Advise and Consent (1960)

[+ FreshFluff]

Recent events made me re-watch this 1960 Otto Preminger film. The plot revolves around the Senate confirmation battle over a nominee for secretary of state nominated named Robert Leffingwell. The story basically revolves around whether it was okay for Leffingwell to perjure himself when asked whether he had once been a member of a communist cell many years before. Ripped from the headlines, as they say.

 

There's a gay subplot: The head of the committee, Senator Brigham Anderson, is a closeted married Mormon senator from Utah who had an affair with another male soldier at the end of WW2. A supporter of nominee Leffingwell tries to blackmail Anderson into voting to confirm. The film contains the first ever depiction of a gay bar in an American film.

 

 

Full trailer:

[+ azdr0710]

thanks for this, fluffy......added to my Netflix queue (yeah, I still do the DVDs by mail, Luddite that I am) and moved to #1.......

[+ FreshFluff]

thanks for this, fluffy......added to my Netflix queue (yeah, I still do the DVDs by mail, Luddite that I am) and moved to #1.......

 

Amazon used to stream it but pulled that version.

[alkan]

I remember the book quite well, a thick hardback edition belonging to my father. It was written in that typical-of-the-period style, as if from the beginning intended as the basis of a screenplay. My memories of it belong to that period of my childhood when I was looking out for the slightest hint of "gayness" to cling onto (I must have been about ten when it was published). The author, Allen Drury, wasn't quite a one-hit wonder but this was undoubtedly his best selling novel.

[+ Charlie]

I remember going to see the film when it first came out, mainly because I had heard about the gay subplot.

[rvwnsd]

Not to mention Betty White playing a senator from Kansas.

[+ WilliamM]

The author of the book was Allen Drury.

 

I read several of his follow-up books If I remember correctly, his plots became more and more politically right-wing.

[+ azdr0710]

Not to mention Betty White playing a senator from Kansas.

 

did have to look that up!....thanks!

 

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by azdr0710

[+ azdr0710]

oh what turns up on those "other suggestions" on youtube!.....

 

here are Betty White and George Grizzard, stars of "Advise and Consent", appearing on Password seven years later....

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by azdr0710

[+ FreshFluff]

The author of the book was Allen Drury.

 

I read several of his follow-up books If I remember correctly, his plots became more and more politically right-wing.

 

The film and, even more so, Drury's novel are unusually pro-homosexual for the era. At the start of the the film, the senator from RI is shown having a one night stand at a hotel, and he and another senator discuss their skirt chasing. The insinuation is that it's unfair that the gay guy who's faithful to his wife is the one getting blackmailed.

[rvwnsd]

oh what turns up on those "other suggestions" on youtube!.....

 

here are Betty White and George Grizzard, stars of "Advise and Consent", appearing on Password seven years later....

 

@FreshFluff , I apologize for hijacking this thread for a few minutes but @azdr0710 made me do it! Here's a Password that Betty White did not appear in:

 

 

and one of the series of SNL sketches it inspired:

 

[MikeBiDude]

Great movie, amazing cast.

[LaffingBear]

Good movie.

 

One of my favorite authors and a series of novels that shaped my thinking. I often recommed them to younger folks - not easy to find, no longer in print, and, unless it happened recently, not on e*book.

 

I'd encourage anyone to read them. Its 6 novels total, with great character development. And the way Drury handles the final two books remains one of my favorite author's devices of all time.

• Advise and Consent
  
• A Shade of Difference
  
• Capable of Honor
  
• Preserve and Protect
  
• Come Nineveh Come Tyre
  
• The Promise of Joy
  

Read Them!

[gallahadesquire]

As of now, the entire series is available on Kindle.

[+ purplekow]

I read all the books in the back of my father's Buick on weekly Sunday trips to my mother's cousins in Connecticut. Considering I was about 10 years old, I wonder what possessed me to pick these books. Was that twist the last two books consider two alternatiVes? I know that occurred in one of the series I read during that time. Might that it was one of the Bourne series which I also read during the same time?

Edited October 6, 2018 by purplekow

[gallahadesquire]

I seem to remember it had four sections. I stopped reading it about half way through section three, because of the gay stuff I was 12 or 13 at the time

[LaffingBear]

I read all the books in the back of my father's Buick on weekly Sunday trips to my mother's cousins in Connecticut. Considering I was about 10 years old, I wonder what possessed me to pick these books. Was that twist that the President and the Vice President were making an appearance with their spouses and shots rang out killing one of each couple and the last two books consider both alternatiVes? I know that occurred in one of the series I read during that time. Might that it was one of the Bourne series which I also read during the same time?

Yes... but you ruined the suprise for anyone new to the series.

[MikeBiDude]

Yes... but you ruined the suprise for anyone new to the series.

+1 and I just added the 6 volume series to my amazon kindle wish list!