''Hail!'' (aka ''Hail to the Chief'', ''Mr. President'', ''Washington, B.C'') is an American political comedy film directed 1970-1971 by Fred Levinson to a screenplay by

Phil Dusenberry Philip Bernard Dusenberry (April 28, 1936 – December 29, 2007) was an American advertising executive for the BBDO advertising agency. Dusenberry was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1936, and attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn and th ...

and Larry Spiegel. The film was screened 1972, but not released until 1973.

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 d ...

July 28, 1973
Screen 'Hail to the Chief':Farce on the President Is at the Playboy
"No more Congress!" shouts the President of the United States. "No more Supreme Court! Just me!" The President, who looks a lot like Bob Newhart and is played by another seriously comic actor named Dan Resin, can barely contain his old-fashioned, down-home joy. Sufferin' catfish! He can now give full rein to his paranoia, so that the Attorney General is able to warn that "the Commies and their dupes" (pronounced "doo-pays") "will have to go elsewhere for their revolution."

Plot

Made during the administration of 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 ...

, the movie follows a presidential adviser who learns that the Chief Executive is jailing and persecuting others who oppose his strict mandates.

Cast

Dan Resin Dan Resin (February 22, 1931 – July 31, 2010) was an American actor. Early life Resin was born in South Bend, Indiana. He was three years old when his parents divorced. Resin met his future wife in the seventh grade. He graduated from I ...

as The

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Richard B. Shull Richard Bruce Shull (February 24, 1929 – October 14, 1999) was an American character actor. Biography Early life Shull was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Zana Marie (née Brown), a court stenographer, and Ulysses Homer Shull, a manufa ...

as The

Secretary of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate Minister of Mental Health, ministers ...

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company ...

as The

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Joseph Sirola Joseph Anthony Sirola (October 7, 1929 – February 10, 2019) was an American commercial, film, television, theatre actor and theatre producer. Life and career Sirola was born in Carteret, New Jersey to Croats, Croatian parents Anton, a carp ...

Reverend Jimmy Williams * Patricia Ripley as The

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Gary Sandy Gary Lee Sandy (born December 25, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for playing program director Andy Travis on the television sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978-1982). Early life and education Sandy was born in Dayton, Ohio, the s ...

as Tom Goodman *

Willard Waterman Willard Lewis Waterman (August 29, 1914 – February 2, 1995)Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . was an American ...

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 t ...

External links

References

{{reflist 1972 films Films about fictional presidents of the United States