Tempête à Washington (1962)

Senate investigation into the President's newly nominated Secretary of State, gives light to a secret from the past, which may not only ruin the candidate, but the President's character as well.

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Allen Drury (novel), Wendell Mayes (screenplay)

Stars:

Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Henry Fonda

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Franchot Tone	...	The President
Lew Ayres	...	The Vice President
Henry Fonda	...	Robert Leffingwell
Walter Pidgeon	...	Senate Majority Leader
Charles Laughton	...	Senator Seabright Cooley
Don Murray	...	Senator Brigham Anderson
Peter Lawford	...	Senator Lafe Smith
Gene Tierney	...	Dolly Harrison
Burgess Meredith	...	Herbert Gelman
Eddie Hodges	...	Johnny Leffingwell
Paul Ford	...	Senator Stanley Danta
George Grizzard	...	Senator Fred Van Ackerman
Inga Swenson	...	Ellen Anderson
Paul McGrath	...	Hardiman Fletcher
Will Geer	...	Senate Minority Leader

Storyline

Robert Leffingwell is the president's nominee for Secretary of State. Prior to his approval, he must go through a Senate investigation to determine if he's qualified. Leading the Senate committee is idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, who soon finds himself unprepared for the opposition and political dirt that's revealed, including Leffingwell's past affiliations with a Communist organization. When Leffingwell testifies about his political leanings, he proves his innocence. Later, however, Anderson learns that he lied under oath and asks the president to withdraw Leffingwell from consideration, especially after the young senator and his wife begins receiving blackmail threats about a skeleton in his own closet.

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Plot Keywords:

gay bar | new york city | passenger plane | husband wife relationship | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

Are the men and women of Washington really like this?

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

12

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning of the movie, Senator Cooley gets off a streetcar in front of a Senate office building. By the time the movie was released, Washington's streetcars were no longer running.

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Goofs

When the women are speaking in the gallery before the first Senate session, Mrs. Harrison says the "minority party is on the right and the majority party is on the left." If she's referring to the speaker's (President's) perspective, this would put the Republicans in the majority, as the Democrats (being the oldest party) sit on the speaker's right.

However, later in that scene the Vice President steps down from the podium and asks a senator to take over for him; that senator is clearly to his right. A member of the minority party would never serve as President of the Senate, particularly during such a sensitive hearing. Thus, it's possible that Mrs. Harrison is noting "right" and "left" from her perspective in the gallery (which would place the Democrats in the majority).

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Quotes

[first lines]
[a boy is selling newspapers outside the U.S. Capitol, with the headline "Leffingwell Picked for Secretary of State"]
Paperboy: [to a customer] Thank you.
Stanley Danta: Morning, son.
Paperboy: [taking change from Danta] Good morning, senator... thank you.
[Danta gets into a taxicab]

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in The Contender: The Making of a Political Thriller (2001)

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Soundtracks

The Song from Advise and Consent
Music by Jerry Fielding
Lyrics by Ned Washington
Sung Frank Sinatra - voice on juke box

User Reviews

Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill

I saw Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent in 1981 or 1982 on, I think, KSTW or WTBS, and I have loved this movie for 35 years. It's a complex story of politics, and the thuggery that walks hand in hand with it.

The review on IMDb by "Snow Leopard" on 22 November 2005 is excellent, so I won't belabor this review with a synopsis. Ten years after I saw the film--and I read the series of books in the '80s--Advise and Consent became all too real. President George H. W. Bush nominated the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Clarence Thomas, to the Supreme Court. The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden, assured the President that the nominee would work out well. Thomas was being nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall, and Bush was interested in putting another African-American on the SCOTUS bench.

Only one problem. Clarence Thomas was a conservative, and a black Republican must be destroyed at all costs.

So, raw interview information by the FBI (what everyone who has an important job to do in the Executive Branch has to go through; all information, true or false, is collected) got dumped into the public trough. A former aide or secretary--I can't remember--had accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Anita Hill's private interview with the FBI had gone public.

It appeared the nominee's chances had been mortally wounded.

Everyone took sides. Feminists said that it didn't matter if it was true, that the mere accusation was proof enough. Conservatives huffed and flustered and wished Bush had picked somebody different. Liberals, smelling blood began, in Thomas' words, "a high-tech lynching."

When the anger and the nastiness and the general behavior that makes Americans hate politics cleared, Thomas was confirmed by a majority of 4 votes.

It was like watching Advise and Consent in real life. The good guys, the bad guys, the thugs, cretins, and other media were all there. Talk about life imitating art! Sheesh!

Besides the excellent performances, the realistic settings, and the general feeling that Preminger got it right, Advise and Consent is the sort of movie you can watch if you want to know how Washington really works.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

Tempête à Washington

Filming Locations:

Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Otto Preminger Films, Alpha Alpina

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1