In what I believe was Irene Dunne's second to last acting role, she plays Margaret Henderson, a mild mannered widow and mother of two, who being fed up with the status quo, decides to fight city hall. After being involved in a potentially fatal accident at a blind intersection, Miss Dunne's character channels her outrage and frustration into a grass roots, clean sweep campaign. She runs up against indifference, political entrenchment, and abandonment by an ally who sells out to ensure his own political survival. She goes forward undaunted until her political opponent, played here by Allyn Joslyn at his slippery, slimy best, almost wrecks her campaign for good. Up to this point, we think that we are simply watching a retold tale about good vs. evil when Joslyn's corrupt Woody Purvis attempts to smear Margaret in a way so evil that his plan backfires. He tries to destroy her by revealing heretofore unknown information about her late husband's war record. Information so devastating, but yet so irrelevant to Margaret's political aspirations, that it backfires and she is swept into office. Miss Dunne's imbues her portrayal of Margaret with all the integrity that she herself possessed--a brave and noble woman who finds herself inundated in the dirt and evils that is politics but one who comes through it in the end triumphant.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews