''Advise & Consent'' is a 1962 American
political drama film based on the
Pulitzer Prize winning novel ''
Advise and Consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...
'' by
Allen Drury
Allen Stuart Drury (September 2, 1918 – September 2, 1998) was an American novelist. During World War II, he was a reporter in the Senate, closely observing Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, among others. He would convert ...
, published in 1959.
The film was adapted for the screen by
Wendell Mayes and was directed by
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...
. The
ensemble cast features
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
,
Charles Laughton,
Don Murray,
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
,
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984.
He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...
,
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
,
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
,
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...
,
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television.
Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...
,
Eddie Hodges
Samuel "Eddie" Hodges (born March 5, 1947) is an American former child actor and recording artist (his 1961 cover of the Isley Brothers’ “ I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door” reached #12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100), who left show business a ...
,
Paul Ford
Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notably as Mayor Shinn in ''The Music Man'' (1 ...
,
George Grizzard
George Cooper Grizzard Jr. (April 1, 1928 – October 2, 2007) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He was the recipient of a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, among other accolades.
Life and career
Grizzard ...
,
Inga Swenson
Inga Swenson (born December 29, 1932) is an American actress and singer. She appeared in multiple Broadway productions and received two Tony nominations. She also spent seven years portraying Gretchen Kraus in the ABC comedy series '' Benson''.
...
,
Betty White
Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...
and others.
The title derives from the
United States Constitution's Article II, Sec. 2, cl. 2, which provides that the president of the United States "shall nominate, and by and with the
Advice and Consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...
of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States."
The film, set in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, follows the nomination process of a man who commits
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
in confirmation hearings for his nomination as
Secretary of State.
Plot
The
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
nominates Robert A. Leffingwell as
Secretary of State. The second-term president, who is ill, has chosen him in part because he does not believe that
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Harley Hudson, whom both he and others usually ignore, will successfully continue the administration's foreign policy should the president die.
Leffingwell's nomination is controversial within the
Senate, which must use its
advice and consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...
powers to approve or reject the appointment. The parties of both the president and the minority are divided.
Senate Majority Leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...
Bob Munson, the
senior senator
United States senators are conventionally ranked by the length of their tenure in the Senate. The senator in each U.S. state with the longer time in office is known as the ''senior senator''; the other is the ''junior senator''. This convention ...
from
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, loyally supports the nominee despite his doubts, as do the hard-working
majority whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...
Stanley Danta of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
and womanizer Lafe Smith of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
. Demagogic peace advocate Fred Van Ackerman of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
is especially supportive, but Munson repeatedly advises him not to aggravate the situation. Although also of the majority party, the curmudgeonly
president pro tempore Seabright "Seab" Cooley of
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
dislikes Leffingwell for both personal and professional reasons and leads the opposition.
The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...
appoints a
subcommittee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, chaired by majority member Brigham Anderson of
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, to evaluate the nominee. The young and devoted family man is undecided on Leffingwell. Cooley dramatically introduces a surprise witness, Herbert Gelman, during the subcommittee's hearing. The minor
Treasury Department clerk testifies that he was briefly affiliated with a
communist cell
Cell most often refers to:
* Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life
Cell may also refer to:
Locations
* Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...
with Leffingwell and two others at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
. Leffingwell denies the charge and questions Gelman's credibility but later tells the president that he had committed
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
and that Gelman was correct. He asks the president to withdraw his nomination, but the president refuses.
Cooley identifies another member of the cell, senior treasury official Hardiman Fletcher. He forces Fletcher to confess to Anderson, who tells Munson. Despite personal lobbying by the president, the subcommittee chairman insists that the White House withdraw the nomination because of Leffingwell's perjury or he will
subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
Fletcher to testify. The president angrily refuses, but the majority leader admits that the White House will soon have to nominate another candidate. Anderson delays his committee's report on Leffingwell, but the president sends Fletcher out of the country, angering the senator.
Anderson's wife receives anonymous phone calls from a man warning that unless the subcommittee reports favorably on Leffingwell, information about what happened with "Ray" in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
will be disclosed. A worried Anderson visits fellow army veteran Ray Schaff in New York. Schaff admits that he sold evidence of a past
homosexual relationship between the two. Hudson and Anderson's friend, Smith, joins others in attempting to counsel the troubled chairman, but unable to reconcile his duty and his secret, Anderson takes his own life.
The president denies knowing about the blackmail to Munson and Hudson. He tells the majority leader that he is dying and that Leffingwell's confirmation is vital. Munson criticizes Cooley for opposing the nominee but not exposing Fletcher and thus forcing Anderson to bear the pressure alone. Anderson's death nonetheless permits the subcommittee and the Foreign Relations Committee to proceed with the nomination. Both report favorably to the full Senate.
