Advise and Consent (1962)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Advise and Consent (1962) – O. Preminger

Otto Preminger’s look at machinations in the US Senate is full of tension and intrigue, as Charles Laughton’s crusty southern senator seeks to sink the confirmation of Henry Fonda as Secretary of State.  Fonda’s character has been nominated by the possibly dying president (Franchot Tone) and his friend, the Senate Majority Leader (an excellent Walter Pidgeon), must work to get the votes lined up.  When the confirmation moves to a subcommittee chaired by Utah Senator Brig Anderson (Don Murray), Laughton finds a witness (Burgess Meredith) to testify that Fonda once belonged to a communist discussion group.  Meanwhile, another Senator (George Grizzard) has his own axe to grind when he isn’t made the subcommittee chair.  Peter Lawford, Lou Ayres, Will Geer, and Gene Tierney round out the starry cast.  To tell more would probably be criminal – the screenplay based on Allen Drury’s novel has a lot of twists and turns.  Of course, there are clear links to real US politics – particularly the red-baiting tactics of Joe McCarthy; to that end, it is worth noting that Preminger selected Burgess Meredith and Will Geer for the cast because they had been blacklisted themselves.  As always, Preminger seeks to break some taboos with his film – and again that particular plot twist is drawn from an actual event in US politics.  This was Laughton’s last film and he goes out with a nicely observed caricature.