Dan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics. But endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty...
Take a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscars winners in the history of the ceremony.
Related News
Match the election candidates to the movie – quiz
28 October 2016 11:51 AM, +02:00 | The Guardian - Film News
28 October 2016 11:51 AM, +02:00 | The Guardian - Film News
Preston Sturges: how a master of daftness conquered Hollywood
12 February 2016 5:00 PM, +02:00 | The Guardian - Film News
12 February 2016 5:00 PM, +02:00 | The Guardian - Film News
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Connect with IMDb
Share this Rating
Title: The Great McGinty (1940)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Won
1
Oscar.
See more awards »
Photos
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Hail the Conquering Hero
(1944)
Comedy
|
War
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Eddie Bracken,
Ella Raines,
Raymond Walburn
Christmas in July
(1940)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Dick Powell,
Ellen Drew,
Raymond Walburn
The Great Moment
(1944)
Biography
|
Comedy
|
Drama
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Joel McCrea,
Betty Field,
Harry Carey
Comedy
|
Romance
|
War
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Eddie Bracken,
Betty Hutton,
Diana Lynn
The Palm Beach Story
(1942)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Claudette Colbert,
Joel McCrea,
Mary Astor
The Lady Eve
(1941)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Barbara Stanwyck,
Henry Fonda,
Charles Coburn
Unfaithfully Yours
(1948)
Comedy
|
Music
|
Romance
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Rex Harrison,
Linda Darnell,
Rudy Vallee
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
(1947)
Comedy
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Harold Lloyd,
Frances Ramsden,
Jimmy Conlin
Comedy
|
Western
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Betty Grable,
Cesar Romero,
Rudy Vallee
Sullivan's Travels
(1941)
Adventure
|
Comedy
|
Drama
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Joel McCrea,
Veronica Lake,
Robert Warwick
Easy Living
(1937)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Mitchell Leisen
Stars:
Jean Arthur,
Edward Arnold,
Ray Milland
Comedy
Director:
Preston Sturges
Stars:
Jack Buchanan,
Martine Carol,
Noël-Noël
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Brian Donlevy | ... | ||
| Muriel Angelus | ... |
Catherine McGinty
|
|
| Akim Tamiroff | ... | ||
| Allyn Joslyn | ... |
George
|
|
| William Demarest | ... |
Skeeters - The Politician
|
|
| Louis Jean Heydt | ... |
Tommy Thompson
|
|
 |
Harry Rosenthal | ... |
Louie - The Boss' Bodyguard
|
|
|
Arthur Hoyt | ... | |
|
|
Libby Taylor | ... |
Bessy - The Colored Maid
|
| Thurston Hall | ... |
Mr. Maxwell
|
|
| Steffi Duna | ... |
The Dancing Girl
|
|
|
|
Esther Howard | ... |
Madame Juliette La Jolla
|
| Frank Moran | ... |
The Boss' Chauffeur
(as Frank C. Moran)
|
|
|
|
Jimmy Conlin | ... |
The Lookout - At Felgman's
|
| Dewey Robinson | ... |
Benny Felgman
|
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan... Written by Rod Crawford <[email protected]>
Taglines:
It's Two-Fisted FUN! A fightin' fool gives you laughter of a lifetime..! (original ad) See more »Genres:
ComedyCertificate:
See all certifications »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
23 August 1940 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Así paga el diablo See more »Box Office
Budget:
$350,000 (estimated)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
Catherine: Especially since you can't rob the people anyway.
Skeeters: Sure. How was that?
Catherine: What you rob, you spend, and what you spend goes back to the people. So, where's the robbery? I read that in one of my father's books.
Skeeters: That book should be in every home.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
On August 19, 1939, Paramount issued a check to contract writer Preston Sturges to buy the story and screenplay of this movie, in the amount of $10. Sturges promised to sell the script for that amount if he could direct. The studio took him up on it and the film was a hit and won an Academy Award for the screenplay, probably making it the cheapest Oscar-winning script in history. See more »Goofs
In his victory parade as governor, McGinty rides in a car and it is clear he does not have a mustache. In the next scene, which takes place the same day at the state capitol, he has a mustache. See more »Quotes
Skeeters: If it wasn't for graft, you'd get a very low type of people in politics. Men without ambition. Jellyfish.Catherine: Especially since you can't rob the people anyway.
Skeeters: Sure. How was that?
Catherine: What you rob, you spend, and what you spend goes back to the people. So, where's the robbery? I read that in one of my father's books.
Skeeters: That book should be in every home.
See more »
The conventional wisdom on McGINTY is that it's lesser Sturges, more important as his directorial debut than as a standalone comedy. Pish and tosh. This is a supremely satisfying comedy and had it been Sturges' only directing credit, would still mark him as a filmmaker to remember. (And, no, that's not a subtle swipe at his others, merely a defense of this too-often overlooked movie.)Maybe the best asset of McGINTY is its budget constraint, which steered Sturges towards the 'ensemble' casting which would become one of his hallmarks. The movie is filled stem to stern with sharp-eyed turns by primarily supporting players (including the leads, Donlevy & Tamiroff, who are excellent). What I can't help but notice is how the Sturges films of the 40s are really the last gasp of the great breakneck comedies of the pre-Code 30s, just prior to the 'screwball' era, when Hollywood was still allowed to poke fun at people/institutions/conventions of the Real World. In fact, McGINTY -with only minor casting changes- would have fit right in with the Warner Bros/First National bumper crop of fast, cynical comedies of '31-'34. (And, by the way, Tamiroff's cheerfully corrupt and malapropping Boss would be paid hilarious homage 20+ years later in animation form as Boris Badinov in Jay Ward's ROCKY & BULLWINKLE cartoons.) The love interest of Muriel Angelus, and adjoining subplot, may come off a bit treacly, but Sturges was canny enough to make this studio-mandated mawkishness an integral part of the plot...even as early as 1940, he was subverting True Love to his devilishly satiric purposes! So stop nitpicking and thoroughly enjoy one of the great American comedies, brought to unforgettable life by that great if unrecognized repertory company, The Sturges Players (featuring, among others, Wm Demarest, Thurston Hall & Arthur Hoyt).