The Last Hurrah

Frank Skeffington, Irish-American

mayor of a large New England city, goes

about politics in an old fashioned manner.

He campaigning is based on the principle

that “Frank Skeffington is available to

every man and woman in his state” and

when he walks outside his office door, the

usual crowd of noisy constituents fill the

space. Skeffington strives equality and

works to benefit as much people as

necessary, if not all. When dealing with an

issue that places the constituents on

opposing sides, he looks for and achieves a

compromise that benefits all, allowing for

everyone to achieve the feeling of being

heard.

Skeffington, an aging politician, is

running for re-election which he calls “The

Last Hurrah.” Set in the 1950s,Skeffington

runs one last time in a changing world

were TV’s starting to play a greater part in

politics. The movie examines the good and

evil within politics and all the things that

go into an election. If he is to survive this

election, he must find the means to search,

acquire, and utilize the technology that

catches the people’s attention in manner

unknown prior to this time period.

Amos Force's newspaper opposes

Skeffington's recently announced bid for a

fifth term. His two major opposing

candidates are unimpressive: Charles J.

Hennessey, a longtime but harmless

opponent, and Kevin McCluskey,a young

naval hero with few ideas of his own. As

the head of the newsroom, Force is

planning a series of articles in support of

McCluskey,not because he respects his

candidacy but because he despises

Skeffington. Force puts all employees on

full alert and tasks them to dig up

whatever they could find that proves

damaging to Skeffington, such as his

income for the 10 years leading to this

campaign to see if any corruption exists.

The hateful relationship between Force

and Skeffington go as far back as

Skeffington’s mother....