Film

The Great McGinty

Name: The Great McGinty
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1940
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest

Preston Sturges's directorial debut is a zippy political comedy about a bum who climbs the corruption ladder only to discover that an honest marriage might be his downfall. It's cynical and hilarious, moving at screwball pace with real affection for its characters. For anyone who loves old Hollywood wit and doesn't mind rooting for a scoundrel.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy sharp, talky satire where a crooked man's rise is told with brisk, cynical wit and a sly sense that the corruption is the joke.

Skip it if you need your comedy fast and visual, since this one leans on dialogue and a leisurely setup before the laughs fully land.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a talkative, unhurried 82 minutes, with long scenes of wheeling and dealing that reward patience more than quick reactions.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Sullivan's Travels1941

Sturges again, sharper and more ambitious, following a Hollywood director who poses as a hobo to understand suffering. Same playful cynicism about American life, same verbal fireworks, higher stakes.

But The tonal shifts between comedy and genuine darkness might feel uneven if you want consistency over boldness.

The Apartment1960

Another rise-and-fall through a corrupt institution, but with Lemmon and MacLaine bringing melancholy warmth to a cynical premise. Same DNA as McGinty—the system breaks good people, but softly and with style.

But It's slower and sadder than a 1940s screwball. The comedy is gentler; some find it sentimental rather than sharp.

His Girl Friday1940

Released the same year, equally dialogue-drunk and faster. A newspaper comedy with the same rat-a-tat pacing, same cast of lovable crooks and con artists, same delight in how language can move mountains.

But The premise—remarrying your ex-wife—depends on gender politics that haven't aged. You'll notice it.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Great McGinty

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Killers1946

Both trace a criminal's fall through his relationship with a woman. But where McGinty's Catherine saves him by making him honest, The Killers shows us that some loves only doom you further.

Burt Lancaster's debut, Siodmak's direction, a noir built on betrayal and the wages of small-time crime. A hit man tracks his partner's killer and discovers a love story at the bottom. Same moral calculus as McGinty—what do you owe the system, and to whom?

But It's bleak and violent in ways McGinty never is. The tone is fatalistic, not funny. Expect darkness.

Chinatown1974

Political corruption, hard luck, marriage as compromise, a system that devours idealism. It's McGinty's DNA but noir-soaked and tragic. Nicholson as a man slowly realizing the game is rigged.

But It's bleak where McGinty is funny, and nearly three hours where McGinty is sprightly. Vastly different moods.

The Sting1973

Con artists, the Depression, a labyrinthine scheme, period charm, and Paul Newman and Robert Redford working a grift that feels like a dance. Same pleasure in watching smart people be smart.

But It's more interested in the mechanics of the con than in character or wit. Slicker, less funny, more engineering.

It Happened One Night1934

Gable and Colbert, romance on a shoestring, screwball energy before screwball had a name. Shows you where Sturges learned to write dialogue that moves and people you want to follow anywhere.

But It's not cynical. The romance is genuine and earnest, which means it lands differently than McGinty's jaded pragmatism.

The Big Lebowski1998

A bum at the center of a labyrinth that doesn't care about him, mistaken identity, corruption nobody bothers hiding, deadpan narration. Modern and weird, but spiritually McGinty's great-grandchild.

But It's deliberately incoherent and trippy. If you want plot clarity, this will frustrate you.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Pure joy in performance and language. Kelly and O'Connor and Hagen, the machine of old Hollywood, ambition and friendship and the con at the heart of stardom. Not cynical like McGinty, but just as alive.

But It's a musical, and that's a different animal. The cynicism is buried under tap dancing and gorgeous production.

The Band Wagon1953

Astaire as a washed-up dancer trying to climb back, trapped in theater politics and someone else's bad idea. Lighter than McGinty but cut from the same cloth—ambition, failure, reinvention.

But It stops frequently for song and dance. If you want narrative momentum, this will feel padded.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse1933

Both McGinty and Mabuse are about climbing a ladder of corruption only to discover the ladder is infinite. But Sturges finds comedy in that trap; Lang finds only a web of control.

Fritz Lang's German thriller about a criminal empire run by someone you never see, told through cascading deceptions and a city caught in gears it doesn't control. Hypnotic, paranoid, visually extraordinary. A political machine that is the whole point.

But It's 120 minutes of intricate spy-thriller plotting with almost no lightness. Silent-film expressionism and Weimar dread, not 1940s charm.

À Nous la Liberté1931

Both believe that the system is inherently corrupt and that only fools expect it to change. But Clair ends with anarchic freedom; Sturges ends with marriage, duty, and the sadness of becoming good.

Clair's French musical-comedy about two escaped convicts, one who becomes a factory boss, one who stays free. Same Depression-era cynicism about systems and power, dialogue so witty it survives translation, a surreal optimism. The spiritual ancestor of screwball.

But It's French, older, in a different comedic register entirely—more Dadaist, less plot-driven. You're watching a tone you've never heard before.