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State of the Union (Theatre)
- 148 statements
- 28 feature instances
- 15 referencing feature instances
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State of the Union (Theatre) | |
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StateOfTheUnion | |
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Originally a 1945 stage play written by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay, State of the Union was adapted into a 1948 feature film by Frank Capra (the second and last film he directed for Liberty Films), starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Van Johnson.Grant Matthews (Tracy) is an industrialist with an aircraft manufacturing business. His lover, newspaper magnate Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury), convinces him to run for the Republican nomination for President. While Thorndyke, political guru Jim Conover (Adolphe Menjou), and campaign manager Spike McManus (Johnson) are initially nervous about just how Matthews' semi-estranged wife Mary (Hepburn) is going to react, she proves surprisingly enthusiastic about Grant's campaign, and grows even more so when Grant comes out shooting from the hip on the campaign trail, telling hard truths to labor interests and capital interests and whoever else will listen. This proves wildly popular with the common folk, but Conover and Thorndyke, who are worried about getting the nomination for Grant at the Republican convention, wind up convincing him to cast his principles aside and make a series of sleazy backdoor promises in order to win the nomination and the White House.The original story was inspired by businessman and attorney Wendell Willkie's surprise candidacy that won the Republican nomination in 1940. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_121b3725 | type |
Age Lift | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_121b3725 | comment |
Age Lift: Katherine "Kay" Thorndyke is a divorcée "in her late thirties," according to the play script. The film version cast Angela Lansbury in her early twenties and added a new opening scene to establish Miss Thorndyke as a young heiress. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_1282bf4f | type |
No Celebrities Were Harmed | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_1282bf4f | comment |
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Grant is based on Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican nominee for President, who had been a businessman and corporate lawyer before running for office. Specifically, Willkie's affair with book reviewer Irita Van Doren informs his relationship with Kay. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_1282bf4f | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_15395adc | type |
The Mistress | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_15395adc | comment |
The Mistress: Kay is Grant's, even though both of them deny it. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_16838478 | type |
The Disease That Shall Not Be Named | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_16838478 | comment |
The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: In the opening scene where Kay meets her dying father, he talks about something "eatin' my guts away", and he says a little bit later that he can't stand the pain anymore. The word "cancer" is not mentioned. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Mary asks Jim "What's the state of the Union? What are you reports on Grant?" | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_18d15922 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_191a3673 | type |
Graceful Loser | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_191a3673 | comment |
Graceful Loser: When Grant's fiery speech and withdrawal from the race makes it clear that the game is up, Kay and Conover walk out without saying a word, Conover yammering in Kay's ear about some other political hopeful. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_1f250372 | type |
I Need a Freaking Drink | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_1f250372 | comment |
I Need a Freaking Drink: Mary has been staying away from drinking throughout the story because she gets easily drunk; however, when she learns Kay is the reason why Grant has thrown away his principles, she immediately asks for a drink. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_21535375 | type |
Blonde Republican Sex Kitten | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_21535375 | comment |
Blonde Republican Sex Kitten: Kay Thorndyke, the movie version at least, might be the Trope Maker. She's blonde, she's very sexy, and she's a Republican power broker, bitter that her father was abandoned by the party, determined to elect Grant to the White House with her pulling the strings. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_21535375 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_22f5d1b9 | type |
Some of My Best Friends Are X | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_22f5d1b9 | comment |
Some of My Best Friends Are X: When Mrs. Alexander mentions that she's a Democrat like most Southerners, Grant says, "Some of my best friends are Democrats." | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_25b7257f | type |
Red Right Hand | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_25b7257f | comment |
Red Right Hand: Kay, the villain of the piece who is both corrupting Matthews politically and trying to take him away from Mary, has the standard white stripe in her hair. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_25b7257f | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_30ed4f7d | type |
Sleazy Politician | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_30ed4f7d | comment |
Sleazy Politician: All the sleazebags who start swarming around Grant, each out for their special interests, each wanting payoffs and making demands, all out for themselves. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_30ed4f7d | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_51afcd70 | type |
