20 Things You Didn't Know About O Brother, Where Art Thou?
6. There Was Also A Real Pappy O'Daniel
The theme of politics in the Depression-era South, in particular the idea of "bossism" and its associations with popular and traditional music, is one which runs right through O Brother, Where Art Thou? So it's no surprise that the movie's major political character is drawn from a real larger-than-life figure of the day.
In the movie, Menelaus "Pappy" O'Daniel is the Governor of Mississippi and, despite his obvious cronyism and corruption, is presented as the lesser of two evils against his rival, the "reformist" candidate and secret Klan Grand Wizard Homer Stokes.
Although given a new first name to fit the story's classical Greek inspiration (Menelaus was the King of Sparta whose wife Helen was kidnapped to start the Trojan War from which Odysseus was returning), this O'Daniel is clearly a version of the real-life Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel who was Governor of Texas in 1939.
Much like the movie Pappy, who broadcasts his own radio show The Flour Hour, real-life Pappy used both his flour business and popular music to promote his political campaigns. Unlike his movie counterpart, whose Soggy Bottom Boys wouldn't impress Mary Berry, the actual O'Daniel had real star baker potential in his backing band: The Light Crust Doughboys.
The real O'Daniel was also known to use a broom as a prop to "sweep away corruption", a gimmick that is instead adopted in the movie by his "reformist" opponent.