Booze & Ballots
Swing Vote is about a New Mexico layabout with a drinking problem (Kevin Costner) who is heavily courted by a couple of major presidential candidates (Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper ) who need his vote to tip the election in their favor. Whacked, improbable...but that's it. Anyway, it was pointed out yesterday that this premise is fairly similar to that of Garson Kanin's The Great Man Votes (1939).
It's about a boozy widower (John Barrymore) who, it is discovered, is the only registered voter in a key precinct, which leads to politicians from both parties bearing inducements.
There's no question the two films are using the same basic bones. A friend says the Costner film is considerably different beyond the premise, but so what? I've never even seen the Barrymore film. It's not exactly a must-see. Right now it's only available on VHS.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 1, 2008 at 5:26 PM
comment #1
BurmaShave says ...
Well then, moving on.
Posted by BurmaShave at August 1, 2008 6:21 PM
comment #2
Edward says ...
Given a choice between Costner and Barrymore, who would you choose?
Posted by Edward at August 1, 2008 7:10 PM
comment #3
Mgmax says ...
Not having seen the Costner, I'm sure they're pretty different in a zillion ways relating to the times they were made in, but The Great Man Votes is a charmingly sentimental little film and certainly along with Midnight the same year, the last good thing Barrymore did. TCM shows it on occasion, though it's not presently scheduled.
Posted by Mgmax at August 1, 2008 7:57 PM
comment #4
JCEFalconi says ...
Jesus why is the font on the cover look so 80's? Yes, I am talking about the John Barrymore one.
Posted by JCEFalconi at August 1, 2008 9:24 PM
comment #5
The Bandsaw Vigilante says ...
Good call, re: the VHS box-font.
Seriously, for like a nanosecond, I thought I was looking at WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS.
(And not the Dave Matthews one, either.)
Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante at August 2, 2008 12:12 AM
comment #6
llumenick@aol.com says ...
I pointed out the resemblance more than a year ago, when the film was first announced. While there are considerable differences in the setting and approach, it's clearly an uncredited remake. In both movies, the protagonist becomes a celebrity and the kids help the drunk see the light. A casting notice for Swing Vote included a synposis with the phrase "the great man votes.''
http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2008/07/yes_its_true_ke.html#comments
Posted by llumenick@aol.com at August 2, 2008 3:20 PM
comment #7
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