Harrison's Reports (1962)

86 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 9, 1962 ''Advise & Consent" with Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Tierney, Peter Lawford, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres (Columbia, June; 139 mins.) VERY GOOD. Producer-director Otto Preminger had his reasons for making this film about political life in Washington, D. O, and the endless crises that play themselves out in the Senate. As we see it, " having covered the fearless, outspoken movie-maker for a long time, one of Preminger 's prime reasons of getting this character-destroying and life-distorting saga before the cameras, was that it would act like a controversial laxative loosening the constricted bowels of both those for or against the theme of the film, the liberties taken to make it explosively emotional and the insistence that within the portals of our Senate chamber at our nation's capitol democracy plays its ironically prophetic role in a mighty strange way. When shown to the Senators, in Washington, Preminger got some mixed reactions. His distributor relayed to us the better ones. The harsher ones reached us from other sources. At the recent Cannes Film Festival there was strong denunciation when the entry was shown. Europeans (in the film business) were the more severe critics. But, Preminger got what he wanted. When the Cannes caperings were all over and he emplaned for the Soviet Union, there followed the valuable cable dispatches that reached the American movie-goers on the eve of the film's premiere via the nation's press. Public office, whether it's at the nation's capitol, the state seat or even a small wardheeler's precincts can become a dirty and terrible thing when held by the wrong man or, even by the so-called right one. Most offices are begotten through the route of deceipt, chicanery, cleverly conceived skullduggery. While those whom we put into high office may be the symbols of honor, decency, rightousness it is so, behind the scenes, only to a small degree. The knee-bending begins from the smallest and continues almost all the way up to the highest. Few in office are without some thing in their past that they'd like to forget and stop being haunted with. All this is dealt with powerfully in the film. There are times of political crisis and election embattlements that bring these nightmares out into the open with embellishments that can drive a former homosexual (now a Senator) to suicide, weaken the failing health of the President, destroy families and otherwise inflict pain and torment and anguish that are beyond imagination. These are some of the terrible threads of vengeance, vindictiveness and political venom out of which the tale's pattern is woven. This is not one of the outstanding pictures of the season. It is one of the most challenging and boldly daring undertakings for which Preminger should be given credit. He didn't pinch the pennies on production cost, the most important item of which is a cast (of seasoned people) that delivers all the way down the line. What's more, they look their fictional parts : Henry Fonda as the man chosen for Secretary of State by the ailing President, Franchot Tone; Charles Laughton as a Southern solon whose whiplashes are so smoothly contrived; Don Murray, tagged as chairman of the Committee sitting in on the character inquisition of Fonda. Liked and respected by his col leagues, some of Murray's biological deviations of the past, come to the surface and he takes his life. Walter Pidgeon, strong, respected, distinguished majority leader turns in a satin-smooth job. Peter Lawford and Lew Ayres come through nicely. What a pleasure it was to see lovely Gene Tierney come back to the screen. She's a Washington hostess. There's Burgess Meredith, Paul Ford, George Grizzard, Inga Swenson, all stalwarts, all making their seasoned contribution to the effectiveness of the screen story. There's the feel of shameful history, the sense of brutal reality, the echo of enduring political heritage pounding, thundering throughout the telling of this highly controversial film. But, it all must be viewed through the iris of movie entertainment, purely and solely. and, that it delivers (exciting, breath-taking entertainment) throughout most of its 139 minutes of running time, some of which could have been clipped. On the plus side also, are Panavision and the stark authenticity of its photography. You've got to go out and "sell" this one to get your share of the votes (revenue) . Produced and directed by Otto Preminger; screenplay by Wendell Mayes; based on the novel by Allen Drury. General patronage. "The Interns" with Michael Callan, Cliff Robertson, James MacArthur, Nick Adams, Suzy Parker (Columbia, August; 120 mins.) VERY GOOD. There are no big cast-name value in this one. The producer-director had to depend on the dramatic strength of the plot; the tightness and fluidity of direction that make for smooth story telling. And, in the final analysis hang their hope on these nice acting folk (with no outstanding box office value) to carry things along for its two-hours of running time with sustaining impact and compelling force. In all departments, the component parts fit in superbly with the result that you find yourself quite surprised that at film's end you've had yourself a mighty enjoyable time of it. These are the ones, the young interns, who watch the weak, the sick, the spent lie down on their couch, in some factoryfashioned hospital and go off into their everlasting sleep (death) to paraphrase the poet Shelley. These young hopefuls of getting out into the world and helping alleviate the pain of the people, the wretchedness of the poor are the night-wardens who stand by, sometimes helpless and watch the little circles of life grow smaller and dimmer as some soul's final pulsing moments ebb out there into the beyond. There are the interns who intend to rise or fall by their Hippocratic oath; there are those who over-ride its meanings when emotions move them; there are the hell-raisers and the dedicated life-savers. All the way through the proceedings, to be sure, there is the clear, bell-toned ring of truth that flows through the bloodstream of the plot-structure like some alchemy that reaches out to touch your own emotions deeply, impressively, sympathetically. At no time are you led to believe that this is something that will leave you with its strange impact of dramatic seriousness. But, it does. That's because this has been put together with such tight, dramatic craftsmanship. We all have our ideas of hospitals, interns, nurses, the massive, almost coldly calculating