One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern

Clearly aware that he's preaching to the choir, filmmaker Vittoria gathered an impressive group of talking heads to speculate on what might have been in this heartfelt, occasionally heavy-handed study of the forces that led to the 1972 Democratic nomination of George McGovern and his overwhelming defeat by incumbent President Nixon. The interviewees comprise a good sampling of the surviving "old guard" of the New Left, including Dick Gregory, Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty and the always candid and amusing Gore Vidal. Vittoria spotlights McGovern's early '60s opposition to America's growing commitment to Vietnam and his fervent work as a reformer. However, this sympathetic portrait of the "prairie populist" has to include the sad fact that the shining moment in the title—the 1972 Democratic convention, attended by an eclectic mix of delegates that "looked like America"—was brief indeed, as the campaign started faltering as early as the final night of the convention (when McGovern gave his acceptance speech at 2:30 a.m.). The ultimate vindication for true believers is supplied by campaign manager Frank Mankiewicz when he proclaims, "We just lost an election—most of the other guys went to jail!"