State Of
The Union
Picture:
B- Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B
This
review could be easily summed up…Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Frank Capra… enough said? Unfortunately that would make for a very
boring review, but in many respects that is all that is needed for the average
filmgoer who understands the lethal powers of those three talents and when
combined…you are in for a real treat! State of the Union is an underrated and
somewhat lost ‘gem’ of a film that is worthy of rediscovery and this DVD
courtesy of Universal Studios makes that all the more possible.
Hepburn
was in a bit of an if-you-could-call-it-a-slump in the mid-later parts of the
1940’s after the huge success of some of her earlier films. This film would be one of the last until she
hit yet another incredible stride with 1951’s The African Queen and the rest is history. That’s not to say that she didn’t do
memorable pictures or even bad films, but when you are larger than life…it’s
hard for all of your pictures to be winners.
State of the Union is an
example of a very funny, yet dramatic film that is lost in the middle of her
earlier career and her mid-career successes.
Frank Capra was coming off It’s a
Wonderful Life, which wasn’t the huge film that it is seen as today.
The chemistry of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn is monumental and their
collaboration on plenty of films is sure proof of that. Working together on such pictures as Woman of the Year, Some of the Best, The Sea of
Grass, Pat and Mike, Adam’s Rib, Without Love, Keeper of the
Flame, Desk Set, and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, together
they made 9 films! The two had an
ongoing relationship that was never fully official from about 1940 until
Tracy’s death in 1967, shortly after filming of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was done filming. Neither one of them have seen the film! By today’s standards that is hard to imagine
a Hollywood couple being together for 27 years, when most of them cannot stay
together long enough for a tabloid circulation.
The film
is a political comedy/drama that proves that there have never really been any
successful films that involve politics and humor. If you think back on history I think that
statement is quite true. My Fellow Americans, The American President, Dave, Wag the Dog, Dick, and
many other more recent films that try to be humorous while involving politics
usually never pan out that well. That is not to say that these are terrible
films, although some are, but rather to say that they are usually the ones that
fall between the cracks. Occasionally
they surface from time to time, but are usually easily forgotten. I think it might be because most of us wish
to escape from the political world we live in when we watch a movie to escape
rather than to see various sketches of it in action.
State of the Union manages to keep the drama in
motion quite well with a few moments of comedy to keep us entertained in that
direction as well. Interestingly enough
the film has some truth behind it as well as the characters are comprised of
various ‘real’ people and if you are a history buff you will pick up on some of
the names that are used in the film or variations of names.
For this
DVD issue Universal has done something odd…the menus have NO scene
selections! Yes, there are chapter stops
that you can access via remote control, but it’s odd that you cannot access
them through the main menu. The Dolby 2.0
Mono and 1.33 X 1 picture are quite a surprise for a slightly lesser known
film. Evidently this film has survived
well over time with a really striking black and white picture with excellent
detail and contrast. I was hugely
impressed! More impressive is the
absence of distracting artifacts and debris that have plagued other DVD
transfers of this age. This is not to say
that this is perfect, but certainly strong.
Unfortunately there are no extras either!
- Nate Goss
