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State of the Union (film)

State of the Union
Sotu1948.jpg
Directed by Frank Capra
Produced by
Written by
Based on State of the Union (play)
by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay
Starring
Music by Victor Young
Cinematography George Folsey
Edited by William W. Hornbeck
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • April 30, 1948 (1948-04-30)
Running time
111 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2,439,000
Box office $3.5 million (US rentals)

State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay, about a man's run for president, abandoned the play's more controversial themes.

Republican newspaper magnate Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) intends to make her lover, aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy), president with her as the power behind the throne. Thorndyke plans to use her newspaper chain's influence to deadlock the 1948 Republican National Convention, so it will choose Matthews as a compromise dark horse candidate instead of Thomas E. Dewey, Robert A. Taft, or another republican.

Matthews is skeptical of the idea of running for president, but Thorndyke, Republican strategist Jim Conover (Adolphe Menjou), and campaign manager Spike McManus (Van Johnson) persuade him to run. Matthews reunites with estranged wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) for the campaign. Despite knowing about Thorndyke and her husband's affair, Mary agrees to support him in public because of his idealism and honesty, and because she is unaware of Thorndyke's role in the campaign.


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