Politics (1931)

hyped garbage

good back-story, and good acting

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Director Charles Reisner's battle of the sex's comedy "Politics" concerns a 52-year old woman's mayoral campaign in her hometown after she exposes the current candidate's corruption. Although Zelda Sears and Malcolm Stuart Boylan penned the screenplay based on Wells Root's adaptation, with Robert E. Hopkins providing the dialogue, the basis of this comedy is the famous Greek play Lysistrata about women who denied their husbands sex unless they outlawed warfare. At one point during her campaign, single-mother Hattie Burns (Marie Dressler of "Mim and Bill") advises her followers to stop doing anything for their husbands. Mind you, nothing about this early MGM comedy is subversive, though the source of all the trouble is a shooting in a speakeasy where the an innocent girl dies from a gunshot wound.After this initial burst of gangland violence, Reisner focuses on matronly Hattie Burns. She defies Mayor Tom Collins (Tom McGuire of "Steamboat Bill, Jr.") at a ladies campaign rally when he refuses to round up all the criminals who own the nightclubs and put them behind bars. The moment that she does this, Hattie wins the support of all the women. Meantime, what Hattie doesn't know could derail her campaign. As it turns out, Hattie's well-meaning daughter, Myrtle (Karen Morley of "Scarface"), has been secretly dating a guy, Benny Emerson (William Bakewell of "Gone with the Wind"), but her mother doesn't know anything about their romance. Benny and Myrtle are sitting quietly in the Lake City Park one evening when a beat patrolman spots them, and they discreetly leave before he can run them off the premises. As they are leaving, Benny and Myrtle encounter one of Myrtle's friends, Daisy Evans (Joan Davis of "Anna Karenina"), and she wants to accompany them on her way home. Benny has to drop in over at a speakeasy run by notorious gangster Jim Curango (John Miljan of "Apache Warrior"), who is Tom Collins' biggest supporter. Daisy tags along with Benny and Myrtle into Little Club. Curango has given orders to one of henchmen, Nifty Morgan (Kane Richmond of "Traffic in Crime"), to gun Benny down. Unfortunately, Daisy gets in the way of the bullet meant for Benny, and Nifty's second slug wounds Benny. Myrtle and Benny escape, and Myrtle decides to stash her boyfriend in the attic of her mother's boarding house without informing her mother of his presence. Curango orders Nifty to turn himself over to the police and tell them that he saw Benny shoot Daisy. The men of Lake City get fed up with Hattie's mayoral campaign because the ladies are more involved with Hattie than their husbands. Initially, the husbands ruin Hattie's first campaign rally after Hattie's campaign chairperson Ivy Higgins (Polly Moran of "Adam's Rib") bows to the wishes of her stuttering husband Peter (Roscoe Ates of "Freaks") convinces Ivy to quit the rally. The other wives rejoin their husbands and leave, too. Nevertheless, things turn out swell for Hattie in the long run. This 73 minute movie doesn't squander a second.

Hard to believe that this dowdy old woman was one of the biggest box office draws in movies during those Depression Days. But ex- vaudevillian Marie Dressler was a very funny woman, especially when aided and abetted by Polly Moran as she is in Politics.Dressler is a widow with daughter Karen Morley and her neighbor is Polly Moran and her husband Roscoe Ates. When a gangland shooting at a local speakeasy results in the death of a young woman hit with a stray bullet, Dressler goes on the warpath. It's good to remember that the 19th Amendment giving woman the right to vote was only 11 years old at the time and women were just starting to flex some political muscle.Marie declares herself a candidate for mayor to replace pompous old windbag Tom McGuire. And the women get behind her candidacy and start a Lysistrata like effort to put her over.The subplot here is that Karen Morley is in love with William Bakewell who was fingered falsely for the shooting. Bakewell was also slightly wounded and Morley has him stashed in her house attic to heal. I think I can safely say that that situation is also cleared up nicely and all is right with Dressler's corner of the world.Politics is a wonderful satire on same and I think it could easily be remade today. Just think of the funny women of today as to who could replace Marie Dressler and Polly Moran.

Polly Moran loves her new-found prestige as a political organizer. Though she's definitely got a low-level position, she has great visions of grandeur. However, the man she's supporting as mayor isn't doing a particularly good job, as he turns a blind eye to bootleggers and the crime associated with them. It all comes to a head when there is a shooting in one of these dives and someone familiar to Moran and her friend Marie Dressler is killed. So at the next political rally when the mayor asks for questions, Dressler confronts him about the bootleggers. He makes many excuses but the bottom line is that he won't do anything--at which point Marie makes an impassioned speech and is roundly applauded. Giddy with success, Polly urges Marie to run against the incumbent mayor--at which point the sexist men gang up on poor Marie. However, instead of giving up, the ladies dig in their heels for a battle of the sexes.When I watched this Marie Dressler-Polly Moran film, I couldn't help but recognize the familiar plot. That's because in the television age this same plot was recycled many times--the most notable being on "The Andy Griffith Show" when Ellie ran for office and the men of Mayberry were against her simply because she was a female. You certainly can't blame the makers of this film, as the idea was fresh in 1931! The film isn't especially deep and won't change your life but it excels on a very simple level--it's fun light entertainment. Dressler and Moran made eight movies together and the surviving films from the series are all very pleasant and fun thanks to good writing and especially to Dressler's wonderful screen presence and charm. The only serious negative about the film is Roscoe Ates--a guy whose claim to fame in films was his stuttering schtick. Not only wasn't this "politically correct", but also wore out its welcome long before this film.

Even tho this is a slight film, Politics is entertaining and moves along nicely. Marie Dressler was one of the very best star actresses of her time. She could swing from comedy to drama in a heartbeat. After a big comeback in late silent films, Dressler charged into talkies and became a top star. Teamed with Polly Moran in 3 starring roles, Dressler struts her stuff here as a widow who gets pushed into running for mayor in a town plagued by gangsters and speakeasies. Nothing special plot wise but solid performances by the stars. Karen Morley, Roscoe Ates, William Bakewell, Claire de Brey, Robert Dudley, John Miljan, and Joan Marsh co-star. But Dressler is the main reason to watch this 1931 comedy/drama, and she is tops.