# Election night movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958 "2005-05-01T17:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/1 "2005-05-01T17:06:00Z")
I’m intending to stay up and watch the U.K. election results come in. That will start sometime around 01:00 Friday, so I’m looking for recommendations for suitable films to watch until then. **Return of the King** is an obvious choice. On the lighter side, there’s **Dave**. What do you recommend? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/2 "2005-05-01T17:14:48Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I’m intending to stay up and watch the U.K. election results come in. That will start sometime around 01:00 Friday, so I’m looking for recommendations for suitable films to watch until then. > > **Return of the King** is an obvious choice. IS it??? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/3 "2005-05-01T17:46:09Z")
_Manhattan Melodrama_, w/Clark Gable, William Powell _Citizen Kane_, w/Orson Welles _I Married a Witch_, w/Fredric March, Veronica Lake _The Farmer’s Daughter_, w/Loretta Young _State of the Union_, w/Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn _The Last Hurrah_, w/Spencer Tracy ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/4 "2005-05-01T17:48:03Z")
_The Candidate_ \*Advise and Consent \* ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/5 "2005-05-01T17:48:30Z")
Bob Roberts? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/6 "2005-05-01T17:53:04Z")
There’s no election or election night in _Advise and Consent_. It’s about the appointment of a new secretary of state. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/7 "2005-05-01T18:10:28Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > There’s no election or election night in _Advise and Consent_. It’s about the appointment of a new secretary of state. Never mind, I thought we were listing films that dealt in politics, not just with elections. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/8 "2005-05-01T18:18:54Z")
How about [Wag The Dog](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/)? Or is that too cynical for you? > [@Wag The Dog](#): > > Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean: What’s the thing people remember about the Gulf War? A bomb falling down a chimney. Let me tell you something: I was in the building where we filmed that with a 10-inch model made out of Legos. > Stanley Motss: Is that true? > Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean: Who the hell’s to say? Albania’s hard to rhyme. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/9 "2005-05-01T19:38:10Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Albania’s hard to rhyme. But it borders on the Adriatic. Its land is mostly mountainous, and its chief export is chrome. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/10 "2005-05-01T20:09:04Z")
_Primary Colors_ starring **John Travolta** is pretty good methinks. It has many of the ups and downs I imagine that accompany an election. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/11 "2005-05-02T00:52:30Z")
**The Best Man** , starring Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson, might be worth a look (even though its depiction of what a typical American party convention is like is now so dated, it’s now a period piece). ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/12 "2005-05-02T00:57:53Z")
_A Very British Coup_. About an actual British election. A little hard to find, but well worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/13 "2005-05-02T01:09:33Z")
Kind of long, but the Francis Urquhart trilogy; House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/14 "2005-05-02T15:26:04Z")
Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/15 "2005-05-02T17:47:29Z")
Might be hard to find, but [_The Great Man Votes_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031392/) with John Barrymore might be worth a gander. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/16 "2005-05-02T18:56:02Z")
All the King’s Men All the President’s Men The War Room Election ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/17 "2005-05-02T19:00:47Z")
I’ll second Election. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/18 "2005-05-02T21:35:30Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Kind of long, but the Francis Urquhart trilogy; House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut. Thank you!! That was the first thing I tought of but I couldn’t remember the name. Would seem to make more sense to have something about _British_ politics…which is why the other thing I thought of was, just put in a Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister DVD (and remind yourself that the election is meaningless 'cause the civil service runs everything anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/19 "2005-05-02T21:49:47Z")
Francis Urquhart is so terrifically evil and it’s a great miniseries. If anyone hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend you do so. (Apparently they are based on a series of novels I’ve never read.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958/20 "2005-05-04T15:15:17Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Kind of long, but the Francis Urquhart trilogy; House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut. Yes, although they got progessively worse with each miniseries, I’d still highly recommend them. “House of Cards” is a masterpiece of dark-humored British political satire. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-movies/301958.md?page=2)