Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

After this I am planning on reading Anatomy of Murder.

Otto Preminger also directed the film adaptation.

I haven't read the book, but it's one of my favorite movies and it's still relevant all these years later.

Plus, Betty White plays a senator from Kansas in it!

There is an excellent biography of Preminger, if you like the films.

R3 Apparently, he was quite a cruel and sadistic man.

Betty White is so awesome in the movie. Her senator gets into a debate on the Senate floor with the central villain (a senator from Wyoming), and she just mops up the floor with him. I gave Preminger and Drury a lot of credit--in the early 60s it was not commonly thought that a woman could be so smart a politician.

The movie has one of the first Hollywood scenes ever (post-Hays Code) set in a gay bar, and its really unintentionally hilarious. I can't tell you what happens without giving spoilers, but the film treats the gay bar as if it were a den of mysteriously unspecified iniquity.

Many excellent hammy performance on the film - chewing scenery left and right - culminating in Charles Laughton as a wiley southern senator.

Walter Pidgeon is a stone faced as ever.

Preminger had a terrible temper, but used it selectively. Tom Tryon and Dyan Cannon had the worst experiences of their careers on Preminger films, subjected to his unchecked wrath. Many actors liked worked with him: he preferred actors who came prepared to do the work, without asking a lot of questions or expecting to do Method-y explorations of their character on the set, but he could be extremely supportive and patient with young actors he liked (or loved, in the case of Dorothy Dandridge). Jane Fonda said Preminger was "happy and charming and I loved working with him, contrary to many actors," and considers her performance in "Hurry Sundown" one of her very best.

The novel earned a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, though the author borrowed heavily from real events and people to fictionalize into his book. It's the first of a series of political novels utilizing the main characters. The Henry Fonda character for example is based on Alger Hiss and the Peter Lawford senator is based on young Jack Kennedy.

I enjoyed them though none ever got the acclaim of this first book.

Thanks for the responses! The book is massive and I am a third of the way through it. Can't wait to finish it.

R2 ,R5, and R8 Betty White's character is Senator Elizabeth "Bessie" Adams. I believe she is based on Margaret Chase Smith, who was the only woman in the senate from 1948-1954.

I am also under the impression that the outgoing Secretary of State is based on John Foster Dulles.

R8 Do they other books have the same characters?

R6 Really? I always heard the acting in this was top notch.

I thought the book was less homophobic than the movie

R3 After looking at his filmography, I noticed almost of all his films are based on books. This is great! I have a rule- if there is a movie I want to see and it is based on a book, I have to read the book first.

It helps me build my library, literary knowledge, and I am learning!

Is the book as gay (and homophobic) as the movie?

Drury never married and was likely gay. His portrayal of the gay relationship in the novel is far more sympathetic than in the film; in the book, the flashback to Brig's love affair with another soldier in Hawaii during the war is the most effective romance in the tale, with Brig recognizing, fondly, how all-consuming it was:

"For four weeks he was happy, and he was unsparing enough in his honesty with himself to realize that it was a perfectly genuine happiness."

Then, when the relationship ends:

"He knew then that they would never be together again, but he knew also that in all probability few things for either of them would ever again be as deep."

Compare this to the film, which portrays the relationship as something shameful, with the notorious scene at the bar in New York - a sequence not in the book.

If you were growing up in the 60s and had any interest in politics, A&C delivered one message loud and clear: stay in the closet; you had an affliction that could ruin your life.

Drury's never been called to account for the misery he created for a generation of men.

I read a good article about the real life story within the past few years. I can't find it now, but this one about Lester Hunt's son is interesting.

Also, the book is divided into sections named after the central characters; the original hardcover and paperback editions featured illustrations of these characters - tellingly, while all the other characters are illustrated in their political life, Brig's section is illustrated by his gay romance in Hawaii.

Hmm, r14, I had a different response: I read it as a teenager in the 80s and it gave me hope that I might experience an all-consuming love with another man someday. I did, and the book remains a fond favorite.

Sorry--my link at r15 didn't work. Trying again.

