Preston Sturges' ferocious and funny attack on the American system of success through politics is a twist on the Abe Lincoln story in which even a bum, backed by the right machine, can become President. The film opens with a conversation in a Banana Republic bar between two men whose stories intersect with classic Sturges irony: one has been an honest man all his life, save for the one fateful moment which led to his demise; the other laments a life of unadulterated corruption spoiled by one thoughtless, honest minute. This latter is Dan McGinty, bartender, who proceeds to tell his story from his humble beginnings in the political system - when he voted 37 times in the same election, at two dollars a vote - to his rise under the patronage of boss Akim Tamiroff to the governor's chair in what Sturges calls "the mythical city of Chicago in the imaginary state of Illinois." For his first film as director, Sturges enlisted members of his growing stock company for whom he had been creating roles as a scriptwriter, including the inimitable William Demarest, and the veteran character actors Brian Donlevy (as Dan McGinty) and Akim Tamiroff.