The John Ford - Spencer Tracy movie version of Edwin O'Connor's novel of urban politics, THE LAST HURRAH, was made in 1958. In 1977 this television version was made, and got mixed reviews, though mostly favorable. At the time Carroll O'Connor was at the height of his fame as a celebrity for his role as "Archie Bunker" in ALL IN THE FAMILY and later ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE. So occasionally he got lead roles in television remakes or productions of old hits. A few years before this version of THE LAST HURRAH, he played "John T. Wintergreen" in a television version of OF THEE I SING.
O'Connor was capable of playing dramatic parts, but he certainly lacked the subtlety of Tracy as an actor. That craggy face of Tracy's could get more mileage than the round head of O'Connor (even with his curly hair). But, in reality, the remake was far more interesting (in some ways) than the Ford film. Character differences were examined more than Ford had time for. An example is how the character of the banker, Norman Cass, is handled.
In the Ford movie, Basil Rathbone played the patrician banker very nicely. He is shown leading all the other bankers in the city in delaying their approval of a housing project's funding that Skeffington (Tracy) is desperately pushing. The housing is low cost housing for people (mostly Irish, but other minorities are possibly involved) who are in a slum area. It turns out that Rathbone and his fellow bankers do not like to approve this, at least for the present, but will give their decision after there is a change of administration. When Tracy confronts Rathbone with the others (including the bigoted enemy of Tracy's - Amos Force (John Carridine), the editor of the opposition newspaper), he points out that their delaying tactic is just their way of striking at the current order of things, where the patricians are no longer in charge of the city's government. Rathbone keeps his cool in this confrontation. Later, Tracy plays a nasty trick on Rathbone, and Rathbone is forced to approve the project for all the banks. But in retaliation for the trick, Rathbone contacts Force and tells him he'll back the empty-headed candidate Force has selected (one McCloskey) for the campaign to the hilt of his money. As a result, McCloskey is able to beat Skeffington.
Yet one can't quite unite Rathbone's Cass totally with Carridine's Force. Carridine is an unapologetic bigot - hating Tracy for a piece of family history which actually shows Carridine's grandfather in a really nasty light. Tracy later tells his nephew (Jeffrey Hunter) that Carridine was a member of the Ku Klux Klan many years earlier. This apparently is well known. Even if Rathbone has a distaste for the masses or minority groups, he maintains a quiet veneer all the time. So, when the Episcopal Bishop (Basil Ruysdael) rejects backing the idiot McCloskey (though he won't back Skeffington - although he likes him more), Carridine angrily says to Rathbone, "You should have used pressure on him!" Fed up with this fool Rathbone sneers back, "I suppose you would have burned a cross on his lawn!!" One should also note that Rathbone's earlier commitment to McCloskey (if there was any) was not as big as after he got slapped in the face by Tracy.
In the 1977 version, Patrick O'Neal was "Norman Cass", and played the role differently. He actually allowed Cass's character to grow during the television version. There is a personal animus between Cass and Skeffington here: Skeffington (a widower in both versions) has a girlfriend now - Prudy Cass, Norman's sister (Leslie Ackerman). Because of Skeffington's questionable political morality (the corruption just hinted at in the Ford film), Cass is not happy that Prudy is so close to such a character. This leads to his action regarding the building project (by the way, Rathbone's "Cass" would have been equally right in questioning how moneys his and the other banks would have given would have been spent by Tracy's cronies). Then the trick is played on him that was played on Rathbone, and he reacts the same way.
But the difference is this (possibly due to the age difference that Rathbone brought to Cass as opposed to the younger O'Neal): O'Neal is more observant of his allies, and slowly realizes that in joining forces with Amos Force (John Anderson here) he really is going beyond anything that he planned. Force would simply reject the project (Cass in both versions was aware of the need of the project - he just questioned who handled it). He also is far from happy about the new candidate he's supporting, who is an empty headed moron. He can see that Force would be the puppet master there, and that does not sit well. By the time this version ended, O'Neal's Cass is rather sorry he reacted the way he did.
