There is no one great American political film. Yet there are dozens of provocative films and documentaries that help us understand the American experiment. They tell of our successes and our failings and how long it has taken us to live up to our lofty aspirations of liberty and opportunity for all.
Movies are made to entertain and to make money for producers and investors. Yet they can make us think about where we are going as a nation, and where we would like to be.
Memorable American political films
What are the memorable American political films? This is a subjective undertaking and, as we later point out, one's political beliefs can frame such movie lists.
Here's ours:
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"
"All the King's Men"
"Citizen Kane"
"Casablanca"
"The Manchurian Candidate"
"Dr. Strangelove"
"On the Waterfront"
"High Noon"
"Lincoln"
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"The Grapes of Wrath"
"The Candidate"
"Gone with the Wind"
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
"Forrest Gump"
"The Godfather"
"The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance"
Such lists are challenging because there are so many worthy nominees. And some films age better than others. But it is helpful to make such lists to shine a light on major cinematic achievements, and to help remind us of the evolution of our constitutional democracy. Note some films appear on several of our lists.
Inspirational films about the American experiment
Here is a related list of films that have inspired Americans about their country and their patriots:
"Lincoln"
"Gettysburg"
"Glory"
"Saving Private Ryan"
"Patton"
"Captain America"
"Sergeant York"
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"
"Forrest Gump"
"12 Angry Men"
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
"Hidden Figures"
Civic entertainment films â€" films that help us understand governing
Here is a list of films we nominate as “civic entertainment.†They help us understand the functioning of American government and the challenges governing officials face as they go about trying to promote the common good:
"Advise and Consent"
"Seven Days in May"
"The Fog of War"
"The Best Man"
"The West Wing" (NBC)
"The Civil War" (PBS)
"City Hall" (PBS)
"The Last Hurrah"
"Primary Colors"
"Show Me a Hero" (Netflix)
"A Few Good Men"
"All the President's Men"
Films critical of the American experiment
Hollywood and documentary writers have given us hundreds of films that criticize the failings of the American republic. Most of us want to believe America is an exceptional nation and the American Dream, as illustrated by the fictional Forrest Gump, is open to everyone.
We also want to believe the rule of law is equally applied to everyone, yet we are mature enough to know governing is hard, no nation is perfect and sugar-coated movies can be misleading and unhelpful. Here are a few films that remind us our national story has been complicated as well as remarkable:
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"12 Years a Slave"
"Born on the Fourth of July"
"The Grapes of Wrath"
"The Wolf of Wall Street"
"Silkwood"
"Erin Brockovich"
"Casino Jack"
"Salt of the Earth" (union-made)
"Beloved"
"The Report"
"All the President's Men"
"Harland County, USA" (documentary)
"Avatar"
"The Wizard of Lies"
"The Big Short"
What is remarkable is our nation started out with just a few million people and has “scaled up†to more than 330 million people. Also, we have one of the most diverse populations in the world.
Our political system has undergone multiple changes, yet our aspirations for maximum individual freedom, equality under the law, the rule of law and the consent of the governed remain “north stars†guiding the American experiment. Critical movies shine a light on our shortcomings, yet most critical movies do so by reminding us of how we can and should be better.
Hollywood has been criticized as having a liberal or even leftish bias. Some conservatives contend Hollywood films are too often anti-family, anti-religion, anti-business and anti-American. They point to actors and directors Charlie Chaplin, Dalton Trumbo, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda and Spike Lee as insufficiently patriotic or at least biased liberals.
These critics may have a point. But many if not most of the owners of Hollywood movie corporations have been conservative, pro-American and Republican. Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was a big fundraiser for Republican presidents in the 1920s and chaired the California Republican Party. Hollywood moguls united to defeat Sinclair Lewis when he ran as a Democrat for governor of California in 1934.
There have been many conservative film directors, such as Walt Disney, Darryl Zanuck and Clint Eastwood. And there have been influential conservative actors like George Murphy, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Mel Gibson, Bob Hope, John Voight, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone. Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan, Hollywood notables, became more conservative as they aged.
Conservative authors Ayn Rand, Allen Drury and Tom Clancy wrote books that became consequential American films.
Here is a list of films liked by conservatives or ones that share conservative themes. Note, however, many of these were fine films enjoyed by people with widely differing beliefs and viewpoints:
'Conservative-themed' films
"The Fountainhead"
"Red Dawn"
"Rambo"
"24"
"Free to Choose" (PBS series featuring economist Milton Friedman)
"American Sniper"
"Dirty Harry"
"Devotion"
"Patton"
"Victory at Sea" (World War II naval history)
"Young Abe Lincoln"
"The Incomparable Mr. Buckley" (PBS)
"The Patriot"
"Forrest Gump"
'Liberal' message-sending films
Here is a list of memorable liberal message-sending films. These films emphasize inclusion, social reform and the importance of government solutions to help us live up to our idealistic aspirations:
"Dr. Strangelove"
"Inherit the Wind"
"Avatar"
"Eyes On the Prize" (PBS documentary)
"West Wing"
"The Plot Against America"
"Gideon’s Trumpet"
"12 Angry Men"
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
"Bob Roberts"
"Milk"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Silkwood"
"Roger and Me"
"The Grapes of Wrath"
"Seven Days in May"
"An Inconvenient Truth" (Al Gore documentary)
Films that emphasize political complexity
Many films get us to understand politics is complicated, that being involved in politics often changes one's character, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
These films also emphasize there are sometimes no easy answers, and that vanity and political biases can be challenging if not corrupting.
"All the King's Men"
"Advise and Consent"
"Primary Colors"
"Oppenheimer
"The Manchurian Candidate"
"On the Waterfront"
"Hoffa"
"All the President's Men"
"Zero Dark 30"
"Platoon"
"Gone with the Wind"
"The Godfather"
"Dirty Harry"
"Fail Safe"
"Charlie Wilson's War"
"Fog of War"
"House of Cards" (Netflix)
"Gabriel Over the White House"
"The Last Hurrah"
The American experiment is a remarkable story and unfinished story. America is a work in progress â€" a nation regularly in need of renewal and heightened commitment. Movies help us understand our strengths and weaknesses, how far we have come and how much farther we have yet to go.
We watch and re-watch these films because they wrestle with our goodness as well as our flaws â€" our promises, our limits and our paradoxes. The American experiment is a noble experiment, yet it is an unfinished story. Our films and documentaries tell that story.
Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy write about United States and Colorado politics.
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