Fresh congressman Lee Tracy enlists the Bonus
Army as vigilantes against corrupt capital operatives. Opening titles and afterward
dialogue assures us that government isn't run so crookedly as bycharacters here,
who'll commit murder to shore up weak links, but did
anyone then or now believe Washington's
tepid walk-back? Disclaimers in front were often tip-offs to hard-hitting
within, like apologies that are plainly insincere. Where's point of telling us
that most officialdom is on the level when we're shown the opposite? Only way off this Merry-Go-Round is suicide; it's hard to imagine patrons
setting goal in civil service after seeing this. Alan Dinehart is the power
behind power, his bootleg imports greased by US Army assist where needed.
Washington Merry-Go-Round is deeply cynical even as it suggests that maybe lone
reformer Tracy
can straighten things out. With trust in government at low ebb circa 1932, I
doubt many were convinced that one man could make a difference. Had we all
resigned to reality of a rigged system? Merry-Go-Round sides with early-30's
protest pics that eschew legal process in favor of direct people's action, a
last stand for Wild West corrective before Hollywood was taught responsibility by
Production Code authorities and a watchful Washington.
Another forgotten classic that ought to be on DVD. Americans of every political stripe can find something to agree with in this movie. And Lee Tracy ought to be the subject of a Film Forum retrospective. He's like a cross between James Cagney and WC Fields.
Dan Mercer recalls the basis for "Washington Merry-Go-Round":
"Washington-Merry-Go-Round" was the title of a sensational political expose written anonymously by Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen. Columbia Pictures bought the title and then commissioned their own fictional story for this film, a sort of proto-"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," though having Lee Tracy in the lead suggests one very different from Frank Capra's with James Stewart. Pearson went on to have a long-running syndicated newspaper column, also with the "Washington-Merry-Go-Round" title. He was not a very nice man, not as much fun as Lee Tracy and certainly no James Stewart. Think of a more politically-oriented version of the J. J. Hunsecker character in "Sweet Smell of Success" and you'd have Pearson. Many years later, the conservative magazine, National Review, organized an ad hoc Committee to Horsewhip Drew Pearson, which drew bi-partisan support.
Pearson and Allen were also credited with writing the comic strip "Hap Hopper, Washington Correspondent" (drawn by Jack Sparling), though they had nothing to do with it other than lending their names.
Jack Anderson would later take over the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column.
3 Comments:
Another forgotten classic that ought to be on DVD. Americans of every political stripe can find something to agree with in this movie. And Lee Tracy ought to be the subject of a Film Forum retrospective. He's like a cross between James Cagney and WC Fields.
Dan Mercer recalls the basis for "Washington Merry-Go-Round":
"Washington-Merry-Go-Round" was the title of a sensational political expose written anonymously by Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen. Columbia Pictures bought the title and then commissioned their own fictional story for this film, a sort of proto-"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," though having Lee Tracy in the lead suggests one very different from Frank Capra's with James Stewart. Pearson went on to have a long-running syndicated newspaper column, also with the "Washington-Merry-Go-Round" title. He was not a very nice man, not as much fun as Lee Tracy and certainly no James Stewart. Think of a more politically-oriented version of the J. J. Hunsecker character in "Sweet Smell of Success" and you'd have Pearson. Many years later, the conservative magazine, National Review, organized an ad hoc Committee to Horsewhip Drew Pearson, which drew bi-partisan support.
Pearson and Allen were also credited with writing the comic strip "Hap Hopper, Washington Correspondent" (drawn by Jack Sparling), though they had nothing to do with it other than lending their names.
Jack Anderson would later take over the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column.
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