Altho scheming and malevolent, Francis Urquhart (FU) rightly sees that the new programs of compassionate-conservatism that his new Tory Prime Minister is themeing his government on is doomed to plunge the British nation back into the bad old days, with large doses of cradle-to-grave State Nannyism and Labor Unions controlling the direction of the economy, to the assured detriment of all that is productive. He also sees the necessity of respect for law-and-order as well as family- values, then proceeds to violate both great ideas in order to gain the office of PM for himself, as he dumps, blackmails, intimidates and embarrasses rival office-seekers along the way. His schemes put and end to the tenure of his current PM, with mildly-tragic side-effects...once the PM (Collingridge) is on his way back into private life, the audience realizes that it's for the best and even inwardly laugh at the man's self-induced misfortunes, as does FU, who tells us in narration "He was in the trap and screaming" from the moment he took office. Using a running and most trenchant series of direct into-the-camera appeals to the audience, FU (his nickname in the party is a very understated and appropriate pun) demonstrates that neither the Socialist-Light McKenzie nor the uncouth Bully-Boy Pat Woolton nor the Closet-Queen Harold Earle nor the "too young and too clever" Michael Samuels are going to do any good for the people. Only FU is capable of suavely and ruthlessly applying a rigorous regimen of self-reliance and toughening which most Western Societies have veered away from, much to their peril. As we proceed to the next internal election for PM (as the Brit system operates), Urquhart picks off each rival for the head office as would the strongest knight at a medieval jousting event! The triumphant knight keeps his visor down and his colors furled, so no MP running for office has any idea who it was who unhorsed him! Those who are in- the-know about most of all of these successful FU plots, e.g., the dependent and addictive Roger O'Neill (done to weak-kneed perfection by the great Miles Anderson) and Elizabeth Urquhart can either be trusted or not...and we soon surmise how long O'Neill is going to last. Many comparisons are made on this board of Mrs. FU to Lady MacBeth, but I disagree. She's played as a very upper-class Englishwoman, but her whole attitude is more like Phyllis Dietrichsen in "Double Indemnity" crossed with that of Mrs. Minniver (total amorality coupled with total devotion to her spouse and to her country!). "A politician needs a wife" FU tells us in an early scene....later we find out how much indeed he does. Interesting too is the love story of "Little Mattie" for Urquhart. A self-deluded, innocent newspaperwoman, Mattie Storin, falls for FU just as completely as the audience does. FU, to her misfortune, does not fall for her. He is merely attracted to her youthful loveliness and what good she (an up and coming political-beat reporter) can do for his suddenly-erupting career. The audience anticipates Mattie's future disappointment and FU's completely-scheming nature when she reveals, at the outset of their affair, that she wants to call him "Daddy". FU for once is floored and stutters a bit. Are his future sins about to catch up to him? What will those future sins amount to? We're intrigued and frightened. The plot drives on at all times. We're disgusted and exhilarated at the same time. We find that we're admonishing ourselves for sympathizing with this most vile and attractive man as he gives us a birds-eye view of the development of his most-cynical and heartless persona. It's just as if we're back at Twelve Oaks, cheering for Rhett Butler as he embarrasses Scarlet and thwarts her designs on Ashley. Urquhart as Rhett is shaming and courting Dame Brittania as Scarlet, convincing her eventually that the weaker Ashley Wilkes (liberalism with all it's sensitivity & caring) isn't half good enough for a woman of her "passion for living." That's the real love-story here, Leader for Nation and vice versa, and in the end, two dead bodies and several broken hearts later, Urquhart gets the object of his heart's desire!
Review of House of Cards
