changes- would have fit right in with the Warner Bros/First National bumper crop of fast, cynical comedies of '31-'34. (And, by the way, Tamiroff's cheerfully corrupt and malapropping Boss would be paid hilarious homage 20+ years later in animation form as Boris Badinov in Jay Ward's ROCKY & BULLWINKLE cartoons.) The love interest of Muriel Angelus, and adjoining subplot, may come off a bit treacly, but Sturges was canny enough to make this studio-mandated mawkishness an integral part of the plot...even as early as 1940, he was subverting True Love to his devilishly satiric purposes! So stop nitpicking and thoroughly enjoy one of the great American comedies, brought to unforgettable life by that great if unrecognized repertory company, The Sturges Players (featuring, among others, Wm Demarest, Thurston Hall & Arthur Hoyt).

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