Advise and Consent DVD

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Most Washington DC movies concentrate on the President and the executive branch agencies. In Advise and Consent, the star is the United States Senate, specifically its role to advise and consent to the President’s cabinet choices. Right off the bat, the President (a sickly looking Franchot Tone) ignores the first part of the movie’s title by nominating an avowed leftist academic Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) as Secretary of State and throwing it to his party’s Majority Leader (Walter Pidgeon) to force it through the upper house. While there is the expected opposition from the minority party, the nominee’s real problem is the opposition within the President’s own party, namely the wily and devious South Carolina senator Seabright Cooley (played to the hilt by Charles Laughton in his last film appearance) who has a personal vendetta against the nominee. The action unfolds quickly during the ensuing confirmation hearing and Senate debate, including a perjuring star witness, a Communist past life, lies and counter lies (termed “Washington” lies by the nominee), blackmail, and a suicide. Unless you’ve read the book and know the ending, the final five minutes are a surprise!