The Man (1972)

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Irving Wallace (novel)
Rod Serling (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It took an accident to make this man President of the United States. What they do to him now won't be an accident.

Plot:

When the President and Speaker of the House are killed in a building collapse, and the Vice-President declines the office due to age and ill-health...

Plot Keywords:

Black President | U.S. President | Black U.S. President | Political | Based On Novel

Cast

James Earl Jones	...	Douglass Dilman
Martin Balsam	...	Jim Talley
Burgess Meredith	...	Senator Watson
Lew Ayres	...	Noah Calvin
William Windom	...	Arthur Eaton
Barbara Rush	...	Kay Eaton
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Robert Wheeler
Janet MacLachlan	...	Wanda
Martin E. Brooks	...	Wheeler's Lawyer
Simon Scott	...	Hugh Gaynor
Patric Knowles	...	South African Consul
Robert DoQui	...	Webson
Anne Seymour	...	Ma Blore
Edward Faulkner	...	Secret Service Man
Gilbert Green	...	Congressman Hand

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G

Filming Locations:

Franklin Canyon Reservoir, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

ABC Circle Films

Trivia:

Originally made for television, but released theatrically first.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2009) (TV)

Very Well Made TV-Movie

First off, the last reviewer doesn't know what he's talking about when he says the Constitutional fluke that makes James Earl Jones president is "fictional." It is indeed true that when the President, Vice-President and Speaker Of The House are all dead and/or incapacitated the President Pro Tempore of the Senate becomes President. The only stretch is that the job usually goes to the most senior member of the majority Party of the Senate, and not to someone as young as Jones' senator is.

Also, there is no assassination plot against the President in the movie.

As for the movie itself, despite the fact that it is penned by Rod Serling (from Irving Wallace's novel), it is remarkably less free of the kind of pretentious liberalism that marred his script for "Seven Days In May." In fact, what is remarkable for the film is how it falls much closer to the center of the spectrum politically in comparison to what Hollywood churns out today like "West Wing".

Jerry Goldsmith's score is the best work he ever did for a TV-movie and hopefully some day it will find its way to CD as many other obscure TV scores of his have.