Hollywood's Love Affair With Oval Office

Film Historian Picks Top Movies About Presidents And Wannabes

(CBS)  The presidential contenders are making their final push across Iowa on what they hope is a journey that leads them all the way to the White House.

The real stumping is a reminder of Hollywood's fascination with presidents -- and those who would be president.

On The Early Show Wednesday, Glenn Kenny, a film historian and critic for Premiere.com (formerly Premiere Magazine) shared his selections of the best of that large lot.."

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To see photos of celebrities on the real campaign trail, click here.

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"The White House is a topic of fascination," he told Russ Mitchell, "because the nature of power is always fascinating but, because we live in a democracy, power is gotten in a bit more egalitarian manner. So, a common man could be in a position of great power, and lot of the White House movies, especially the most popular ones, deal with that, or men with common problems and issues in positions of great power

Kenny's choices, on a scale of one-to-four, with four being best:

BEST CAMPAIGN TRAIL MOVIES

The Candidate (1972)
This really provides an accurate glimpse of the campaign trail, with lots of on-location shooting, and vivid life-on-the-road stuff. Robert Redford as the candidate is really at his most appealing and his most shallow in this movie. It's a very good critique of image-mongering in politics
RATING: FOUR "VOTES"

Primary Colors (1998)
This is a good ensemble movie with a great cast, starring John Travolta as a Clinton-style charmer. It was a little overblown dramatically, but smart and fast. There was a lot of buzz at the time about how much this resembled Bill Clinton.
RATING: THREE "VOTES"

BEST COMEDIES

Dave (1993)
A clever, all-American farce of mistaken identity, wherein a shy double impersonates a corrupt president and sets the system right. A sweet fantasy of American politics with great performances by Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, and more.
RATING: THREE "VOTES"

The American President (1995)
An earnest argument that the president's personal life is none of our business. A little obviously black-and-white, but with a good cast, and charming chemistry between Annette Bening and Michael Douglas, who played a widower president.
RATING: TWO "VOTES"

BEST UNKNOWN WHITE HOUSE MOVIE

Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
The Depression gave some people some pretty extreme ideas about how to solve it. This movie shows a president taken over by the Angel Gabriel, literally, to pretty much suspend the Constitution and use the awesome power of government to set everything right. A weird and historically fascinating document.
RATING: FOUR "VOTES"

BEST INNER WORKINGS MOVIE

Advise and Consent (1962)
Although it's largely set in the Senate, this epic about the confirmation hearing of a controversial would-be secretary of state is still the most accurate and entertaining inner-workings of politics movie ever. It also contains the first depiction of a gay bar in latter-day American cinema! A senator is blackmailed for having a gay affair. Given the sex scandals involving Mark Foley and Larry Craig this year, it is still pertinent.
RATING: FOUR "VOTES"

BEST WHITE HOUSE THRILLER

Absolute Power (1997)
Retired cop Clint Eastwood investigates a murder that leads to the highest office in the land. Gene Hackman as the President and Judy Davis as his uber-nasty chief aide are great portrayals of political "poisoneres."
RATING: THREE "VOTES"