Review – Advise and Consent

If you’re a fan of cerebral political thrillers from the 1960s, this Otto Preminger movie belongs on your must-watch list. The President’s new nominee for Secretary of State (Henry Fonda) becomes a political football between rival players in the Senate, especially the Majority Leader (Walter Pidgeon) and a smarmy, Southern member of the opposition (Charles Laughton). Overall the picture is a thoughtful exploration of the question “when it comes to dirty tricks, how dirty is too dirty?” However, the small details are fascinating as well. I specifically noted Betty White’s brief appearance as a female senator from Kansas (several years before Nancy Landon Kassebaum became the first elected female member of the Senate). Worth seeing