Advise & Consent (1962)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

All your old and familiar faces in this one giving us great performances without effort thus the mark of professionalism at work. Good story and inside showings of what goes on in Washington at the upper levels. Of course the movie is dated with dress, landlines, cars and especially air travel but the dialog holds well. You will get a kick of how Senators were treated back then, what they discussed and of course all the game-playing too. Memorable scene of the homosexual world and all that comes with it about 60 years ago.

This movie is too long, but once it finally gets going - once we find out what Brig Anderson is being blackmailed for, and then the political maneuvering that goes on in the Senate - it moves to a conclusion with real dramatic power, in part because of good direction, in part because of fine acting all the way around.Others have weighed in on the various virtues - and defects - of the movie. I thought I'd address a point that doesn't seem to have been discussed: the portrayal of Brig Anderson as a man who had a homosexual relationship.Late in the movie we learn that the handsome young senator Brigham Anderson had a homosexual relationship during WW II while stationed in Hawaii. This is not presented as an anonymous encounter in an airport men's room or something like that, but rather as an emotional, and therefore we must assume romantic, relationship between two men. We see Anderson's "Dean John" letter to his war-time companion, Ray, in which he declares the relationship a mistake and tells Ray he is now going to lead the life of a straight man. We also see a picture of the two of them as a lay-bedecked, smiling couple.Earlier in the movie, before we have reason to suspect why, Anderson's wife says something about their marriage not having been very "exciting," which suggests that there was something wrong with their sex life.If we put that together in retrospect, we conclude that Anderson did not "leave behind" his homosexuality when he returned to the mainland after the war, but rather "settled for" a heterosexual marriage that was not fulfilling for him sexually.Given that, the portrayal of Anderson, which is uniformly positive if, in the end, very sad, is interesting. He is a man of principle who fights for what he believes to be right. (Granted, that included a hatred of Communism, but the movie was made in 1962, the era of the Cuban missile crisis.) The only other glimpse we get of gay men in the movie is very short: a brief scene inside a gay bar. It really doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

This movie is a classic piece of Otto Preminger schlock. It entertains as pure fiction only and only in those places where it is not overwhelmed by its excessive overplayed melodrama. Real and thoughtful political history buffs and serious (I emphasize, SERIOUS) contemporary political junkies will find little realistic here to consider. If what you want is realism, on the other hand, on his current PBS television program veteran political reporter and former White House staffer Bill Moyers recently seemed to recommend THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN with Eddie Murphy in spite of its panning by the critics and public alike at the time of its release many years ago. ADVISE AND CONSENT is mostly a soap opera and just plain silly as commentary on the American political system, however much its makers peppered it with superficial likenesses to actual political figures of the time in again-typical Preminger form (just look what he did with IN HARM'S WAY (1965), as well).

This is a truly remarkable film on so many levels. First, just in regard to some facts about the film: Having lived in the D.C., I was amazed at how many scenes were filmed on location, even in the Capitol itself. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was offered a cameo role as a U.S. Senator by director Preminger, but he declined. That Preminger hired several blacklisted actors to play supporting roles -- Burgess Meredith, Lew Ayers and Will Geer. That the topic of homosexuality was a key part of the script back in 1962. That a gay bar was depicted. That it was the comeback film for the mentally ill Gene Tierney. That current favorite Betty White made her film debut here. That it was Charles Laughton's last film before his death of cancer. And that Peter Lawford played the role of a senator while his brother-in-law was the actual president.Then there's the fact that despite being nearly 50 years ago, the Senate and government clearly still work much the same when it comes to presidential appointments. So many situations here will remind you of today's political climate, although now we are without the Cold War, which figures into this plot.The performances in this film are as solid as they get. Franchot Tone excellent as the dying president. Lew Ayers solid as the vice president. Henry Fonda excellent as the nominee for Secretary Of State. Don Murray excellent as a senator being blackmailed. Peter Lawford surprisingly good as a senator. Walter Pidgeon excellent as the Senate majority leader. But special kudos belong to Charles Laughton, who -- though not one of my favorites -- gives the performance of a lifetime...although there were other performances of his that were equally wonderful (for example, his role in "This Land Is Mine"). A fitting end of a career to a man who would be dead not long after the premiere of his last film.Excellent film in all regards.