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Advise and Consent

Play trailer Poster for Advise and Consent Released Jun 6, 1962 2h 20m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
77% Tomatometer 13 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

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Variety Staff Variety 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. Oct 23, 2007 Full Review Tom Milne Time Out Grips like a vice thanks to the skill with which Preminger's stunning mise en scène absorbs documentary detail. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times There are many other dull and naughty characters in this brisk whirl on the Washington merry-go-round. Rated: 2/5 Jun 11, 2005 Full Review Serge Daney Visages du cinéma 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. Oct 2, 2023 Full Review Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine One doesn't believe in the atmosphere or in the people. No senator has ever been as senatorial as Walter Pidgeon. Jul 31, 2019 Full Review Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight You can't hire a judge without breaking a few nerves. This insightful political film is terrific. Rated: 3.5/4 Aug 15, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jarrod R 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. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/07/25 Full Review Jerry E 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. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/28/25 Full Review Vitor O 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. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/19/25 Full Review acsdoug D 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/24 Full Review Shioka O 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. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review steve d Not believable in the least. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Advise and Consent

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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