Sexy Silhouette | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_51afcd70 | comment |
Sexy Silhouette: Grant is distracted by the curvaceous shadow cast by Mary as she's changing in the next room. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_56725578 | type |
Driving a Desk | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_56725578 | comment |
Driving a Desk: Flying a desk, and very noticeable in the scene where Grant is supposedly doing barrel rolls and inverting his plane, and stuff that should be falling to the ceiling isn't. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_56725578 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_60d73edb | type |
Drink-Based Characterization | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_60d73edb | comment |
Drink-Based Characterization: Spike tells the Matthews' butler what drinks should be served: Judge Alexander (a Southerner) will "probably stick to straight bourbon"; his Lady Drunk wife requests Sazeracs and a lot of them. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_60d73edb | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_6aa5bcb8 | type |
Vice President Who? | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_6aa5bcb8 | comment |
Vice President Who?: An irritated Mary forces Grant to sleep on the floor, but not before sarcastically saying "Good night, Mr. President!" The play's Act One ends on that line, but in the movie, Grant shoots back with "You mean Mr. Vice President, don't you?" | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_6aa5bcb8 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_7b6e47a5 | type |
Armor-Piercing Question | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_7b6e47a5 | comment |
Armor-Piercing Question: See Chekhov's Gunman below. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_7b6e47a5 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_88cee6e2 | type |
Abhorrent Admirer | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_88cee6e2 | comment |
Abhorrent Admirer: Conver's maid Norah (played by Margaret Hamilton, aka the Wicked Witch of the West) keeps casting moony glances at Spike, much to Spike's horror. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_9e1e14ea | type |
Ambition Is Evil | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_9e1e14ea | comment |
Ambition Is Evil: Played with. Simply wanting to be President isn't inherently wrong, as Grant's goals are noble and Mary is proud to support him. But the compromises Grant feels he has to make to win the nomination corrupt him. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_9e1e14ea | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_a46eb25d | type |
Election Day Episode | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_a46eb25d | comment |
Election Day Episode: Sort of. The whole plot is about campaigning for the Republican nomination, but Grant quits the race before the convention. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_a4905771 | type |
Double-Meaning Title | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_a4905771 | comment |
Double-Meaning Title: Besides the political meaning, "Union" also describes Grant and Mary's marriage, as shown when Mary disavows a reconciliation with Grant by saying "the state of our union is strictly political." | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Spike McManus, the reporter hired by Conover to work for Matthews, gets off a lot of excellent lines. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_ae3d6438 | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_b53077b3 | comment |
Take That!: "I haven't enjoyed myself this much since Huey Long died!" | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_b7e0c5ff | type |
Love Triangle | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_b7e0c5ff | comment |
Love Triangle: Between Grant, Grant's wife, and Grant's mistress. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_b7e0c5ff | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_dcbe8a6e | type |
Chekhov's Gunman | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_dcbe8a6e | comment |
Chekhov's Gunman: During the buildup to Grant's big televised speech, the camera takes care to show a random crewman who keeps looking intently at Grant as he's waiting to go on. When Grant veers wildly off script, attacking all the corrupt politicians and cynical power brokers who have been manipulating him, the random crewman steps forward to ask his Armor-Piercing Question, "Are you any better than they are?" Grant then admits that no, he's actually worse, because all the venal political hacks around him were after whatever they could get, while he was a Hypocrite who acted like he was working for the greater good. | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_e3585b3d | type |
No Party Given | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_e3585b3d | comment |
No Party Given: A notable aversion, as Grant is explicitly a Republican. Besides which, there's much discussion of real Republican politicians of the era like Thomas Dewey (the real-life nominee in 1948) and Harold Stassen. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) / int_e3585b3d | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_edeafb2e | type |
Malicious Misnaming | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_edeafb2e | comment |
Malicious Misnaming: When Conover expresses irritation with Spike for consistently botching the spelling of Conover's name, Spike tells him to be grateful he didn't spell it "Conniver". | |
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| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_fe6c146e | type |
The Corrupter | |
| State of the Union (Theatre) / int_fe6c146e | comment |
The Corrupter: Kay and Conover, who light the fire of ambition in Grant and get him to throw away his principles and become another weaselly politician. | |
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State of the Union (Theatre) |
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