Advise and Consent

Year: 1962 (USA)
Genre: Drama/Political Drama
Directed: Otto Preminger
Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Don Murray, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Burgess Mededith
Production: Otto Preminger Films

I have been getting into House of Cards (2013) as of late. The cynical, subversive politics of the show combined with Kevin Spacey's gravitas and Robin Wrights icy dame act makes for exciting TV. Since the first episode was released on Netflix, I binged on all thirteen, forty-five minute episodes like a fat kid in a pastry shop. The results were delicious.

I eat men's souls

In many ways Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent (1962) makes me feel the same elation. Its a smart, under-the-radar, slow-cooking potboiler, providing many characters and angles. Like House of Cards, Advise and Consent also has a killer cast who ooze credibility and snake-like charm. Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon, Burgess Meredith, Franchot Tone, Gene Tierney, Peter Lawford, Don Murray, Lew Ayres, George Grizzard and the great Charles Laughton in his last film; now there's a line up only Otto Preminger could scrounge up.

The movie starts with images of the star spangled banner. This is promptly followed by scenes in front of the Capitol, characters walking in, chomping at the bit about the nomination for Secretary of State. Thus the wheels are set in motion for a showdown that at times is exhilarating and at

And I say Michael Keaton was the better Batman!

other times exhausting. Secrets are spilled and hidden, political tricks are used and people are destroyed.

To many Advise and Consent might be a bit dry. There are many scenes where Senators are going back and forth on the senate floor and in committee rooms. I dare say the amount of pomp and circumstances adds to the realness of the situation. The tension isn't felt artificially but rather experienced vicariously through the characters.

The most tragic of these characters is Senator Brigham Anderson of Utah (Don Murray). A man used and abused by powers on opposite ends of the nomination. While many secrets are revealed to the audience, Anderson's clandestine doings are certainly the most audacious. Even today, the story of Anderson would peak the interest of the public, even a public that has gotten used to politicians cheating, bribing and sleeping their way to infamy.

Anderson's story however is only an hors d’oeuvre when compared to the dirt people  have on Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) the soon-to-be Secretary of State. His story, while a little dated by today's standards, would have turned some heads in 1962.

Turns out video privacy was a huge deal back then

I'm eluding to stories and dirt because I don't want to spoil the fun should you chose to watch Advise and Consent. Political junkies especially would enjoy the movies harder edges provided by a stellar script by Wendell Mayes, based on the book by Allen Drury.

Yup, that was her

Director Otto Preminger has always had an eye for controversial projects. He made waves in film noir with Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) by playing on suggestive and sexual themes, and he turned exploitative addiction movies on their heads with The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). But while those films featured great actors and actresses at the top of their game, Advise and Consent showcases the entire life of a star. Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney at their apogee, Charles Laughton at his end and Betty White at her very beginning. This paradigm doesn’t even include the work of Don Murray and George Grizzard, both of whom were eyes of their respective torrents yet never went on to do anything else of grandeur.

Never let it be said that Preminger was schlocky

Unfortunately Otto Preminger’s career became a shadow of its former self after 1962. Likely seeing the validity of employing a powerhouse cast, he rested on his laurels with such clunky trifles as Skidoo (1968) and Hurry Sundown (1967). But even in his later more schlock films, Preminger never ceased to captivate his audience through strong, pulpy stories to which Advise and Consent stands as the apex of high art, and low sensationalism. So the next time you see House of Cards on your instant queue or you’re longing for another gander at episodes of The West Wing remember, there was a time in the 60’s where things weren’t always red white and blue.

Final Grade: A