It is interesting to watch the 1962 political drama "Advise & Consent" in 2007 and realize that U.S. politics and the background maneuvering that occurs when a president nominates someone for any government post has never changed. It is alternately interesting and frustrating to see what goes on in Washington behind closed doors. The great politicians know how to play the dirty game of compromise while others embarrass themselves by crossing the line.
If one looks at the last 45 years of U.S. politics after this movie was released and note the numerous real-life scandals, I can say that what is depicted in the movie is pretty close to reality, even though it's a fictional story. This entertaining film is through the observant eyes of producer/director Otto Preminger, a notable risk-taker who seem to have always made it his mission to shake up the Hays Office stranglehold on morals and what should be depicted on the big screen, and screenwriter Wendell Mayes, who adapted the original novel written by Allen Drury. I have never read the book but I understand that the movie was just an abridged version and I will have to say that Preminger and Mayes did a very good job.
From Henry Fonda as the Secretary of State nominee and Franchot Tone as the President, to Lew Ayres as the Vice President, Walter Pidgeon as the senator majority leader and, in his final role, Charles Laughton as the instigating senator from South Carolina, the strong cast, individually and collectively, gave impressive performances. Familiar character actors including Paul Ford (from The Phil Silvers Show), Edward Andrews, and Burgess Meredith were also very good. I was pleasantly surprised to see TV icon Betty White in a short but pointed performance as the only female Senate member.
One notably historic story plot line involved Don Murray as an influential senator who is simultaneously being blackmailed. I was more than a little bit surprised to see the depiction of apparently a closeted politician end up traveling outside D.C. to confront his supposed blackmailer. I found the situation rather funny and over-the-top. However, if you look at when this was made, it certainly fits the morals of that era. Arguably, what was shocking and shameful before the mid-1960s (blackmailing someone who might be gay) is not as shocking now (at least in some countries).
Overall, "Advise & Consent" is extremely entertaining. Alternately dramatic and sharply humorous, this movie kept my interest from beginning to end.
If one looks at the last 45 years of U.S. politics after this movie was released and note the numerous real-life scandals, I can say that what is depicted in the movie is pretty close to reality, even though it's a fictional story. This entertaining film is through the observant eyes of producer/director Otto Preminger, a notable risk-taker who seem to have always made it his mission to shake up the Hays Office stranglehold on morals and what should be depicted on the big screen, and screenwriter Wendell Mayes, who adapted the original novel written by Allen Drury. I have never read the book but I understand that the movie was just an abridged version and I will have to say that Preminger and Mayes did a very good job.
From Henry Fonda as the Secretary of State nominee and Franchot Tone as the President, to Lew Ayres as the Vice President, Walter Pidgeon as the senator majority leader and, in his final role, Charles Laughton as the instigating senator from South Carolina, the strong cast, individually and collectively, gave impressive performances. Familiar character actors including Paul Ford (from The Phil Silvers Show), Edward Andrews, and Burgess Meredith were also very good. I was pleasantly surprised to see TV icon Betty White in a short but pointed performance as the only female Senate member.
One notably historic story plot line involved Don Murray as an influential senator who is simultaneously being blackmailed. I was more than a little bit surprised to see the depiction of apparently a closeted politician end up traveling outside D.C. to confront his supposed blackmailer. I found the situation rather funny and over-the-top. However, if you look at when this was made, it certainly fits the morals of that era. Arguably, what was shocking and shameful before the mid-1960s (blackmailing someone who might be gay) is not as shocking now (at least in some countries).
Overall, "Advise & Consent" is extremely entertaining. Alternately dramatic and sharply humorous, this movie kept my interest from beginning to end.