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The Last Hurrah
- 69 statements
- 12 feature instances
- 9 referencing feature instances
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Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })A 1956 novel by Edwin O'Connor, The Last Hurrah was adapted into a 1958 film directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy.The story concerns the Irish-American mayor of a big American city that bears a suspicious resemblance to Boston, Massachusetts, who wants to run for one more term before he retires. The Mayor, named Frank Skeffington, is "corrupt" in the sense that he likes to hand out personal favors in exchange for loyalty, but overall seems to be a pretty decent person who genuinely cares for his constituents. The events are mostly seen through the eyes of Skeffington's nephew and local newspaperman, Adam Caulfield, although the novel is written in the third person.Of course, not everybody is so enamored of Skeffington's antics, and in both the film and the novel, we meet plenty of the people who want to bring him down- including Caulfield's own father-in-law and Caulfield's boss, newspaper editor Amos Force. These include even the city's Roman Catholic Cardinal, who thinks Skeffington is a walking embarrassment to Roman Catholics and to Irish-Americans.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Hoping to stop him once and for all, some of Skeffington's foes find a candidate to run against him- a bland, boring, good-looking-but-not-too-bright young candidate named Kevin McCluskey, who is so unimpressive, despite his respectable war record, that even the Cardinal thinks he's a loser. Ordinarily, McCluskey (who bears more than a slight resemblance to a young John F. Kennedy) wouldn't stand a chance against a seasoned politician like Skeffington, but there's one thing that has changed the game this time out- television.The story, which drew some of its inspiration from real-life Boston mayor James Michael Curley, explores a lot of the issues surrounding mid-20th century urban politics in the United States. The New Deal had robbed the urban machine politicians of a lot of their traditional role in distributing public assistance, by making the Federal government responsible for it instead. Moreover, the advent of television meant that being good-looking and blandly inoffensive became more important than being a skillful politician who could command peoples' loyalty.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); }) | |
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Dropped link to LoveableRogue: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_30ed4f7d | type |
Sleazy Politician | |
The Last Hurrah / int_30ed4f7d | comment |
Sleazy Politician: Subverted somewhat, in that Skeffington uses flagrant bribery to stay in power and hands out jobs to his political cronies, but is beloved by his constituents, who see these same actions in a much more positive light. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_3cebf628 | type |
Irishman and a Jew | |
The Last Hurrah / int_3cebf628 | comment |
Irishman and a Jew: Skeffington's Jewish assistant Sam asks the mayor to do the drawing at a raffle for the Jewish War Veterans' Committee. Skeffington agrees to show up for the drawing and even buy a book of tickets, but wisely refuses to do the drawing himself. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_61356a74 | type |
Almost Dead Guy | |
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Almost Dead Guy: See Final Speech below. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_729c69f3 | type |
Politically Incorrect Villain | |
The Last Hurrah / int_729c69f3 | comment |
Politically Incorrect Villain: Amos Force, though it is important to note that the novel was written before political correctness became widespread, so it is probably not an example of the author trying to manipulate the audience, but just a more-or-less accurate and fairly dispassionate representation of a kind of bigotry that actually existed at the time. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_8042e814 | type |
Actually Pretty Funny | |
The Last Hurrah / int_8042e814 | comment |
Actually Pretty Funny: The real-life basis for Skeffington, mayor James Michael Curley, when asked what his favorite part of the book was, supposedly replied, "The part where I die!" | |
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No Communities Were Harmed | |
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No Communities Were Harmed: The city remains unnamed throughout, but it strongly resembles Boston, Massachusetts. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_96e5792c | type |
Moral Guardians | |
The Last Hurrah / int_96e5792c | comment |
Moral Guardians: Roger Sugrue is described as a "Professional Catholic" in the novel. An upwardly-mobile, Harvard-educated Roman Catholic, Sugrue makes it his personal business to decide what is and is not acceptable public behavior for other Roman Catholics, and pesters the Cardinal relentlessly about these things. While the Cardinal generally agrees with Sugrue's assessment of such situations, he nonetheless finds Sugrue to be an obnoxious ass in person. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_9f2cad9a | type |
Landslide Election | |
The Last Hurrah / int_9f2cad9a | comment |
Landslide Election: In the film, at least, Skeffington loses by a wide margin. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_a0d9c2f3 | type |
Final Speech | |
The Last Hurrah / int_a0d9c2f3 | comment |
Final Speech: In the film, Skeffington more-or-less reconciles with the Cardinal on his deathbed. As Skeffington fades off into death, Roger Sugrue (Adam Caulfield's father-in-law and self-appointed arbiter of acceptable Roman Catholic behavior) suggests that Skeffington would do everything differently, if he had it to do over again. Skeffington then summons the energy to say one last thing before he dies: "Like hell I would!" | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_a8a5e4ed | type |
Christianity Is Catholic | |
The Last Hurrah / int_a8a5e4ed | comment |
Christianity Is Catholic: Averted. Although most of the important characters are Irish-American Catholics, there are a handful of Anglo-Saxon Protestants (including one clergyman), who form the main core of opposition to Skeffington. | |
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The Last Hurrah / int_f26d5e66 | type |
Brainless Beauty | |
The Last Hurrah / int_f26d5e66 | comment |
Brainless Beauty: Kevin McCluskey; when the Cardinal sees him on TV, he asks his assistant "Is this the educated young laity I've been hearing so much about?" in a disgusted tone. | |
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The Last Hurrah |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
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Election Day Episode / int_dad8a98e | |
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Irishman and a Jew / int_dad8a98e | |
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Ivy League for Everyone / int_dad8a98e | |
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Landslide Election / int_dad8a98e | |
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Lovable Rogue / int_dad8a98e | |
The Last Hurrah | hasFeature |
Moral Guardians / int_dad8a98e | |
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No Communities Were Harmed / int_dad8a98e | |
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Sleazy Politician / int_dad8a98e | |
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The Last Title / int_dad8a98e |
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