Guess not. Sorry!

"Drury's never been called to account for the misery he created for a generation of men."

He was closeted himself. He was depicting the homophobic world around him, that doesn't mean he was endorsing it.

R20 Not to say he was endorsing it. But any teen reading that book in the 60s would have learned that to be gay was a fate worse than death.

Don Murray was very brave to take on that role. In addition to his being hot back then, he will always have my admiration for playing this role in such a sympathetic and understated way.

R22 And let's not forget Inga "Kraus" Swenson as the wife who kept his secret.

As a politics-obsessed teenager in the early ‘70s, I also loved Come Nineveh, Come Tyre, in addition to the earlier Advise and Consent.

Preminger had some fun with the casting.

In the movie version a number of Washington insiders appeared as extras. For example at Gene Tierney's fancy party early in the film two of the background guests are JFK floozies Fiddle and Faddle. JFK's personal secretary Evelyn Lincoln is there also.

Another unnamed male guest declines an offered drink from Gene. That's Senator Scoop Jackson. One of the more powerful senators of the time and genuinely a fine statesman, and also an alcoholic who never turned down a drink.

The senile senator they continually have to wake up to vote was one of Arizona's original senators upon statehood and a pretty interesting character just in himself.

Add me to the list of folks who enjoyed Otto Preminger’s film version of “Advise and Consent”. Except for the aforementioned overwrought gay bar scene, the movie is sensitive, smart and interesting.

The Foster Hirsch biography on Preminger mentioned upthread is indeed excellent, a fair and well-written assessment of Preminger’s life and career.

“Laura” and the wonderful “Anatomy of a Murder” are outstanding Preminger films that still hold up beautifully, and I also retain a soft spot for 1971’s “Such Good Friends”. Elaine May’s biting screenplay is savage and hilarious, and while Dyan Cannon may have clashed with Preminger, she’s terrific in the film — her bitchy style of humor works perfectly for the material. The hospital blood donation/cocktail party scene is brilliant. I’ll overlook Burgess Meredith’s nude scene, though!

Preminger's noir films with Dana Andrews and/or Gene Tierney are still marvelous; Laura is the most famous, but I also love Fallen Angel, Whirlpool, and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

And Daisy Kenyon, with Andrews, Joan Crawford, and Henry Fonda, isn't noir -- it's a romance -- but it has some definite noir undertones that enhance the story.

I picture Walter Huston as Senator Robert Munson.

The film adaptation cast is stellar:

Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon, Don Murray, George Grizzard, Gene Tierney, Peter Lawford, Paul Ford, Burgess Meredith, Inger Swenson, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayers, Edward Andrews, Will Greer, Betty White, and Sir Charles Laughton.

The Edward Andrews character takes a much bigger role in the novels as they progressed.

Preminger's film for Howard Hughes, called "Angel Face" starred Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. (Great film, by the way.

Preminger got his jollies by insisting the actors do repeated takes of Mitchum slapping Jean Simmons for a scene. Finally, Mitchum slapped Preminger and asked "Is that how you want it?"

OP went to Howard Hughes to have Mitchum fired. Hughes refused. Among other things, HH had his eye and Simmons and made a pest of himself despite the fact that Simmons was married to Stewart Granger. (I remember seeing a clip of Granger talking about Hughes pursuing Simmons while he (SG) and Simmons were married.

That should be "eye on Simmons".

Margaret Chase Smith was a badass. I'm sure she was honored Betty White played her.

Between Drury’s book and Preminger’s film, there was also a Broadway adaptation!

R5 Is she in the movie a lot or just one or two scenes?

R35 She's only in one scene.

R36 Is it a long scene? I might be getting my hopes up too much

R37 It's a brief appearance. She's quite competent in it, but you're not going to be blown away by it.

Rose Nylund vs George (or Jamie?) Devereaux

I just remember the novel as a high-brow political thriller. It was the era of that genre.

R38 R39 so she is in only a minute of a two and half hour movie?

Betty's role is short but quite effective. Edward Andrews barely has more though his character will dominate the later novels.