History Film / TheCandidate

* PantyShot: A young woman lifts her skirt at Bill, revealing she's wearing one of his campaign buttons on the front of her panties.

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: As a stunned Bill sits among his euphoric campaign staff on Election Night, his dad sits down next to him. John [=McKay=] flashes a wolfish grin and says "You're a poltician now." Bill's look of horror speaks volumes.

''The Candidate'' is a 1972 film directed by Michael Ritchie, starring Creator/RobertRedford and Creator/PeterBoyle.

* ImportantHaircut: Bill's shaggy SeventiesHair and his muttonchop sideburns are cut after he agrees to run for Senate. It's the first step along his path of selling out to TheMan.

* CelebrityParadox: As noted above, Creator/NatalieWood appears AsHerself, and says she's a big fan of everything Bill stands for. She does not wonder why Bill looks so much like her co-star in ''Film/InsideDaisyClover'' and ''This Property Is Condemned''.

* CelebrityParadox: As noted above, Creator/NatalieWood appears AsHerself, and says she's a big fan of everything Bill stands for. She does not wonder why Bill looks so much like her co-star in ''Inside Daisy Clover'' and ''This Property Is Condemned''.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

''The Candidate'' is a trenchant political satire that is as relevant today as it was when it was released back in TheSeventies.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The subplot about Bill having an affair with one of his staffers was more prominent in Jeremy Larner's original screenplay. Redford objected, thinking it made Bill look bad, so it's just subtly hinted at, with a couple ChekhovsGunman appearances by her earlier in the film and the hallway scene.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The subplot about Bill having an affair with one of his staffers was more prominent in Jeremy Larner's original screenplay. Redford objected, thinking it made Bill look bad, so it's just subtly hinted at, with a couple ChekhovsGunman appearances by her earlier in the film and the hallway scene mentioned below in YourCheatingHeart.

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: As a stunned Bill sits among his euphoric campaign staff on Election Night, his dad sits down next to him. John [=McKay=] flashes a wolfish grin and says "You're a poltician now." Bill's look of horror speaks volumes.
* YourCheatingHeart: One shot, of a pretty young campaign worker leaving a hotel room, followed by Bill as he buttons up his suit, implies that Bill is cheating on his wife. This is never followed up on.
** In the scene just prior, Bill is running late for a meeting with his father. When one of the staffers suggests he was held up in traffic, another blurts out that she saw him at the hotel. This prompts the senior [=McKay=] to remark with a smirk, "There are some things more important than an election."
** Earlier in the film, [=McKay=] walks in on his wife meeting with a professional photographer. The photographer flat-out admits that he's having an affair with Nancy, which she doesn't deny.

** Can it really be a coincidence that this film, about a rising young California Democratic Party star who is the son of a former Democratic governor, was made in 1972? When Jerry Brown, son of former Democratic governor Pat Brown, was a rising young California Democratic Party star? (Jerry Brown was elected as governor in 1974 and 1978...[[SequelGap and 2010 and 2014]].)

** There are a host of politicians and media people that appear as themselves, enough to fill up a whole screen in the closing credits. U.S. Senators Hubert Humphrey and George [=McGovern=], RealLife then-rivals for the 1972 Democratic nomination ([=McGovern=] won, only to be destroyed by [[RichardNixon Nixon]]), are seen at a Democratic Party banquet that Bill speaks at.

Political campaign specialist Marvin Lucas (Boyle) recruits Bill [=McKay=] (Redford) to run for a U.S. Senate seat in California as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter). Bill is a lawyer and left-wing legal activist who happens to be the son of popular former governor John J. [=McKay=] (Melvyn Douglas). Bill is reluctant to run a campaign that would force him to abandon his principles, but Lucas reassures him that he won't ''have'' to abandon his principles because he doesn't have a shot at winning--Lucas even goes so far as to write the promise "YOU LOSE" on a matchbook. Since Bill doesn't have a prayer, he can say what he wants and raise awareness of liberal issues.

