{"id":1421,"date":"2006-09-19T17:25:41","date_gmt":"2006-09-20T00:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2020-11-25T21:35:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T04:35:36","slug":"senator-was-indiscreet-the-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1421","title":{"rendered":"Senator Was Indiscreet, The (1947)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Owning a nice little diary is like owning a nice little atom bomb &#8212; even if you never do anything with it, it&#8217;s a comfort just to know it&#8217;s there.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Poster-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Poster-1-186x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-47152\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Poster-1-186x300.jpg 186w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Poster-1-79x128.jpg 79w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Poster-1.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDim-witted Senator Ashton (William Powell) angles for the presidency by using his diary as a source of blackmail material against his fellow politicians. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blackmail<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Ella Raines Films<\/li>\n<li>Hans Conried Films<\/li>\n<li>Political Corruption<\/li>\n<li>Satires and Spoofs<\/li>\n<li>William Powell Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this amusing political satire by playwright George S. Kaufman (his lone directorial effort) doesn&#8217;t quite have the &#8220;frantic dialogue, idiosyncratic secondary characters, and political bite&#8221; it needs to be a classic screwball comedy a la Preston Sturges. Indeed, the wit is often heavy-handed, and several of the characters (i.e., the paranoid &#8220;Bolshevik waiter&#8221; who constantly accuses Senator Ashton of anti-communist prejudice) are played a bit too broadly. Nonetheless, the film benefits from a surprisingly satisfying &#8216;whodunit&#8217; ending, and solid performances by the lead actors. In addition, it cleverly illustrates &#8212; to a <em>satirical <\/em>degree &#8212; the notion that competency isn&#8217;t necessarily a factor in getting elected to public office, and that corruption in politics is rampant.  Given the current political climate in our country, these facts seem more relevant now than ever.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ella Raines as the energetic young journalist who hopes to expose Ashton&#8217;s diary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines-1024x657.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-47156\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines-1024x657.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines-300x192.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines-768x492.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Raines.png 1483w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>William Powell&#8217;s over-the-top performance as the buffoonish senator<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2-1024x674.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-47155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2-1024x674.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2-768x506.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Powell2.png 1475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The humorous ongoing riff whereby a political aide takes hours to get in touch with every politician exposed in Powell&#8217;s diary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone-1024x671.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"419\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-47158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone-1024x671.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone-768x504.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Senator-Was-Indiscreet-Phone.png 1481w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some zingy one-liners: &#8220;There&#8217;s an old saying in my state &#8212; if you can&#8217;t beat &#8217;em, bribe &#8217;em!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s an interesting curio in film history, and worth watching at least once. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0039811\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/74294.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Owning a nice little diary is like owning a nice little atom bomb &#8212; even if you never do anything with it, it&#8217;s a comfort just to know it&#8217;s there.&#8221; Synopsis: Dim-witted Senator Ashton (William Powell) angles for the presidency by using his diary as a source of blackmail material against his fellow politicians. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Blackmail Comedy Ella Raines Films Hans Conried Films Political Corruption Satires and Spoofs William Powell Films Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: As&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1421\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1421"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54880,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions\/54880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}