Advise & Consent

Advise & Consent (1962) is Otto Preminger's political drama, and you can watch online on iFILM. When the President nominates Robert Leffingwell for Secretary of State, the Senate splits down the middle over whether to confirm him or bury him.

The vetting falls to a subcommittee led by Brig Anderson, a young idealist who starts dragging his feet. That hesitation is all the opening ruthless Senator Fred Van Ackerman needs. Van Ackerman has dug up a past relationship between Anderson and another man, and he threatens to drag it into the press unless Anderson votes the right way. A backroom fight over one appointment curdles into a personal tragedy. Putting homosexuality on screen this plainly in 1962 was close to forbidden, and Preminger did it on purpose.

The script comes from Allen Drury's Pulitzer-winning novel, and the cast is stacked: Henry Fonda as the nominee, plus Walter Pidgeon, Don Murray, Gene Tierney and Charles Laughton, who gave his final performance here. It's a cold, talky look at how Washington trades votes and reputations — and decades on, none of that has dated. Stream Advise & Consent (1962) online on iFILM.