Advise and Consent
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Movie Reviews of Advise and Consent
Movie Review: Great political movie that hasn't dated one iota...spoilers...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of Preminger's masterpieces, a film that, surprisingly, has dated very little. It takes place during the Cold War, and while that may have subsided (at least for now), the talk of "loyal to the country" and talk of Communism hasn't gone away from the American political vocabulary. The film is one of the most fascinating, meticulous political thrillers ever made, and it's also a great suspense movie as well. It's also refreshing to see (and hear) Senators be somewhat civil to each other and not talk in soundbites but complete sentences. The film depicts Washington as a land of deals, backroom jousting, pride, anger, ambition, and blackmail. It's not an idealised portrait, but a starkly realistic one that is still true today.
The film is brilliantly handled by Otto Preminger. Preminger has a unique visual style all his own. His use of widescreen and framing is, once again, perfect here, shooting in very long takes, allowing the actors to really breathe life into their characters. All of the performances here are exemplary, with Charles Laughton and Walter Pidgeon getting top honors. Many criticise Preminger for being a bad director (but a good producer). I think this is nonsense. He solicits great performances in every film he's made. Even though Henry Fonda receives top billing, he's hardly in the film at all, but his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State is the backbone of this film.
There is also a blackmail plot in this film where the Senator in charge of the subcommitte, Brig Anderson (played with great understatement by Don Murray), is being blackmailed by another Senator eager to get the nomination of Fonda through the Senate. It turns out that Anderson had a homosexual affair many years ago, and there's photos and letters. This was pretty shocking for 1962. Preminger films the events up to the revelation extremely well, creating brilliant tension. The scene in the gay bar (this was the first film ever to depict a gay bar in Hollywood history) is really powerful when you discover Anderson's secret. Now, some would argue that politicians wouldn't have to worry about being gay. Wrong. Even in the most liberal places, there are very few openly gay politicians. Despite the gay community making many strides towards acceptance and tolerance, it's not all there yet, and it would be disasterous for a politician to come out, even today. So this scene hasn't really dated. Some have criticised the depiction of gays in the film. I've seen far more offensive portrayals of homosexuals in modern comedies than this film does. Regardless, the scene here is startling effective, and due to this blackmail, Anderson kills himself. Preminger never shows the suicide (Anderson cuts his throat), but we learn of it when a Senate guard calls Peter Lawford during a card game. The president also dies during the film, but we never see that either.
The performances here are superb, with special mention going to Charles Laughton as a wily Southern Senator, Walter Pidgeon as the Majority Leader, Don Murray as the troubled Senator, Burgess Meredith as a man who is used by Laughton to get at Fonda (and is subsequently discredited by Fonda), and Lew Ayres as the underestimated vice president. Not much has changed in Washington since this film was made. While there are more ways for Senators to communicate, they still deal with things the same way. The human factor always figures into things, and Advise and Consent is one of the most complex, riveting political films ever made.
Movie Review: Timely, Fascinating Inside View of Politics...
Summary: 5 Stars
With the election of John F. Kennedy, in 1960, Hollywood took a heightened interest in politics, and the behind-the-scenes drama of lawmaking. Allen Drury's massive novel of wheeling and dealing, "Advise and Consent", was a natural choice for the big screen, and under the sure direction of legendary Otto Preminger, a classic 'political thriller' was born.
The premise, the nomination of a controversial new Secretary of State, and the actions of the President and Congress to help or hinder his approval, is still a remarkably timely issue, over forty years later, and it is surprising how little things have actually changed. With Henry Fonda as the nominee, you'd expect that he'd be the 'good guy' of the tale, but when he lies under oath (even with the best of reasons), Preminger makes it clear that in politics, as in life, there is little that can easily be divided into 'black' and 'white'.
Certainly, there are recognizable historic figures in the cast, under different names. The most obvious is skirt-chasing Sen. Lafe Smith, a thinly-disguised JFK, himself, who cut quite a social path prior to marrying Jackie (and afterward, too, as the years have revealed). That his real-life brother-in-law, Peter Lawford, plays the role, is a grand piece of 'tongue-in-cheek' casting (as is Gene Tierney, one of Kennedy's early 'conquests', as a Washington social maven). One character has become even more fascinating, since the film's release; wily South Carolina Sen. Seabright Cooley (a brilliant Charles Laughton, in his final role), was said to have been based on Illinois' legendary Everett Dirksen, but in a real-life parallel, South Carolina produced a 'real' Seab Cooley, in the amazing Strom Thurmond!
The 'Who-Is-Who?' aspect aside, the film is populated with many fascinating characters, from wise and sympathetic Senate Majority Leader Robert Munson (Walter Pidgeon, in one of his finest later roles), and his 'right-hand man', Senate Majority Whip Stanley Danta (Paul Ford, also wonderful), to the Minority opposition, headed by the perfectly-cast Will Geer. Women, who were finally achieving greater political status, aren't as well-conceived in the film, but are present, with Betty White(!) in a small but visible role.
The key 'players' of the drama, however, are the wily, dying President (screen veteran Franchot Tone, in a terrific 'comeback' role), the enigmatic Vice President (Lew Ayres, another screen legend making a 'comeback'), young, idealistic Sen. Brigham Anderson (Don Murray, who nearly steals the film in his tragic portrayal), and opportunistic Sen. Fred Van Ackerman (George Grizzard, as easily the film's most hiss-able villain!)
