I was disappointed to miss Laura when it screened last week, but managed to catch Advise & Consent by accident. It's a twisty and complex political portrait which sits uncomfortably on the brink of the 1960s. Henry Fonda plays Leffingwell, the dying Presidents nominated Secretary of State. His unimpassioned performance doesn't really justify the Presidents determination to get him into office, or the resulting political snake party. Worth watching for Laughton's final performance, and for the typically Preminger styled gay bar scene.
The inner workings of a US Senate sub committee circa 1960 is a topic which is only going to appeal to a certain type of film watcher, and they'll probably be patient enough to put up with the slow pacing.
This was also the first of six movies Preminger (who played Mr. Freeze in the Adam West Batman teevee show) cast the previously blacklisted Burgess "The Penguin" Meredith - he plays Gelman, a man who had once mistakenly found himself in a four-person Communist cell.
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