THE LAST HURRAH (1958) B/W widescreen 121m dir: John Ford

w/Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, Dianne Foster, Pat O'Brien, Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp, James Gleason, Edward Brophy, John Carradine, Willis Bouchey

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "Edwin O'Connor's novel has been transmuted to the screen in slick style. Spencer Tracy makes the most of the meaty role of the shrewd politician of the "dominantly Irish American" metropolis in New England (unmistakably Boston, but not Boston).

"Tracy's resourcefulness in besting the stuffy bankers who nix a loan for a much needed low-rent housing development; his foiling of the profiteering undertaker when a constituent is buried (the wake is transformed into a political rally); the passionate loyalty of his political devotees; the rivalry between the 'respectable' elements in combating the direct-approach tactics of the Irish-American politicos; the pride in defeat when the reform candidate bests Tracy at the polls; and Tracy's own 'last hurrah' as he tells off the fatuous banker (Willis Bouchey) --- with a parting 'like hell I would!' --- in reviewing his gaudy career, make for a series of memorable scenes.

"Jeffrey Hunter is the shrewd mayor's favored nephew who, despite his ties to the opposition sheet, perceives the old codger's humaneness."