Advise & Consent (1962)

I will not refute that my radical response towards Preminger's ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959, 5/10) vaguely seven years ago, is due to a commonplace disparity of personal taste, which may explain my procrastinated second foray into Preminger's cannon, the less prominent and awards-snubbed ADVISE & CONSENT. Personally speaking, political drama is not my genre of passion especially I have grown up from a country where no such type of cinema conspicuously exists, plus basically I have few clues of the structure and framework as regards the complex USA political hierarchy (although thanks to HOUSE OF CARDS, I have assimilated some elementary guidances now), thereby, my ingrained insouciance is the chief impediment. Efficiently introduced in the very first scene, the central issue is zooming in on the designation of the newly-nominated Secretary of State Robert Leffingwell (Fonda) by the ailing President (Tone), who resorts to Senate Majority Leader (Pidgeon) to facilitate the procedure in the Congress while the main drag force is a senior Senator Cooley (Laughton) who holds a personal ill will against Robert. Then roughly the film can be split into halves, the first one principally concerns a cross- examination of Robert's communist background in a subcommittee presided by the budding Senator Anderson (Murray), it's a conflict blurs the lines between truth and lie, which can be implied tacitly as an imperative criterion in politicking and also segues into the second half pertains to Anderson being extorted into an earlier jurisdiction by an envious Senator Van Ackerman (Grizzard), with an extra push from Cooley. Anderson is plagued by the deepest secret about his sexual orientation, as a result, a certain tragic follows. The two glaring talking points (communism and closeted homosexual) come as convenient and topical at the Cold War years, half a century later, propitiously we are lumbering on. At the final act, the Vice President (Ayres) steals the show as a fluke of an arbitrary fabrication on the votes. For audiences, the most palatable merit is a stellar ensemble body of work, first-billed though, Fonda vanishes completely after two thirds of the story, he is as righteous as in 12 ANGRY MEN (1957, 9/10); seeing as his swan song, Laughton withstands his splendor wonderfully and his eloquence in oratory is second to none. Two surprisingly enacted performances are from a suave Pidgeon, whose disparaging tongue-lashing to Van Acherman is perfectly on the nose, and a square-shouldered Murray carries a more tortuous story development and emanates an absorbing shock wave. I put all four in leading category, since in supporting circle, Tone, Ayres, Meredith (riveting as a key witness mouthing slanders) and even Tucker (the paunchy pimp totally incongruous with the bureaucratic atmosphere) are equally contending along with a sophisticated Tierney past her prime but her finesse never recedes. In a nutshell, ADVISE & CONSENT is an exemplar of political drama, and more unexpectedly it beckons a revisit and revaluation of ANATOMY OF A MURDER for me, where I may not give enough credit for Preminger's calculated camera scheduling and detached phlegm out of his source material.

Otto Preminger directed this(at the time)controversial political drama that stars Henry Fonda as a Secretary of State nominee who faces a difficult senate confirmation hearing led by young senator Brigham Anderson(played by Don Murray) who dislikes the nominee because of his rumored communist past, but after that is put to rest, another issue arises that could derail his chances, but a secret from the senator's own past may destroy him as well. Franchot Tone, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Lew Ayres. Burgess Meredith, Gene Tierney, and Charles Laughton costar. Reasonably interesting film has a fine cast though is too talky and too long, though the story is certainly daring for its time, and still sad.

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.

"Advise and Consent" is a strong entry in the canon of Preminger movies. The whole first half is particularly captivating, focusing on the complex relationships between the leaders of the Senate and the President, who would like to get his progressive friend Robert Leffingwell confirmed by the Senate for Secretary of State. The major strength of the movie is the incredible line-up of acting superstars, none of whom is allowed to shine above the rest, yet all of whom give quite powerful performances.Walter Pidgeon is magesterial as the Majority Leader who knows everyone, and, as a good friend and supporter of the President, is responsible for bringing the votes together for the nominee. Lew Ayres is elegant and wonderfully dignified as the Vice-President who is mostly ignored by everyone with power, yet remains genial throughout. Henry Fonda plays his relatively small role with conviction, and Peter Lawford is very appealing as a Senator who, naturally enough for Lawford, is a womanizer, but with a kind heart and an independent streak.Spectacular and demanding is Charles Laughton as the Southern Senator whose role is to fight against everyone. Looking almost ghostly in his white suit, Laughton brilliantly defends old-fashioned American values against the forces of progressivism and Communism. Franchot Tone does a convincing job playing a political fighter of a President who also happens to be dieing; he really does look quite like he is dieing.But stealing the whole movie, I think, is the great Burgess Meredith. Initially brought in to the Committee Hearing to denounce Henry Fonda as a Communist, Meredith starts off cocky. But his brilliance as an actor comes out in the amazing second scene with Fonda, who tears down Meredith while lieing about Meredith's past. Meredith knows Fonda is lieing, yet a combination of weak character and mental illness prevents him from defending himself, and he ends the scene completely disheartened, demoralized, and destroyed. Watching Meredith's facade of strength collapse is priceless. This is easily the best scene in the movie.The second half, focusing on the slow mental breakdown of the Senator from Utah, played by Don Murray, is a bit of a letdown, and frankly slows the movie down a lot. But it all leads to an incredible dramatic finish in the Senate Chambers; the last 5 minutes are definitely worth waiting for. It is not quite as astonishing as the last moments of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", but it is powerful none the less. And the final moments of reemerging friendship, respect and humility between Walter Pidgeon and Charles Laughton are delicious and pleasing, and will leave you feeling quite satisfied.