The history of New York City politics is as bumptious and cynical a saga as a combination of Damon Runyon, Ernest Hemingway, and Thorne Smith could concoct. Now that "The Little Flower" and "Reform" reign supreme, that saga of the Men of Tammany is fast becoming a glowing legend, another Homeric Age. A nostalgic reminiscence of things past is "The Great McGinty," the story of a bum who voted thirty-seven times in one election--on the right side--and became governor for his pains. As governor he went straight and had to get out of the country.

Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff deserve honorary memberships in Tammany Hall for their superb performances. Preston Sturgis, author and director, ranks with Judge Seabury as a tiger-killer. But perhaps it would be better to say that while the good judge did the actual killing, Mr. Sturgis has written a magnificent epitaph.

"One Million B.C." is a story of civilization in-the -raw, democracy-in-diapers. Among its many attractions are various over-sized lizards (alias ictheobrontosorsithiuses, er' somethin'), the super-colossal eruption of a gigantic volcano--in miniature, and a blonde named Carol Landis who kicks the stone-age gong around with nothing on but a smile and a bit of rhinoceros hide. Great fun for the kiddies between the ages of 16 and 26.