The Candidate (1972) on Netflix
Marvin Lucas, a political consultant, needs a Democrat to challenge Crocker Jarmon, a popular Republican senator. He approaches Bill McKay, a public interest lawyer and a former governor's son.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.0/1013,657 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bill McKay, a public interest lawyer whose father, John J. McKay, is a former California governor, believes political campaigns are more style than substance and that he can accomplish more for people as a lawyer than in office. Marvin Lucas, a political consultant, needs a Democrat to challenge Crocker Jarmon, a popular Republican senator from California. No established Democrat wants a race that looks unwinnable, so Lucas approaches McKay, whose wife, Nancy, supports the idea. Because Jarmon cannot lose, McKay could campaign on whatever he believes, and he agrees on one condition: his father must stay out of the campaign.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Candidate (1972)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The scene where Bill McKay is berated in a men's room came from a real incident that happened to presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy: as Jeremy Larner told it, someone handed McCarthy a Coke and a hot dog so his hands were occupied, then slugged him in the face.
- Robert Redford's character Bill McKay is based on U.S. Senator John V. Tunney, though he also shares traits with Jerry Brown. Director Michael Ritchie had worked on Tunney's successful 1970 Senate campaign, and that campaign's manager, Nelson Rising, was an associate producer on the film.
- Years after the film opened, vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle said he had watched it several times and modeled himself on Bill McKay. Screenwriter Jeremy Larner answered with an open letter telling Quayle the film was not a how-to picture but a watch-out picture, and that Quayle was what people had to watch out for.
- The character Howard Klein, played by Allen Garfield, was modeled on David Garth, a New York political advertising consultant Larner met during the making of the film, an encounter Larner called a big break.
