| Photos (see all 15 | slideshow) |
| 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 | |
| Paul McGrath | ... | Hardiman Fletcher aka James Morton | |
| Will Geer | ... | Senate Minority Leader Warren | |
| Betty White | ... | Senator Bessie Adams | |
| Tom Helmore | ... | British Ambassador | |
| Rene Paul | ... | French Ambassador | |
| Paul Stevens | ... | Louis Newborn | |
| Russ Brown | ... | Night Watchman - Mike | |
| Malcolm Atterbury | ... | Senator Tom August | |
| Janet Jane Carty | ... | Pidge Anderson | |
| Hilary Eaves | ... | Lady Maudulayne | |
| Michele Montau | ... | Celestine Barre | |
| J. Edward McKinley | ... | Senator Powell Hanson | |
| Bill Quinn | ... | Senator Paul Hendershot (as William Quinn) | |
| Tiki Santos | ... | Senator Kanaho | |
| Raoul De Leon | ... | Senator Velez | |
| Chet Stratton | ... | Reverend Carney Birch | |
| Larry Tucker | ... | Manuel | |
| Bettie Johnson | ... | Lafe's Girl | |
| John Granger | ... | Ray Shaff | |
| Sid Gould | ... | Gay Bar Bartender | |
| Meyer Davis | ... | Director of Orchestra (as Meyer Davis and his orchestra) | |
| White House Correspondents Association | ... | Themselves | |
| White House Press Photographers Association | ... | Themselves | |
| Irv Kupcinet | ... | Journalist | |
| Robert C. Wilson | ... | Journalist | |
| Alan Emory | ... | Journalist | |
| Jesse Stearns Buscher | ... | Journalist (as Jessie Stearns Buscher) | |
| Milton Berliner | ... | Journalist | |
| Allan W. Cromley | ... | Journalist (as Allen W. Cromley) | |
| William Knighton | ... | President of White House Correspondents Association | |
| Guy M. Gillette | ... | Senator Harper (as The Honorable Guy M. Gillette) | |
| Henry Fountain Ashurst | ... | Senator McCafferty (as The Honorable Henry Fountain Ashurst) | |
| Raj Mallick | ... | Indian Ambassador | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Leon Alton | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Eddie Baker | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Brandon Beach | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Mario Cimino | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Roger Clark | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Harry Denny | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| George DeNormand | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Cay Forrester | ... | President's Secretary (uncredited) | |
| Clive Halliday | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Henry Jackson | ... | Drink Refuser (uncredited) | |
| Virgil Johanson | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Kenner G. Kemp | ... | Reporter in Senate Chamber (uncredited) | |
| Al McGranary | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Harold Miller | ... | Senate Official (uncredited) | |
| Paul Power | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Maxwell Reed | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Walter Reed | ... | Senate Staff Clerk (uncredited) | |
| Leoda Richards | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Dick Ryan | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Jeffrey Sayre | ... | Senate Staff Clerk (uncredited) | |
| Bernard Sell | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Hal Taggart | ... | Senator (uncredited) | |
| Wayne Tucker | ... | Journalist (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Otto Preminger | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Allen Drury | (novel) | |
| Wendell Mayes | (screenplay) | |
Produced by | |||
| Otto Preminger | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Jerry Fielding | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Sam Leavitt | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Louis R. Loeffler | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Lyle R. Wheeler | (as Lyle Wheeler) | ||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Eli Benneche | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Del Armstrong | .... | makeup artist | |
| Robert Jiras | .... | makeup artist | |
| Myrl Stoltz | .... | hair stylist | |
Production Management | |||
| Jack McEdward | .... | production manager | |
| Henry Weinberger | .... | unit manager | |
Art Department | |||
| Meyer Gordon | .... | property master | |
| Arnold Pine | .... | construction manager | |
Sound Department | |||
| Leon Birnbaum | .... | sound effects editor | |
| William Hamilton | .... | sound | |