![Advise and Consent (1962)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Advise_and_Consent_%281962%29.jpg)
In the
Senate Chamber, Cooley apologizes for his "vindictiveness." While he will vote against Leffingwell and his "alien voice," the senator will not ask others to follow. Munson, moved by Cooley's action, cites the "tragic circumstances" surrounding the confirmation. The majority leader will vote for Leffingwell but will permit a
conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentary ...
from others. Hudson's
quorum call
In legislatures, a quorum call is used to determine whether a quorum is present. Since attendance at debates is not mandatory in most legislatures, it is often the case that a quorum of members is not present while debate is ongoing. A member wi ...
and the majority leader's refusal to
yield the floor prevent Van Ackerman from speaking until Munson asks for the "yeas and nays," ending debate. The majority leader tells Van Ackerman that but for the Andersons' privacy, the Senate would have
censured and expelled him, as he was responsible for the blackmail. Van Ackerman leaves the chamber before the vote.
Munson's side is slightly ahead until Smith unexpectedly votes against Leffingwell, and the majority leader prepares for the vice president to
break the tie in the nominee's favor.
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agents enter the chamber, and Hudson receives a message from the
Senate chaplain. He announces that he will not break the tie, thus causing the nomination to fail, and that the president has died during the vote. As he leaves with the Secret Service, Hudson tells Munson that he wants to choose his own secretary of state. The film ends as Munson makes a
motion to adjourn because of the former president's death.
Cast
*
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
as Robert A. Leffingwell, Administrator of the
Office of Defense Mobilization The Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to plan, coordinate, direct and control all wartime mobilization activities of the federal government, including manpower, economi ...
*
Charles Laughton as Senator Seabright "Seab" Cooley of
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
and
president pro tempore of the Senate
A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being".
...
*
Don Murray as Senator Brigham "Brig" Anderson of
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
*
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
as Senate Majority Leader Robert "Bob" Munson of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
*
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984.
He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...
as Senator Lafe Smith of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
*
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
as Dolly Harrison
*
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
as President
*
Lew Ayres
Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...
as Vice President Harley Hudson, former
governor of Delaware
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
*
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television.
Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...
as Herbert Gelman
*
Eddie Hodges
Samuel "Eddie" Hodges (born March 5, 1947) is an American former child actor and recording artist (his 1961 cover of the Isley Brothers’ “ I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door” reached #12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100), who left show business a ...
as Johnny Leffingwell
*
Paul Ford
Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notably as Mayor Shinn in ''The Music Man'' (1 ...
as Senate Majority Whip Stanley Danta of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
*
George Grizzard
George Cooper Grizzard Jr. (April 1, 1928 – October 2, 2007) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He was the recipient of a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, among other accolades.
Life and career
Grizzard ...
as Senator Frederick "Fred" Van Ackerman of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
*
Inga Swenson
Inga Swenson (born December 29, 1932) is an American actress and singer. She appeared in multiple Broadway productions and received two Tony nominations. She also spent seven years portraying Gretchen Kraus in the ABC comedy series '' Benson''.
...
as Ellen Anderson
*
Edward Andrews
Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. (October 9, 1914 – March 8, 1985) was an American stage, film and television actor. Andrews was one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films from the 1950s into the 1980s. His stark white hair ...
as Senator Orrin Knox of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
*
Paul McGrath as Hardiman Fletcher
*
Will Geer
Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist, who was active in labor organizing and other movements in New York and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In Ca ...
as Senate Minority Leader Warren Strickland of
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
*
Betty White
Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...
as Senator Bessie Adams of
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
*
Malcolm Atterbury
Malcolm MacLeod Atterbury (February 20, 1907 – August 16, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor, and vaudevillian.
Early years
A native of Philadelphia, Atterbury was the son of Malcolm MacLeod, Sr. and Arminia Clara (Rosenga ...
as Senator Tom August of
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, chairman of Foreign Relations Committee
*
J. Edward McKinley as Senator Powell Hanson of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
*
Bill Quinn as Senator Paul Hendershot of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
*
Tom Helmore
Tom Helmore (4 January 1904 – 12 September 1995) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1927 and 1972, including three directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Helmore was born in London, England and died in Longboat K ...
as British ambassador
*
Irv Kupcinet
Irving Kupcinet (July 31, 1912 – November 10, 2003) was an American newspaper columnist for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', television talk-show host, and radio personality based in Chicago, Illinois. He was popularly known by the nickname "Kup".
...
as journalist
* John Granger as Ray Schaff
Note
*Appearing in two scenes as Senator John J. McCafferty—who, whenever awakened from a deep sleep, automatically responds "Opposed, sir! Opposed!"—was the 87-year-old
Henry F. Ashurst, one of the first senators elected by
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, serving five terms. Ashurst died on May 31, 1962, a week before the film's premiere.
*
David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...
, who would later become a renowned author on American history, appeared as an extra in the film.
Production
Preminger offered
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
a cameo role as a senator from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
although there were no serving
African-American senators at the time. King rejected the offer and put out a press release rejecting any claims that he accepted a role. Former vice president
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
was offered the role of the vice president, but refused and pointed out some "glaring and obvious" errors in the script, presumably including the critical fact that under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the vice president automatically assumes the office of the president upon the president's death, and would not have been able to cast a tie-breaking vote as vice president.
''Advise & Consent'' was one of a sequence of Preminger films that challenged both the
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
's
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
and the
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...
. It pushed censorship boundaries with its depiction of a married senator who is being blackmailed over a wartime homosexual affair, and was the first mainstream American film after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
to show a
gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term '' gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities.
Gay bars once serv ...
.
Preminger confronted the blacklist by casting known left-wing actors Geer and Meredith. Fonda's character Leffingwell was seen as drawing particularly on real-life State Department official (and accused Soviet spy)
Alger Hiss.
The film's poster and advertising campaign by Saul Bass featured a logo: the nation's capital dome opening up like a teapot. Bass, likewise designed the film's abstract titles which riffed on the stripes in the American flag.
The film marked a screen comeback for Gene Tierney, whose breakthrough to major stardom came in Preminger's 1944 film ''
Laura''. Tierney had withdrawn from acting for several years because of her ongoing struggle with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
. ''Advise & Consent'' was the last of four films that she made for Preminger and one of her last major film roles overall. ''Advise & Consent'' was Laughton's last film; he had
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
during filming and died six months after the film's release. Lawford,
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
's brother-in-law, plays Lafe Smith, a senator from
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
modeled after Kennedy, although in Drury's book the character represents
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
. Betty White made her film debut in ''Advise & Consent'', appearing in one scene as a young senator from
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
.
Many scenes were filmed at real locations in Washington D.C., including the
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
, the canteen of the
Treasury Building, the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...
and the Crystal Room of the Sheraton Carlton Hotel.
Critical response
The staff of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' praised the acting but considered the screenplay problematic, writing: "As interpreted by producer-director Otto Preminger and scripter Wendell Mayes, ''Advise and Consent'' is intermittently well dialogued and too talky, and, strangely, arrested in its development and illogical... Preminger has endowed his production with wholly capable performers... The characterizations come through with fine clarity."
''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' film critic
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
did not like the storyline, writing: "Without even giving the appearance of trying to be accurate and fair about the existence of a reasonable balance of good men and rogues in government, Mr. Preminger and Wendell Mayes, his writer, taking their cue from Mr. Drury's book, have loaded their drama with rascals to show the types in Washington." Crowther also was bothered by the use of the homosexual affair. He wrote, "It is in this latter complication that the nature of the drama is finally exposed for the deliberately scandalous, sensational and caustic thing it is. Mr. Preminger has his character go through a lurid and seamy encounter with his old friend before cutting his throat, an act that seems unrealistic, except as a splashy high point for the film."
Critic
John Simon described ''Advise & Consent'' as "pure hokum."
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. the film has an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 12 critics.
On May 10, 2005,
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
released the film on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
as part of its Controversial Classics box set. The following year, it was included in the Henry Fonda Signature Collection.
The
Academy Film Archive
The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...
preserved ''Advise & Consent'' in 2007.
Accolades
Wins
*
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
: NBR Award, Best Supporting Actor, Burgess Meredith: 1962
Nominations
*
1962 Cannes Film Festival:
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
.
*
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
:
BAFTA Film Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
, Best Foreign Actor, Charles Laughton: 1963
See also
*
List of American films of 1962
A list of American films released in 1962.
'' Lawrence of Arabia'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
__TOC__
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
source: https://web.archive.org/web/20080907071824/http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1962.shtml
...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Advise And Consent (Film)
1962 films
1960s political drama films
1962 drama films
1962 LGBT-related films
American black-and-white films
American LGBT-related films
American political drama films
Columbia Pictures films
1960s English-language films
Films about fictional presidents of the United States
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Otto Preminger
Films scored by Jerry Fielding
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Washington, D.C.
Films with screenplays by Wendell Mayes
LGBT-related political drama films
United States presidential succession in fiction
1960s American films