This version did have degrees of depth in it that were worth noticing by an audience. Perhaps, one day, someone will see fit to show this again.
O'Connor was capable of playing dramatic parts, but he certainly lacked the subtlety of Tracy as an actor. That craggy face of Tracy's could get more mileage than the round head of O'Connor (even with his curly hair). But, in reality, the remake was far more interesting (in some ways) than the Ford film. Character differences were examined more than Ford had time for. An example is how the character of the banker, Norman Cass, is handled.
In the Ford movie, Basil Rathbone played the patrician banker very nicely. He is shown leading all the other bankers in the city in delaying their approval of a housing project's funding that Skeffington (Tracy) is desperately pushing. The housing is low cost housing for people (mostly Irish, but other minorities are possibly involved) who are in a slum area. It turns out that Rathbone and his fellow bankers do not like to approve this, at least for the present, but will give their decision after there is a change of administration. When Tracy confronts Rathbone with the others (including the bigoted enemy of Tracy's - Amos Force (John Carridine), the editor of the opposition newspaper), he points out that their delaying tactic is just their way of striking at the current order of things, where the patricians are no longer in charge of the city's government. Rathbone keeps his cool in this confrontation. Later, Tracy plays a nasty trick on Rathbone, and Rathbone is forced to approve the project for all the banks. But in retaliation for the trick, Rathbone contacts Force and tells him he'll back the empty-headed candidate Force has selected (one McCloskey) for the campaign to the hilt of his money. As a result, McCloskey is able to beat Skeffington.
Yet one can't quite unite Rathbone's Cass totally with Carridine's Force. Carridine is an unapologetic bigot - hating Tracy for a piece of family history which actually shows Carridine's grandfather in a really nasty light. Tracy later tells his nephew (Jeffrey Hunter) that Carridine was a member of the Ku Klux Klan many years earlier. This apparently is well known. Even if Rathbone has a distaste for the masses or minority groups, he maintains a quiet veneer all the time. So, when the Episcopal Bishop (Basil Ruysdael) rejects backing the idiot McCloskey (though he won't back Skeffington - although he likes him more), Carridine angrily says to Rathbone, "You should have used pressure on him!" Fed up with this fool Rathbone sneers back, "I suppose you would have burned a cross on his lawn!!" One should also note that Rathbone's earlier commitment to McCloskey (if there was any) was not as big as after he got slapped in the face by Tracy.
In the 1977 version, Patrick O'Neal was "Norman Cass", and played the role differently. He actually allowed Cass's character to grow during the television version. There is a personal animus between Cass and Skeffington here: Skeffington (a widower in both versions) has a girlfriend now - Prudy Cass, Norman's sister (Leslie Ackerman). Because of Skeffington's questionable political morality (the corruption just hinted at in the Ford film), Cass is not happy that Prudy is so close to such a character. This leads to his action regarding the building project (by the way, Rathbone's "Cass" would have been equally right in questioning how moneys his and the other banks would have given would have been spent by Tracy's cronies). Then the trick is played on him that was played on Rathbone, and he reacts the same way.
But the difference is this (possibly due to the age difference that Rathbone brought to Cass as opposed to the younger O'Neal): O'Neal is more observant of his allies, and slowly realizes that in joining forces with Amos Force (John Anderson here) he really is going beyond anything that he planned. Force would simply reject the project (Cass in both versions was aware of the need of the project - he just questioned who handled it). He also is far from happy about the new candidate he's supporting, who is an empty headed moron. He can see that Force would be the puppet master there, and that does not sit well. By the time this version ended, O'Neal's Cass is rather sorry he reacted the way he did.
This version did have degrees of depth in it that were worth noticing by an audience. Perhaps, one day, someone will see fit to show this again.