| Harold Lewis | .... | sound | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| James Almond | .... | electrical supervisor | |
| Saul Midwall | .... | camera operator | |
| Emil Oster | .... | camera operator (as Emil Oster Jr.) | |
| Morris Rosen | .... | key grip | |
| Al St. Hilaire | .... | still photographer | |
| Josh Weiner | .... | still photographer | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Bill Blass | .... | costume designer: Miss Tierney | |
| Hope Bryce | .... | costume coordinator | |
| Michael J. Harte | .... | wardrobe (as Michael Harte) | |
| Joe King | .... | wardrobe | |
| Adele Parmenter | .... | wardrobe | |
Music Department | |||
| Lee Osborne | .... | music editor | |
| Murray Spivack | .... | music recordist | |
Other crew | |||
| Saul Bass | .... | title designer | |
| David De Silva | .... | production assistant | |
| Allen Drury | .... | technical advisor | |
| Kathleen Fagan | .... | script supervisor | |
| Florence Nerlinger | .... | production secretary | |
| Sol Schulman | .... | furrier | |
| Max Slater | .... | assistant to producer | |
| Harry Winston | .... | diamond jewelry | |
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| The Manchurian Candidate | A Face in the Crowd | State of the Union | The Lost Language of Cranes | The Aviator |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
Although I had seen it when it first came out (I was 18) and again about about 6 months ago (Winter, 2004), this screening (May, 2005) was even more insightful.
It really has aged very well, and is, obviously, at least as relevant today as it was in 1962 --"realistic" in its depiction of the congressional situation in its own day, positively prescient in its relation to our own.
Fonda is good, but curiously second fiddle to the other, more subtle characters.
It's Walter Pigeon's best flick (by far), well cast as the Senate Majority Leader and he carries the role off with an almost Shakespearean aplomb.
Almost Charles Laughton's best (only because that's a very hard call), with his hopelessly crumpled white suit and hat, shufflin' gait, positively Irvinesque homespun witticisms and wonderful, drawling, contemptuous "Mis-ter Rob-ert A. Leff-in-well".
Might be Franchot Tone's best, as well, as the ailing, frail, chain-smoking president, a little bit too close to Life (filmed 6 years before he died of lung cancer).
Gene Tierney is very good as the D.C. socialite hostess "Dolly Harrison" --a character clearly based on Averill Harriman's wife Pamela or, as a type, a later Katherine Graham.
Definitely Peter Lawford's best film --which, admittedly, is not saying much, but he's very well cast as a rather dissolute, philandering Kennedyesque senator who is, nonetheless, not without his Qualities.
Lew Ayres' Casper Milquetoast "Vice President Harley M. Hudson" is an excellently wrought character, from his "bucket of warm spit" role as the impotent President of the Senate to the wonderful twist he gives it at the end, which expounds quite beautifully the subtleties and definitiveness of the Reality of Power.
The scenes of D.C. are positively nostalgic --imagine anyone being able to catch a cab to the capital and then walk right up the steps and go inside ; or an aged night-watchman making his rounds as *the* Security for the inside of the Senate building.
As are the various aspects of the underground "Gay Scene" in NYC with the wonderfully cast Larry Tucker, Jerry Fielding's fine music and "the voice of Frank Sinatra" (as credited). (Some might object to the "clichés" in these scenes, but, to me, those clichés are part and parcel of the ambiance of the period of the film and the culture it portrays and should be seen as such --rather like appreciating the overt racism in "Birth of a Nation" for what it is. I am glad that Preminger didn't "sanitize" his presentation of this matter, especially given the crucial nature of it to the plot of the film.)
But the contrast between the civility --albeit occasionally a rather raw one-- of the senate of circa 1960 and that of the present day is not nostalgic quite so much as it is just heart-rending ("The World We Have Lost"), and the roots of our present grotesque, take-no-prisoners congressional savagery are fully exposed in the intertwined plot lines of McCarthyesque ideological rigidity and homosexual blackmail.
All in all, a "Roman à Clef" to the political world of 1960's Washington, vividly relevant to our own time.