MovieChat Forums > The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988) Discussion > The real power

The real power

posted 13 years ago by trob226
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I watched this again a while back, and one thing that impressed and scared me about this story was that the real power was Watson (Robert Prosky), the political boss hidden in the shadows, running Slaton's (Jack Lemmon)governorship (until he balks over the Frank case) and Dorsey's (Richard Jordan) ambitious climb up the ladder to the governorship using the Frank case. Watson is there all the time, never elected, but always running things, and running right over Leo Frank.

[–] senorjuez 13 years ago

I couldn't agree more. Watson was the chief instigator who used power of the press to rile people up. He definitely had an agenda. There are more specific details in "And the Dead Shall Rise". Dorsey made Leo Frank a sacrificial lamb because without the conviction, he never would have become governor, and probably would have been demoted from Solicitor General due to losing many high-profile cases prior to this one.