Executive Suite – the president of Tredway Corp. has unexpectedly died. Long live the new president. But who will the exec be? There’s no official line of succession, and so insider back-stabbing begins.
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I originally watched Flight Command because it was one of Red Skelton‘s earliest movie roles — which is technically true; Red’s in the film as part of the Hellcats squadron, acting as the class clown, but he’s definitely a secondary character. Flight Command is primarily about a brash young pilot, Alan Drake (played by Robert Taylor) who’s recruited straight out of college to join the premier squad of Navy Hellcats. He has trouble fitting in at first, although the flight commander (played by a young and dashing Walter Pidgeon) tries to help — as does the commander’s wife (played by Ruth Hussey). There’s a suspected romantic triangle between Drake and the commander’s wife (which was only him trying to console her on the death of her brother) — but all turns out well in the end.
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First, I’d like to point of the positive points of Irwin Allen‘s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. And that begins with the fine acting by all involved. Some of my favorite actors appear here, including Walter Pidgeon (Forbidden Planet), Peter Lorre (M), etc. Also the special effects, and the sets are fine. The scenes on board the submarine actually look like what we would expect a submarine to look like. Even the fantastic effects (giant squid, etc.) look “right.”
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In short, Advise and Consent is one of the best political intrigue movies that I’ve ever seen. The basic plot involves a very ill President of the United States (Franchot Tone) who wants to nominate for Secretary of State a senator. A man with a small secret in his past (played beautifully by Henry Fonda – a great performance). The Senate Majority Leader (a wonderful performance by Walter Pidgeon) tries to line up the votes. But he’s being undercut by a zealous young senator (Don Murray). And, on the “other side of the aisle” by a Southern senator (played by Charles Laughton in his final performance), a man who views himself as a kingmaker, using the other senators and people like pawns on a chess board.
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