# Most Important/Significant Political movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236 "2019-10-04T01:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/21 "2019-10-04T22:04:07Z")
Idiocracy Not a Trump documentary but I’m sure a lot on this board think it is 😛 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/22 "2019-10-05T22:04:15Z")
I’ll throw a couple more into the mix: “V for Vendetta” and “Silver City”. > **[Silver City (2004) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376890/?ref_=nv_sr_3?ref_=nv_sr_3)** > > Silver City: Directed by John Sayles. With Chris Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss, Cajardo Lindsey, John C. Ashton. The discovery of a corpse threatens to unravel a bumbling local politician's campaign for governor of Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/23 "2019-10-05T22:19:59Z")
**All the President’s Men** , of course. Worth a mention: **Bridge of Spies**. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/24 "2019-10-05T22:26:01Z")
_Charlie Wilson’s War_. Possibly the best movie about how politics actually works. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/25 "2019-10-05T22:33:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Network_ is the one that jumps out in my mind. The one where entertainment news supplants hard news? Could that happen? What about the other Sidney Lumet film Power (1986) we don’t enjoy thinking about too much: The one where foreign interests purchase political power through image consultants who use computer algorithms to tailor messaging to what they already know recipients are thinking? ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/26 "2019-10-06T17:33:19Z")
A Face in the Crowd. Starring Andy Griffith. Yes, Andy Griffith. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/27 "2019-10-06T17:37:09Z")
When you’re about ready to slit your wrists over the current political landscape, _Dave_ is a little ray of sunshine. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/28 "2019-10-06T17:58:19Z")
My favorite choices, Wag The Dog, Manchurian candidate, Seven Days in May are mentioned. So I’ll add Bob Roberts. Scary movie. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/29 "2019-10-06T18:53:03Z")
Born Yesterday (1950) I always found kind of inspiring, suprisingly. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) was also not the film I was expecting, and belongs on the list. And why has nobody mentioned Lincoln (2012)? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/30 "2019-10-06T20:12:14Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > And why has nobody mentioned Lincoln (2012)? No one has mentioned _Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter_(2012) either. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/31 "2019-10-06T21:09:56Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the film version of advise and consent … I disagree with this being either important or significant. It’s pretty much a potboiler/soap opera whose only saving grace is giving us a possibly somewhat realistic glimpse of the floor of the Senate, and Betty White’s snarky scene. I admit to being prejudiced against it because of the Senator who couldn’t stand anyone to even think he was gay, so he slit his wrists. > [@Dropo](#): > > These are not necessarily the “most important/significant” politically-themed movies ever made, but they are all worth a watch, imo, and not previously referenced: > _The Dark Horse_ (1932) > Shit-for-brains candidate for governor gets help from a seasoned political op. This looks less like a comedy every year. > > _Duck Soup_ (1933) > Best Marx bros flick and political satire ever. > > _Gabriel Over the White House_ (1934) > Produced by Walter Wanger, but apparently dictated by William Randolph Hearst, this is the story of fascism saving the U.S. from the Depression, crime and global tensions. > > _The President Vanishes_ (1934) > Produced by Walter Wanger from an anonymous novel (written by Rex Stout), this is a heartfelt plea for isolationism at a time of rising world tensions wrapped into a ridiculous story concerning a crypto-fascist cabal of corporate leaders trying to start another war because the last one was so good for business. Highly recommended. > > _The Great McGinty_ (1940) > Bum becomes Governor, takes on the corruption that got him elected in this Preston Sturges comedy. > > _The Great Dictator_ (1940) > Chaplin as Hitler. > > _The Glass Key_ (1942) > Fixer Alan Ladd helps corrupt political boss Brian Donlevy reform while falling for his girl Veronica Lake. > > _The Quiet American_ (1958 & 2002) > Graham Greene’s 1955 novel written as an indictment of U.S. involvement in 1952 Vietnam had its message mutilated in the first film version, which goes out of its way to exonerate the Americans. Second version is a better movie and truer to its source, but the first one is more interesting owing to its historical context. > > _The Ugly American_ (1963) > Foreshadowing U.S. bumbling in Vietnam, a new U.S. ambassador to a Civil War-torn Southeast Asian country screws up and citizens back home in America don’t care. > > _Executive Action_ (1973) > JFK conspiracy paranoia. > > _The Parallax View_ (1974) > Prime political assassination conspiracy paranoia. > > _Shampoo_ (1975) > Black comedy set against the 1968 election does a really good job of evoking its period. > > _Winter Kills_ (1979) > Great cast in uneven black comedy about possible conspiracies following a JFK-like assassination. Some great choices here. When I saw Gabriel Over the White House I was gobsmacked by it. You omitted to mention the religious smugness that drapes itself over the film. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/32 "2019-10-06T21:28:44Z")
A lot of great ones. I’ll mention Burnt By The Sun and The Battle of Algiers. Oh and Missing. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/33 "2019-10-06T21:39:03Z")
Another vote for _All the President’s Men_. Very relevant for today except the reporters don’t have to dig. They only have to quote the guy. But the situation in _Z_ is looking more and more relevant. When the Secretaries of State and Defense are knee deep it in, we’ve got a problem. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/34 "2019-10-06T23:43:42Z")
[The Conformist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conformist_(1970_film)) (1970) by Bertolucci Not just a superb film but an object lesson (for some today?). ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236/35 "2019-10-09T10:14:51Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > All the President’s Men. History that we had lived through and got to see from another perspective. My absolute favorite political film, above all others! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-significant-political-movie/841236.md?page=1)