** Can it really be a coincidence that this film, about a rising young California Democratic Party star who is the son of a former Democratic governor, was made in 1972, when Jerry Brown, son of former Democratic governor Pat Brown, was a rising young California Democratic Party star? (Jerry Brown was elected as governor in 1974 and 1978...[[SequelGap and 2010 and 2014]].)

''The Candidate'' is a 1972 film directed by Michael Ritchie, starring Creator/RobertRedford and Peter Boyle.

** While Redford himself denies it, several observers (including Larner) feel that Redford based his performance on John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City, who ran for President as a Democrat in 1972. Lindsay and Redford were close friends and Lindsay, in fact, had announced his party switch from Republican to Democrat while visiting Redford at Sundance in 1971.

Political campaign specialist Marvin Lucas (Boyle) recruits Bill [=McKay=] (Redford) to run for a U.S. Senate seat in California as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Crocker Jarmon. Bill is a lawyer and left-wing legal activist who happens to be the son of popular former governor John J. [=McKay=] (Melvyn Douglas). Bill is reluctant to run a campaign that would force him to abandon his principles, but Lucas reassures him that he won't ''have'' to abandon his principles because he doesn't have a shot at winning--Lucas even goes so far as to write the promise "YOU LOSE" on a matchbook. Since Bill doesn't have a prayer, he can say what he wants and raise awareness of liberal issues.

* StepfordSmiler: Bill's wife, Karen, becomes this more and more as the campaign progresses.

** Earlier in the film, [=McKay=] walks in on his wife meeting with a professional photographer. The photographer flat-out admits that he's having an affair with Karen, which she doesn't deny.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Can it really be a coincidence that this film, about a rising young California Democratic Party star who is the son of a former Democratic governor, was made in 1972, when Jerry Brown, son of former Democratic governor Pat Brown, was a rising young California Democratic Party star? (Jerry Brown was elected as governor in 1974 and 1978...[[SequelGap and 2010 and 2014]].)

** Redford himself denied it, but several writers (including Larner) felt that Redford based his performance on John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City, who ran for President as a Democrat in 1972. Lindsay and Redford were close friends and Lindsay, in fact, announced his party switch from Republican to Democrat while visiting Redford at Sundance.

** Redford himself denied it, but several writers (including Larner) felt that Redford based his performance on John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City, who ran for President in 1972. Lindsay and Redford were close friends and Lindsay, in fact, announced his switch from Republican to Democrat while visiting Redford at Sundance.

** There are a host of politicians and media people that appear as themselves, enough to fill up a whole screen in the closing credits. U.S. Senators Hubert Humphrey and George [=McGovern=], then RealLife rivals for the 1972 Democratic nomination ([=McGovern=] won, only to be destroyed by Nixon), are seen at a Democratic Party banquet that Bill speaks at.

** According to Michael Ritchie, [=McKay=] was actually based on John V. Tunney, the Democratic Senator from California whose 1970 campaign Ritchie had worked on. Screenwriter Jeremy Larner also drew from his experiences working for Eugene [=McCarthy=]'s 1968 presidential campaign and incorporates incidents, and elements of [=McCarthy=]'s own personality into [=McKay=].

** According to Michael Ritchie, [=McKay=] was actually based on John V. Tunney, the Democratic Senator from California whose 1970 campaign Ritchie had worked on. Screenwriter Jeremy Larner also drew from his experiences working for Eugene [=McCarthy=]'s 1968 presidential campaign.

** In the scene just prior, Bill is running late for a meeting with his father. When one of the staffers suggests he was held up in traffic, another blurts out that she saw him at the hotel. This prompts the senior [=McKay=] to remark with a smirk, "There are some things more important than an election."

** According to Michael Ritchie, [=McKay=] was actually based on John V. Tunney, the Democratic Senator from California whose 1970 campaign Ritchie had worked on. Screenwriter Jeremy Larner also drew from his experiences working for Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign.