State of the Union (1948)

Reference View | Change View

Approved
2h 4min
Comedy, Drama
30 Apr 1948 (USA)
Movie

7.2 (4,169)

0

Rate

1

Rate

2

Rate

3

Rate

4

Rate

5

Rate

6

Rate

7

Rate

8

Rate

9

Rate

10

Rate

0

Error: please try again.

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Stars:

Reviews:

Photos and Videos

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

Add Image

69 photos | 2 videos

Cast verified as complete

Edit


	Spencer Tracy	...	Grant Matthews
	Katharine Hepburn	...	Mary Matthews
	Van Johnson	...	'Spike' McManus
	Angela Lansbury	...	Kay Thorndyke
	Adolphe Menjou	...	Jim Conover
	Lewis Stone	...	Sam Thorndyke
	Howard Smith	...	Sam I. Parrish
	Charles Dingle	...	Bill Nolard Hardy
	Maidel Turner	...	Lulubelle Alexander
	Raymond Walburn	...	Judge Alexander
	Margaret Hamilton	...	Norah
	Art Baker	...	Leith - Radio Announcer
	Pierre Watkin	...	Sen. Lauterback
	Florence Auer	...	Grace Orval Draper
	Irving Bacon	...	Buck Swenson
	Charles Lane	...	Blink Moran
	Patti Brady	...	Joyce Matthews
	Georgie Nokes	...	Grant Matthews Jr. (as George Nokes)
	Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Bellboy (as Carl Switzer)
	Tom Fadden	...	Waiter
	Tom Pedi	...	Barber
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Don Anderson	...	Television Technician (uncredited)
	Harry Anderson	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Stanley Andrews	...	Senator (uncredited)
	Sam Ash	...	Editor (uncredited)
	Frank Austin	...	Crackpot (uncredited)
	David Bair	...	Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
	George Barton	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Brandon Beach	...	Editor (uncredited)
	Anne Beck	...	Receptionist (uncredited)
	Lennie Bluett	...	Page Boy (uncredited)
	Jack Boyle	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Norma Brown	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
	Douglas Carter	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Maurice Cass	...	Little Man Outside White House Gate (uncredited)
	Naomi Childers	...	Television Broadcast Audience (uncredited)
	Davison Clark	...	Crump - Newspaper Editor (uncredited)
	David Clarke	...	Rusty Miller (uncredited)
	Frank L. Clarke	...	Joe Crandall (uncredited)
	Gene Coogan	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Edwin Cooper	...	Bradbury (uncredited)
	Fred Datig Jr.	...	Elevator Boy (uncredited)
	Bert Davidson	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Boyd Davis	...	Doctor (uncredited)
	Lew Davis	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Drew Demorest	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Helen Eby-Rock	...	Business Woman (uncredited)
	Thornton Edwards	...	Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
	Franklyn Farnum	...	Congressman (uncredited)
	Sam Finn	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Sig Frohlich	...	Page Boy (uncredited)
	Joe Gilbert	...	Newsreel Cameraman (uncredited)
	Herschel Graham	...	Assistant Cameraman (uncredited)
	Jesse Graves	...	Jesse - Butler (uncredited)
	Mahlon Hamilton	...	Businessman (uncredited)
	Phil Harron	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Timmy Hawkins	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
	Dell Henderson	...	Broder (uncredited)
	Al Hill	...	Television Technician (uncredited)
	Art Howard	...	City Official (uncredited)
	Tor Johnson	...	Wrestler (uncredited)
	Eddie Kane	...	Television Prompter (uncredited)
	Jimmy Lennon Sr.	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Marion Martin	...	Blonde Girl (uncredited)
	Frank Mayo	...	City Official (uncredited)
	Frank McLure	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Charles Meakin	...	Editor (uncredited)
	Russell Meeker	...	Politician (uncredited)
	Fred Miller	...	Labor Leader (uncredited)
	Howard M. Mitchell	...	Doctor (uncredited)
	Rhea Mitchell	...	Jenny (uncredited)
	Ralph Montgomery	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Roger Moore	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Bert Moorhouse	...	Politician (uncredited)
	Arthur O'Connell	...	First Reporter (uncredited)
	Garry Owen	...	Brooklynite (uncredited)
	Netta Packer	...	Nurse (uncredited)
	Frank Pharr	...	Editor (uncredited)
	Eddie Phillips	...	Television Technician (uncredited)
	Francis Pierlot	...	Josephs - Newspaper Editor (uncredited)
	Stanley Price	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Eleni Qirici	...	Dancer (uncredited)
	Ed Randolph	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Barry Regan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Ellen Ross	...	Secretary (uncredited)
	Henry Russell	...	Labor Leader (uncredited)
	Marshall Ruth	...	Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
	Jerry Schumacher	...	Newsreel Cameraman (uncredited)
	Charles Sherlock	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Robert Skelton	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	J. Lewis Smith	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Robert Spencer	...	Guard (uncredited)
	Ted Stanhope	...	Reporter (uncredited)
	Charles Sullivan	...	Television Sound Technician (uncredited)
	Henry Sylvester	...	Butler (uncredited)
	Eve Whitney	...	Secretary (uncredited)
	Dave Willock	...	Pilot (uncredited)
	Wilson Wood	...	Photographer (uncredited)
	Fred Zendar	...	Photographer (uncredited)

Directed by

Edit

Frank Capra

Written by

Edit

Howard Lindsay	...	(play) and
Russel Crouse	...	(play)

Anthony Veiller	...	(screenplay) and
Myles Connolly	...	(screenplay)

Produced by

Edit

Frank Capra	...	producer
Anthony Veiller	...	associate producer

Music by

Edit

Victor Young

Cinematography by

Edit

George J. Folsey

...

director of photography (as George J. Falsey)

Editing by

Edit

William Hornbeck

Art Direction by

Edit

Cedric Gibbons
Urie McCleary

Set Decoration by

Edit

Emile Kuri
Edwin B. Willis	...	(uncredited)

Costume Design by

Edit

Irene

Makeup Department

Edit

Jack Dawn	...	makeup creator
Sydney Guilaroff	...	hair styles designer

Production Management

Edit

Arthur S. Black Jr.

...

production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Edit

Arthur S. Black Jr.

...

assistant director

Sound Department

Edit

Douglas Shearer	...	recording director
Conrad Kahn	...	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by

Edit

A. Arnold Gillespie

...

special effects

Camera and Electrical Department

Edit

Mervin Bradner	...	grip (uncredited)
Robert J. Bronner	...	camera operator (uncredited)
Jerome Hester	...	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department

Edit

Sidney Cutner	...	orchestrator (uncredited)
George Parrish	...	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	...	orchestrator (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

Edit

Eylla Jacobs

...

script supervisor (uncredited)

Additional Crew

Edit

Leland Hayward

...

stage producer

Production Companies

Edit

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (present)
Liberty Films (II) (present)

Distributors

Edit

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (United States) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (Sweden) (theatrical)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (Norway) (theatrical)
MCA Videocassette (1980) (United States) (VHS)
Emka (1986) (United States)
MCA Home Video (1986) (United States) (VHS)
MCA/Universal Home Video (1994) (United States) (VHS)
Universal Home Video (2006) (United States) (DVD)
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) (2006) (United States) (DVD)
HanseSound (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
NBC Universal Television Distribution (2018) (United States) (tv) (syndication)
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) (2021) (United States) (Blu-ray)
Universal Pictures UK (2005) (United Kingdom) (video) (as "The World & His Wife")

Special Effects

Edit

Other Companies

Edit

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) (this picture made under the jurisdiction of)
Motion Picture Association (MPA)
Western Electric (sound system)

Storyline

Edit

Plot Summary	Kay Thorndyke (Dame Angela Lansbury) loves Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) and helps him become Republican nominee for President. The party machine begins to worry as Grant begins to speak for himself. At an important dinner, his wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) condemns corrupt politicians, and Grant learns to speak out even more boldly. Written by Ed Stephan Plot Summary
Plot Keywords	the-white-house-washington-d.c. reference-to-henry-clay reference-to-bob-hope reference-to-jack-benny reference-to-harold-stassen See All (87) »
Taglines	How's the State of the Union? It's GREAT! See more »
Genres	Comedy Drama
Parents Guide	Add content advisory for parents »
Certification	Australia:PG Canada:PG (Ontario) Finland:S France:Tous publics Italy:T Norway:A Sweden:Btl United Kingdom:A United Kingdom:PG United States:Approved United States:Passed

Additional Details

Edit

Also Known As	Frank Capra's State of the Union (United States) The World and His Wife (South Africa, English title) The World and His Wife (United Kingdom) L'enjeu (France) Der beste Mann (Germany) See more »
Runtime	124 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Color	Black and White
Aspect Ratio	1.37 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix	Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Filming Locations	Detroit, Michigan, USA See more »

Box Office

Budget

$2,600,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

Edit

Trivia	Claudette Colbert was originally cast to play Mary Matthews. A few days before production began, Producer and Director Frank Capra fired her from this movie because she refused to work into the evening. Capra then hired Katharine Hepburn on Spencer Tracy's suggestion. See more »
Goofs	Katharine Hepburn's name is misspelled in the opening credits as "Katherine". This is the result of the original MGM opening credits (MGM was the original theatrical distributor) being replaced by haphazardly-designed replacement credits when MGM's distribution rights expired. See more »
Movie Connections	Featured in MGM: When the Lion Roars (1992). See more »
Crazy Credits	When this film was reissued, new titles and credits were printed. The original end cast listing was retained, so the cast names which are misspelled in the reissue's opening credits are spelled correctly in the closing cast list. See more »
Quotes	Mary Matthews: Oh, that's silly. No woman could ever run for President. She'd have to admit she's over 35. See more »

Getting Started | Contributor Zone »