The Candidate

The Candidate (1972)

Bill McKay has a lot going for him...but nothing compared to what's coming.

Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.

Date of release
1972-06-29
TMDB
6.5 / 10 (201)
Runtime
1h 50m
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Director
Michael Ritchie

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: San Diego and Santa Rosa
  • Awards: 2 · Nominations: 2. Including: Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay; National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

The Candidate is a 1972 American political comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Peter Boyle and directed by Michael Ritchie. The Academy Award–winning screenplay, which examines the various facets and machinations involved in political campaigns, was written by Jeremy Larner, a speechwriter for Democratic senator Eugene McCarthy during McCarthy's campaign for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.

Production

Robert Redford said that the film was made as "a labor of love" and was shot inexpensively and quickly. Redford and Michael Ritchie had approached perhaps ten scriptwriters before offering the job to Jeremy Larner, who was under pressure to work quickly so the film would be out in time for the 1972 presidential election campaign; he had "about a month" to write the script, and wrote "exactly from noon to 3 a.m.

The character of Bill McKay (Redford) is based on U.S. Senator John V. Tunney (although he has similarities with Jerry Brown as well). Director Michael Ritchie worked for Tunney's successful campaign in the 1970 Senate election; campaign manager Nelson Rising was an associate producer on the film.

Ritchie, Redford, and writer Jeremy Larner spent the whole summer of 1971 putting together the script. The scene where McKay is berated in a men's room is based on an incident that happened to presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Larner said that "the moment when somebody hands McKay a Coke and a hot dog, so his hands are occupied, and then slugs him in the face—that really happened to McCarthy!".

The character Howard Klein, played by Allen Garfield, was based on a New York political advertising consultant, David Garth, whom Jeremy Larner met during the making of the movie, an encounter he described as "a big break".

Redford was reunited with Natalie Wood, who made a cameo appearance as herself, after she had semi-retired in 1970. The two had co-starred in the 1965 film Inside Daisy Clover, as well as the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned.

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