Silver screen legend Robert Redford is no stranger to starring in beloved classics and delivering unforgettable performances, and he knocked it out of the park when he appeared as an unconventional U.S. Senate hopeful in the satiric 1972 political dramedy The Candidate. The sharp and witty film chronicles Redford’s lawyer-turned-politician as he wades into foreign waters while on his quest to “defeat” the Republican nominee, with the charismatic character initially being chosen only because he had zero chances of winning.
The Candidate went on to achieve widespread acclaim, and Jeremy Larner took home the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with the brilliant writer having had quite a bit of personal experience in the world of politics in preparation for penning the celebrated ’70s hit. Let’s explore the real life ties the brilliant dramedy has to an actual political candidate and how it helped shape the lauded script.
The Candidate
- Release Date
-
June 29, 1972
- Director
-
Michael Ritchie
- Cast
-
Peter Boyle
, Robert Redford
, Melvyn Douglas
, Don Porter
, Allen Garfield
, Karen Carlson
, Quinn K. Redeker
, Morgan Upton
, Michael Lerner
, Kenneth Tobey
, Christopher Pray
, Joe Miksak
, Jenny Sullivan
, Tom Dahlgren
, Gerald Hiken
, Leslie Allen
, Jason Goodrow
, Robert De Anda
, Robert Goldsby
, Mike Barnicle
, Natalie Wood
, Fred Harris
Robert Redford’s Dazzling Political Dramedy
Hollywood icon Robert Redford continued proving himself to be one of the most talented leading men on the silver screen when he headlined the 1972 political dramedy The Candidate, in which he appeared alongside fellow acting great Peter Boyle as the dashing public interest lawyer Bill McKay, who is chosen to enter a seemingly unwinnable race for the Senate against a popular Republican candidate as his Democratic opposition. Desperate political consultant Marvin Lucas (Boyle) sets his sights on the handsome and charming McKay, knowing he will never stand a chance of beating Senator Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter).
McKay agrees to the charade so long as he is able to speak freely and express his values and unfiltered opinions, but after a few campaign hiccups, the charismatic lawyer finds himself transforming into a bona fide politician and begins rising in the polls (much to his dismay). As McKay starts to notice that his prospects of winning the race are only growing stronger and stronger by the day, he realizes how much his platform has shifted to appease the masses, prompting the unlikely candidate to decide whether he must be true to himself or his political party.
The Candidate’s Surprising Ties to the Real World
While the characters and political figures featured in The Candidate are entirely fictional, the engrossing satiric hit does, in fact, have surprising ties to a real-life politician, as screenwriter Jeremy Larner had once worked as a speechwriter for Senator Eugene J. McCarthy as he sought the Democratic presidential nomination during the 1968 election. Larner was personally chosen to pen the script by Redford and director Michael Ritchie, with the trio spending the whole summer of 1971 putting the final product together so that the film would be released ahead of the 1972 presidential election campaign.
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Larner was selected as the film’s screenwriter over 10 other hopefuls because of his genuine insight into the political world, and he drew upon his own personal memories while working for McCarthy to develop elements of the storyline. The talented speechwriter had also worked as a journalist and later expressed that his “experiences with various politicians came into the story; I used some stuff that was directly from the campaigns.” Larner would reveal that the scene in which McKay is angrily berated in the men’s room actually happened to McCarthy, while also telling Brooklyn Magazine in 2016:
“We worked out the nature of the story, and I told them stories of my experience with McCarthy, some of which I put directly in the script. For example, the moment when somebody hands McKay a Coke and a hot dog, so his hands are occupied, and then slugs him in the face—that really happened to McCarthy!”
The character of Bill McKay was also inspired by U.S. Senator John V. Tunney and former California governor Jerry Brown, as director Michael Ritchie had previously worked for Tunney’s campaign on his successful 1970 Senate election. When Larner was chosen as the screenwriter, he was told by Ritchie and Redford (via Timeout) to create a movie about “a candidate who sold his soul,” prompting the writer to pen the brilliant screenplay for the future Oscar-winning picture.
The Candidate Becomes a Cinema Success
The Candidate made its way to theaters ahead of the 1972 presidential election, premiering on June 29, 1972, to widespread critical acclaim while going on to gross $2.5 million throughout its spectacular run. Lauded for its sharp and witty humor, savvy screenplay, and captivating performance by Redford, the engaging picture was triumphantly declared by The New York Times as “one of the few good, truly funny American political comedies ever made” and adding that it is “serious, but its tone is coldly comic, as if it had been put together by people who had given up hope.”
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For his exceptional writing contributions to The Candidate, Jeremy Larner won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and helped the ’70s knockout become a certified success with both critics and audiences, as the dramedy currently holds a fantastic 89% Rotten Tomatoes score and 74% Popcornmeter. The Candidate features an unforgettable portrayal by the great Robert Redford and, in many ways, remains just as prevalent in today’s murky political climate as it did over 50 years ago. Rent/Buy The Candidate on Prime Video.