the state of our union is strictly political

i think i may have a new favourite movie. now i'm not suggesting that anything could take the place of adam's rib, but this week i stumbled across a copy of state of the union, a little-watched, little-lauded tracy/hepburn flick that i've been waiting to have come out on dvd. it was released this year and i promptly snatched it up and popped it in my toshiba. as i said to mla, who is also an avid kate hepburn fan, i bet you a donut that aaron sorkin was watching this when he was dreaming up the west wing.

based on the 1946 pulitzer prize-winning play of the same name by crouse and lindsay, the film was directed by frank capra and made in joint agreement with capra's capitol films and mgm, the studio that held both tracy's and hepburn's contracts. there is a lot of movie folklore associated with this film. claudette colbert was originally picked to play mary matthews, the wife of the man encouraged by his mistress to run for president. colbert flatly refused to work evenings at the studio, so the story goes, and thus the role was offered to hepburn at the last minute. after the film's initial release, capra bought the rights to it thus ensuring its limited accessibility. since mgm no longer owned the film, the original credits were scrapped and new ones inserted; in these second credits, not only is hepburn's name mispelled ("Katherine Hepburn" rather than Katharine Hepburn") but so too is the name of adolphe menjou, who plays the political boss that works with angela lansbury's character, kay thorndyke, to catapault tracy to fame.

there is so much about the film that intrigues me that i've already watched it four times! i'm currently on the hunt for my very own copy to shelve next to adam's rib and pat and mike. digging up a dvd of the philadelphia story wouldn't hurt either. i have to admit, however, as mary does early in the film when discussing her relationship with her estranged husband, that the state of this union is strictly political -- i see potential here for an article.