Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Great McGinty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 20, 2020

Preston Sturges' "The Great McGinty" (1940) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include a vintage trailer for the film and exclusive new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The slug

If Preston Sturges wasn’t a time traveler then he surely was an extraordinary visionary because his first film as a writer-director, The Great McGinty, actually sums up perfectly everything that is wrong with politics in contemporary America. Correct, contemporary America, which just like the old America from the film is run by a political machine that likes to pick its winners before the people do and would not tolerate an outsider that does not bow to it. Sturges knew the game and called it out, exactly as it was, and still is.

The film begins in a lousy nightclub in Banana Republic where a bubbly bartender (Brian Donlevy) decides to cheer up a visibly inebriated young man who seems ready to give up on life. While fixing drinks for the man and his date, the bartender then begins telling the story of his life. Now the film goes back in time where the bartender becomes a bum named Daniel McGinty and on a chilly night in the city agrees to participate in a big and very carefully orchestrated election scam -- in exchange for a hot meal and a couple of bucks, he promises to vote twice to reelect the current governor. But after assuming someone else’s identity and then casting his first vote McGinty realizes that he can make a lot more if he visits every single voting station in the area, so despite the bitterly cold weather he enthusiastically spends the rest of the night ‘working’ as hard as he can. When he eventually goes back to collect his unusually large pay his shocked partner is forced to request additional funds from another guy overseeing ‘election expenses’, who happens to be in a ballroom with the governor awaiting the first official returns. McGinty follows him and as news breaks that the governor has been reelected in a landslide impresses the Boss (Akim Tamiroff), who pulls the winner’s strings, and he offers him a job. Over time McGinty’s willingness to ‘work hard’ with politicians and statesmen elevates him among the city’s most prominent servants and eventually, with the encouragement of the Boss, he becomes the Reformist Party’s pick to replace the governor. To improve his image amongst female voters McGinty then agrees to enter into a sham marriage, which promptly forces him to coexist with his new wife, and former secretary, Catherine (Muriel Angelus). Another landslide election victory orchestrated by the Boss then transforms the former bum into the state’s new governor.

The final segment of the bartender’s story is about a ‘new’ man who rejects the political machine that has created him and the people running it as well as the inevitable consequences of his unwise decision.

The film’s spectacular sense of humor counters a great deal of illuminating cynicism, which is basically what makes it brilliant and relevant today. The entire first half where Donlevy and Tamiroff’s characters repeatedly clash is essentially a masterclass on corruption, offering numerous practical examples from the latter demonstrating precisely how it serves the permanent political class that he represents. Frankly, the truth-bombs that Tamiroff’s shady character drops before the bum becomes a governor are a good enough reason to declare the film a minor masterpiece.

However, the melodrama that eventually overtakes the cynicism does produce familiar contrasts that hurt the film’s integrity. The internal struggle of Donlevy’s ‘good’ governor for instance does not look convincing at all, so when he turns against the Boss it feels like this was just Hollywood’s way to wrap up the film the right way.

Sturges’ direction is brisk and incredibly confident, revealing a master with a clear vision, not a first-time filmmaker doing his best to impress. Watching Donlevy and Tamiroff square off also reveals a great awareness of the value of chemistry management. (The rhythm of the exchanges between the two stars is simply astonishing).

The film was lensed by Oscar winner William C. Mellor (A Place in the Sun, Giant). The lively orchestral soundtrack was created by Friedrich Hollaender (A Foreign Affair, It Should Happen to You).

The Great McGinty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Great McGinty arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a new 4K master. I like it a lot and have only two minor complaints. The first pertains to the grading, which in a couple of areas I think could have been a tad more careful to allow finer nuances to appear even better exposed. However, the overall balance is still very, very good and on a larger screen background details/nuances typically look lovely. The second has to do with select transitions that could have used some more in-depth restoration work to improve stability and, if possible, density fluctuations. But this is also a minor complaint because I consider these to be 'cosmetic' improvements that would not have altered dramatically the already very nice appearance of the new master. The rest is fine. Depth, clarity, and even fluidity are extremely pleasing, plus the entire film looks healthy as well. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Great McGinty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Clarity, depth, and stability are very good. However, there are a couple of segments where if you turn the volume high enough you will hear some extremely light background hiss. It is not in any way distracting, but now there are digital tools that very easily could have eliminated it. For the record, there are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

The Great McGinty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage trailer for The Great McGinty. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan, recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber's release of The Great McGinty.

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following releases from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. Christmas in July
  2. The Good Fairy
  3. Death Takes a Holiday
  4. Road to Morocco

The Great McGinty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The quality of the writing in this film is sensational, so Preston Sturges' Oscar is well-deserved. However, Akim Tamiroff should have earned at least an Oscar nomination because he is simply incredible as the shady and brutish boss that transforms the life of Brian Donlevy's 'slug'. The film is genuinely hilarious, but in the current socio-cultural environment its cynicism seems more special because it feels beyond refreshing. Kino Lorber's release of The Great McGinty is sourced from a nice new 4K master that offers quite an upgrade in quality over the old DVD release that Universal produced more than a decade ago. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.