Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Advise and Consent

Play trailer Poster for Advise and Consent 1962 2h 20m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Based on the lauded novel by Allen Drury, this political drama depicts the debate sparked when controversial candidate Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) is nominated as U.S. Secretary of State. As concerns are aired during the Senate investigation of Leffingwell's qualifications, Senator Brig Anderson (Don Murray), the head of the committee, soon finds the proceedings descending into heated exchanges, with various politicians trying to further their own agendas.

Critics Reviews

View More
Variety Staff Variety 10/23/2007
The settings are powerfully like real. A Senate hearing room, the Senate itself, a party home in immediate Washington and varying apartments plus a place in DC suburbia all have the look of genuineness. Go to Full Review
Tom Milne Time Out 02/09/2006
Grips like a vice thanks to the skill with which Preminger's stunning mise en scène absorbs documentary detail. Go to Full Review
Bosley Crowther New York Times 06/11/2005
2/5
There are many other dull and naughty characters in this brisk whirl on the Washington merry-go-round. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 25
8/10
A scathing indictment of politics through and through; it’s one of the most cynical movies ever made. Go to Full Review
Serge Daney Visages du cinéma 10/02/2023
Rio Bravo is a world that is complete unto itself and in which nothing is lost; it is a microcosm in perpetual evolution where everything contributes to an ultimate harmony that can be reached by banding together and helping one another. Go to Full Review
Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine 07/31/2019
One doesn't believe in the atmosphere or in the people. No senator has ever been as senatorial as Walter Pidgeon. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
jimmy b Aug 8 Realistic Washington, D.C. government flick. Gorgeous Gene Tierney featured as a senator's wife. Very watchable and way ahead of its time in subject matter. See more Jarrod R Jul 5 Based on Allen Drury's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, later adapted into a Broadway production, Advise & Consent offers the audience a glimpse behind the curtains in the U.S. Capitol, revealing "how the sausage is made." With Director Otto Preminger at the helm, he shows us the controlled chaos of what it takes to get a new Secretary of State nominee, played by Henry Fonda, into the President's Cabinet. Preminger and the production had unique access to the Capitol, which gives us a sense of the scale of this hallowed building. Through a series of masterful long takes, tension is built, as our attention is directed from one area to another, which ends up making us feel like a fly on the wall. Along with Fonda, we are introduced to the Senate Majority Leader, played by Walter Pidgeon, who is the point man with respect to getting a new Secretary of State. To counterbalance, we meet Senator Seab Cooley from South Carolina, who most certainly does NOT want Robert Leffingwell to get anywhere near that leadership position. Through the course of the movie, we see the back and forth between the Senators and begin to understand just why things take such a long time to get done. Fans of American Treasure Betty White will be happy to see her as a Senator from Kansas and hold her own against the hot-headed Senator from Utah. Her performance is worth at least a 1/2 a star in my estimation. All and all, I enjoyed Advise and Consent for Premminger's take on the source material, the location shoots around Washington, D.C., and some outstanding performances from all of the cast. See more Jerry E @engelbach Jun 28 Great promise. Great dud. Dull, slow-moving Washington intrigue that could have been fast-paced and ... intriguing. Instead, against a sharp, clean background excellent actors tried to portray character stereotypes, in what amounted to a tabloid melodrama. Charles Laughton's ridiculously cliched Southern senator was fun to watch. The set for the Senate looked like a high-school classroom. See more Vitor O Mar 19 Exciting political thriller that takes us inside the American Senate, full of great performances (especially from Walter Pidgeon as the Majority Leader) and with a theme that is decidedly ahead of its time. See more acsdoug D @acsdoug 01/25/2024 J found the story a little dull. However, the acting is excellent - including the final performance of the great Charles Laughton - and I found the speechifying on the Senate floor to be rather well done. See more Shioka O 01/12/2023 Early 60s political drama. It's not thrilling like the late 60s-70s political conspiracy/dramas came after. I think this is more like a realistic satire, but I don't want to believe if reality is like this. Unfortunately timing is dull, even when something is happening. See more Read all reviews
Advise and Consent

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Young Philadelphians 71% 81% The Young Philadelphians Watchlist The Children's Hour 78% 84% The Children's Hour Watchlist Suddenly, Last Summer 68% 83% Suddenly, Last Summer Watchlist The Night of the Iguana 75% 85% The Night of the Iguana Watchlist The Sergeant 20% 75% The Sergeant Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Based on the lauded novel by Allen Drury, this political drama depicts the debate sparked when controversial candidate Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) is nominated as U.S. Secretary of State. As concerns are aired during the Senate investigation of Leffingwell's qualifications, Senator Brig Anderson (Don Murray), the head of the committee, soon finds the proceedings descending into heated exchanges, with various politicians trying to further their own agendas.
Director
Otto Preminger
Producer
Otto Preminger
Screenwriter
Wendell Mayes
Production Co
Sigma
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 6, 1962, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
2h 20m