MOVIE · 1940
The Great McGinty
ComedyDrama82 min
A broke drifter on the waterfront discovers that votes can be bought, and a local political boss turns that talent into a career. McGinty stuffs ballot boxes, takes the rap when needed, and keeps rising anyway—from ward heeler to mayor to governor—because the machine knows how to reward a useful man. Once in office, he expects the usual payoffs and backroom deals, but marriage, public scrutiny, and a few inconvenient scruples begin to complicate the arrangement. As favors pile up and loyalties shift, the corruption that built his success starts to threaten it. Brian Donlevy leads the climb and unraveling in Preston Sturges's fast, pointed send-up of machine politics.
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