The Great Man main poster

The Great Man

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5.2/10 • 6

1956-12-011h 32m

Drama

Everybody loved the Great Man except those who hated his guts!

Joe Harris, preparing a eulogy for popular radio commentator Herb Fuller, finds that nobody has a good word to say about him.

Directors
José Ferrer
Editors
Albrecht Joseph

Top Billed Cast

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  1. José Ferrer

    José Ferrer

    Joe Harris

  2. Dean Jagger

    Dean Jagger

    Philip Carleton

  3. Keenan Wynn

    Keenan Wynn

    Sid Moore

  4. Julie London

    Julie London

    Carol Larson

  5. Joanne Gilbert

    Joanne Gilbert

    Ginny

  6. Ed Wynn

    Ed Wynn

    Paul Beaseley

  7. Jim Backus

    Jim Backus

    Nick Cellantano

  8. Russ Morgan

    Russ Morgan

    Eddie Brand

  9. Edward Platt

    Edward Platt

    Dr. O'Conner (as Edward C. Platt)

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jan 7, 2025

7/10

When national treasure "Fuller" dies, it falls to his erstwhile radio colleague "Joe"(José Ferrer) to put together the traditionally adulatory obituary programme, and so he routinely sets about gathering information and comments from the man's contemporaries. Quite quickly, though, he begins to discover that maybe this man wasn't as pure as the driven snow after all. Indeed, though people don't wish to speak ill of the dead to a microphone, there are soon no shortage of detractors assessing his character and posing quite a quandary for "Joe". Meantime, there's some internal politicking going at the station as his boss (Dean Jagger) sort of promises him the man's shoes if he delivers a positive, glowing, hour of tribute so "Joe" has to choose. Does he go with the flow or does he expose the man? Ferrer delivers competently enough here and the story is one that resonates quite potently across a society that never really feels comfortable being unkind to the dead - however fake their façade they'd presented. It all comes to an head using a conversation between "Joe" and "Beaseley" (Ed Wynn) who delivers us the best, most insightful, ten minutes of the film and poses some interesting questions about where we might draw our own lines. When it comes to the broadcast, what will "Joe" do?

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
based on novel or bookbehind the scenesreporterwhitewashing