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

Color:

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:

The man who is seen turning down a drink from a passing waiter is then-U.S. Senator and future Democratic presidential candidate Henry Jackson, (aka "Scoop" Jackson), who appears uncredited. At a special private preview of the film for members of Congress, the sight of Jackson refusing a drink drew gales of laughter from his colleagues.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Senator Brig Anderson (Don Murray) returns home after the black-tie party, he enters his bedroom and removes his tuxedo jacket. An undershirt is clearly visible under his dress shirt. He then goes into the bathroom and removes his tie, but having awakened his wife, comes back into the bedroom before taking off his shirt, at which point, he's no longer wearing an undershirt.

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:

Featured in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

Soundtrack:

The Song from Advise and Consent

Otto's Washington

I've been told that Otto Preminger believed in discipline through voltage. He was a shouter. He was good with actors but had a reputation as a mean, cruel director of actresses. In his films there is a hidden streak of sadistic paranoia disguised in a costume of courage and all American social consciousness. With the passing of time the coat of courage appears fake and induced rather than deserved. The social consciousness seems mere opportunism. The only thing that survives with flying colors is the sadistic paranoia. Not in a fun, witty and cinematic way but as a plodding, old pastiche with the one redeeming feature: the quality of his actors and actresses. Dorothy Dandridge, Jean Simmons, Patricia Neal, Gene Tirney, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Charles Laughton, Paul Newman, Brandon de Wilde. In "Advise and Consent" the spectacular cast makes this confused political thriller slash soap opera slash full of sadistic paranoia disguised as social consciousness, almost bearable. Every scene with Charles Laughton is enormously fun to watch. Henry Fonda, of course, totally believable. I suggest to watch it with your thumb ready on the fast forward button. Stay with Laughton and Fonda, look at Don Murray and say hello to Gene Tirney. All in all you could see the best of the film in about 15 minutes. Goodness I can hear Otto ranting and raving. I say, let him.