Advise & Consent (1962)

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Allen Drury (novel)
Wendell Mayes (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 June 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Are the men and women of Washington really like this?

Plot:

Senate investigation into the President's newly nominated Secretary of State, gives light to a secret from the past, which may not only ruin the candidate, but the President's character as well.

Plot Keywords:

Senate | Blackmail | Ampersand In Title | Homosexuality | Pulitzer Prize Source

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Robert A. Leffingwell
Charles Laughton	...	Senator Seabright 'Seab' Cooley
Don Murray	...	Senator Brigham Anderson
Walter Pidgeon	...	Senate Majority Leader Bob Munson
Peter Lawford	...	Senator Lafe Smith
Gene Tierney	...	Dolly Harrison
Franchot Tone	...	The President
Lew Ayres	...	Vice President Harley Hudson
Burgess Meredith	...	Herbert Gelman
Eddie Hodges	...	Johnny Leffingwell
Paul Ford	...	Senator Stanley Danta
George Grizzard	...	Senator Fred Van Ackerman
Inga Swenson	...	Ellen Anderson
Frank Sinatra	...	Himself - on Recording at Gay Bar (voice) (archive sound)
Edward Andrews	...	Senator Orrin Knox

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG (TV rating) | UK:U (original rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | Australia:M | USA:Approved (PCA #20078)

Filming Locations:

Caucus Room, United States Capitol - 545 Seventh Street SE, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

Although the character of The President (played by Franchot Tone carries no role name, at one point in the script Munson (played by Walter Pidgeon) calls him "Russ".

Goofs:

Factual errors: Certain errors are made in the way senators are usually called upon or addressed in the Senate chamber. In the film, senators are almost always referred to as "The senior (or junior) senator from" a state, but in fact the terms senior or junior are seldom used in recognizing or referring to a senator on the floor or in committee. Also, when Senator Lafe Smith is called on during the climactic roll call and at first doesn't answer, the clerk repeats his name, at which point he responds "No". But in actual Senate practice a senator's name is not called a second time until after the initial roll call has been completed.

Quotes:

Robert Leffingwell: Son, this is a Washington, D.C. kind of lie. It's when the other person knows you're lying and also knows you know he knows.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Home Improvement: Advise and Repent (#5.5)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

The Song from Advise and Consent

A Fun Didactic Old Thing

So condescending, to everyone. Washington socialite Gene Tirney comes into the public gallery of Congress escorting two diplomat's wives, the British and the French. She gives the French wife a lesson into the workings of Congress, the French lady doesn't seem to know anything about the American executive branch or understand it. Why didn't the French sue? Or women for that matter. Behind the camera there is a man with a tyrannic brain a misogynistic eye and a very old sensibility, if any. What's fun about this politically incorrect tired tale is precisely the incorrectness, the melodramatic turn and Charles Laughton. Betrayal and conspiracy in the corridors of power has always been a favorite subject from Shakespeare and beyond but here there is a massive problem and I can't decide whether it takes itself too seriously or not seriously enough. See it by yourself and enjoy a terrific Laughton.