Advise & Consent. 1962 Otto Preminger Films (released to home video by Warner Bros.)
Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Burgess Meredith, Eddie Hodges, Paul Ford, George Grizzard, Inga Swenson, Frank Sinatra (voice only)
Director: Otto Preminger
Buy Advise & Consent individually, or as part of the Controversal Classics box set at Amazon.
There's some shenanigans going on in Washington D.C...
The President of the United States (Tone) is seriously ill, and one of his final acts is nominating a liberal named Robert A. Leffingwell (Fonda) for Secretary of State. The Senate must either approve or deny the appointment of Leffingwell using its advise and consent powers, and supporters and opponents of the President fight it out, hinting at a Communist background for Leffingwell, or accusing one of his detractors (Senator Brig Anderson, played by Don Murray) of engaging in a homosexual affair.
Director Preminger tried to cast Martin Luther King Jr. in the film to play a black Senator from Georgia, but could not do so. At the time of filming, the Senate was completely Caucasian.
Advise & Consent is an interesting film, but it can be a little too wordy at times. Nothing is perfect, though, so don't allow that to scare you away. Recommended.
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