As with all Preminger films, there is an element of controversy in the story, with homosexuality as the issue addressed. While later film historians have complained that the director fell back into an almost caricatured approach to the gay lifestyle, considering the era the film was produced, and the censorship restrictions of the time, to even mention it was a courageous move, and that Preminger kept this key plot element in the story should be applauded.
"Advise and Consent" may not be the kind of film that will appeal to everyone, but each time I hear Jerry Fielding's stirring opening theme, I find myself drawn back into this ever-fascinating world of Politics and Power, and I think, if you give it a chance, you'll be hooked by it, too!
This one is a keeper!
Movie Review: A Stalemate of Conscience
Summary: 5 Stars
Imagine a film where dialogue was so taut and so well spoken that it became the central conveyor of the plot. That sort of film lives mostly in yesteryear, and it lives magnificently in "Advise and Consent", a riveting examination of the ongoing struggle between the basest instincts and noblest ideals of our elected officials.
The plot line is keyed to the nomination for high public office of a former University of Chicago professor accused of consorting with radicals. (Coming off the 2008 U.S. presidential election, does this sound familiar?) The nomination sets off the usual legislative maneuvering and partisan gamesmanship, convincingly brought to life by great ensemble acting and peppered with wonderful performances by Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, George Grizzard and Burgess Meredith. (The establishing shot of Laughton bedecked in South Carolina finery and stepping off a circa-1960 DC streetcar is perfect, and Meredith puts in a great smoky-voiced, conspiratorial turn as a flunky accuser.) For political junkies, the black-and-white shots of the Capitol, National Mall and then-Washington National Airport are gems, and the real-life, high-toned parlance used by members of the Senate "club" and written into the script provides delicious irony to the intrigue being practiced by the same, ostensibly high-minded gatekeepers of democracy.
"Advise and Consent" offers for consideration two public figures with secrets (Don Murray, as a Senator, and Henry Fonda, as nominee for Secretary of State) and through them and their supporters asks several Big Questions: When should an individual make a personal sacrifice for the public good? At what point should elected officials put aside party for principle? How can public dialogue remain civil when opposing forces are dug in for the long fight?
In the end, it's a stalemate of conscience that resolves the entire affair, leaving it up to the next wave of leadership (the Vice President from Delaware, another 2008 coincidence) to try - yet again - to marry democracy, principle and the political process in a more ethical manner.
A well-honed screenplay, superb acting and great ideas with a capital "I" continue to make "Advise and Consent" one of my favorites.
(Footnote: Director Otto Preminger is reported to have offered the role of a U.S. Senator from Georgia to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. According to a 2007 biography of Preminger, Rev. King accepted, then backed off. Imagine the possibilities...)
Movie Review: "How interesting can a Senate hearing be, anyway?"
Summary: 5 Stars
Advise and Consent (Otto Preminger, 1962)
During my college days, I had a friend who would go on for long periods about how great a film Advise and Consent is. At the time, young, impetuous, and somewhat skeptical of her taste in film (I mean, Broadcast News was her favorite movie of all time), my stock response was "it's a movie about a Senate hearing, and it's got Betty White. How good can it really be?"
Well, it's fifteen years and change later, and I have now seen Advise and Consent, and I have my answer: a movie about a Senate hearing can be as good as Advise and Consent, and I can't imagine one being any better than this.
Robert A. Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) is the President (Dark Waters' Franchot Tone)'s nominee for Secretary of State. He is violently opposed by Seab Cooley (Charles Laughton in his final film role), the senior senator from South Carolina, who implies Leffingwell's a communist. Cooley produces a witness who will testify to this, one Herbert Gelman (Burgess Meredith). Leffingwell destroys Gelman on cross-examination, but later confides to the president that Leffingwell and Gelman were, in fact, both members of the same communist cell in Chicago. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
One of the reasons, I think, why this movie is so fantastic is in the number of ways it could have gone so very, very wrong. This is melodrama at its lowest, Peyton Place combined with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and yet it never feels like melodrama. It's always controlled, even in those scenes where the script is enticing characters to overact with every syllable. A number of casting decisions were questionable, though in hindsight they seem adventurous (Betty White as a senator?), but all of them turned out just fine. The movie runs over two hours at one of those times in history when shorter films were more popular. It's in black and white. To put it bluntly, it's a throwback to a pre-Peyton Place era, the same way Psycho was two years previous. And, just like Psycho, it's a gamble that paid off handsomely; Advise and Consent has garnered a deserved reputation over the years as the finest political thriller of its time, if not the finest ever made. **** ½
Movie Review: OTTO PREMINGER, OPUS 28
Summary: 5 Stars
***** 1962. Based on Allen Drury's Advise and Consent, ADVISE & CONSENT was produced and directed by Otto Preminger. Washington D.C. When the President decides to choose Robert A. Leffingwell as new Secretary of State, he knows very well that it won't be easy to get the votes of the senators of his own party. Furthermore, during the hearings, Leffingwell is accused to have patronized a communist cell when in Chicago. After The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, Saint Joan [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ] and Anatomy of a Murder, this is the fourth Preminger film dealing with themes related to Justice or rather with the way men are implementing the Law. How fascinating to observe the way Otto Preminger drains off the screen every scene that doesn't have directly anything to do with the power of words, hence just think of the death of the President handled literally offscreen. Charles Laughton is brilliant as usual. Masterpiece.