A reporter (Patricia Neal) suspects the "nice guy" image of a respected Congressman (Van Johnson) is all a facade and sets out to uncover the truth.
Acting
Neal's sharp, weary intelligence cuts through Johnson's polished phoniness.
Writing
Dialogue crackles with pre-Watergate political skepticism.
Director
Robert Pirosh
Van Johnson
Joseph T. Gresham
Patricia Neal
Alice Kingsley
Louis Calhern
Charles W. Birch
Sidney Blackmer
Philip Emery
Elizabeth Patterson
Miss Dee
Patricia Collinge
Miss Galbreth
Philip Ober
Gilbert Nunnally
Moroni Olsen
Speaker Of The House
Fay Roope
Caswell
Katherine Warren
Mrs. Birch
Hugh Beaumont
Chaplain
Thomas Browne Henry
Congressional Secretary
Willis Bouchey
Senator
Marjorie Bennett
Woman with pass
Madge Blake
Bystander
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during the Kefauver hearings, it channels real post-war anxiety about political image-making. The film barely made back its budget because audiences wanted their corruption stories louder.
Patricia Neal considered this her warm-up for 'Hud' — she practiced her clipped, intelligent delivery here first. Pirosh won his Oscar for 'Battleground' writing, not this.
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