The Best Man
There’s a reason presidential elections happen so soon after Halloween; they’re their own kind of horror show. The ghouls in Gore Vidal’s The Best Man aren’t typical monsters though, they’re political operatives. Henry Fonda is a conflicted but honorable candidate facing off against the Prince of Darkness, Cliff Robertson, a phony populist willing to break the country to win the race. Franklin J. Shaffner directed this slow-boil character study with a keen eye and a tremendous supporting cast including Kevin McCarthy, Edie Adams, and veteran funny man Lee Tracy in a heart tugging—and Oscar nominated—swan song.
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About Joe Dante
Joe Dante is a lifelong film buff who turned his obsession into a career. He got his start cutting trailers for Roger Corman and later directed the hit movie Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Innerspace and Small Soldiers for producer Steven Spielberg. His feature films include The Howling, Piranha, Matinee, The ‘burbs , Looney Tunes Back in Action, The Hole (first winner of the 3D Persol Award at the Venice Film Festival) and the zom-com Burying the Ex. His TV directing work includes: Police Squad, Amazing Stories, the HBO film The Second Civil War, the Masters of Horror titles Homecoming and The Screwfly Solution, and episodes of Eerie, Indiana, CSI: NY, Hawaii 5-0, Witches of East End, Legends of Tomorrow and Salem. His most recent big screen credit is an episode of the anthology film Nightmare Cinema. He’s currently consulting producer on the Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation hit, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.
Joe is also the frequent co-host of Trailers From Hell’s official podcast, The Movies That Made Me, available everywhere podcasts are streamed and downloaded!