| Advise And Consent (1962)
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| Front Cover |
Actor |
Back Cover |
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| Lew Ayres |
Vice President Harley M. Hudson
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| Henry Fonda |
Robert A. Leffingwell
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| Eddie Hodges |
Johnny Leffingwell
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| Charles Laughton |
Sen. Seabright Cooley (D-SC)
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| Peter Lawford |
Sen. Lafe Smith (D-RI)
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| Burgess Meredith |
Herbert Gelman
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| Don Murray |
Sen. Brigham Anderson (D-UT)
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| Walter Pidgeon |
Senate Majority Leader Robert D. Munson (D-MI)
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| Gene Tierney |
Dolly Harrison
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| Franchot Tone |
The President
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| Paul Ford |
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| Inga Swenson |
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| Plot |
| Otto Preminger expanded his vision in the 1960s with a whole series of ambitious, expansive dramas with huge casts and big themes. Advise and Consent, an examination of deal making, party politics, and congressional diplomacy in Washington's legislative halls (based on the novel by Allen Drury), is one of his best. Preminger broke the blacklist with his previous film, Exodus, and it rings through in this drama about a controversial nominee for secretary of state (a confident, stately Henry Fonda) accused of being a Communist. The nomination process becomes the center ring of the political circus, with fidgety accuser Burgess Meredith in the spotlight; devious, silver-tongued Charles Laughton cracking the whip as a southern senator with a grudge against Fonda; and party whip Walter Pidgeon lining up votes behind the scenes. Arm twisting and diplomatic hardball turns to perjury and blackmail, and a melodramatic twist gives this lesson in party politics a salacious soap opera dimension. Preminger's style has been hailed as "objective," but it's really a matter of attentiveness: he gives all the character their due and their say, eschewing heroes and villains for an exploration of people clashing over opposing goals. In fact, the weakest elements of the film are the unscrupulous populist senator played by George Grizzard and the badly dated caricatures that populate a notorious underground club. The video preserves the handsome widescreen black-and-white photography, keeping Preminger's careful and measured editing intact. --Sean Axmaker |
| Movie Details |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Director |
Otto Preminger |
| Producer |
Otto Preminger |
| Writer |
Wendell Mayes |
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| Studio |
Warner Bros. |
| Country |
USA
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| Language |
English |
| Audience Rating |
NR (Not Rated) |
| Running Time |
138 mins |
| Movie Release Date |
1962 |
| Color |
Color |
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| Personal Details |
| Format |
DVD |
| Seen It |
Yes |
| Index |
908 |
| Collection Status |
In Collection |
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| Edition Details |
| Region |
 Region 1 |
| Screen Ratio |
 Widescreen (16:9)
 Fullscreen (4:3, Letterboxed) |
| Layers |
Single Side, Single Layer |
| Barcode |
085393352325 |
| Release Date |
5/10/2005 |
| Subtitles |
English; French; Spanish |
| Packaging |
Keep Case |
| Audio Tracks |
 Dolby Digital Stereo [English] |
| Nr of Disks/Tapes |
1 |
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Extra Features
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Commentary by Film Historian Drew Casper
Theatrical Trailer
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| Links |
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