Here is a superb melodrama about backstage politics in Washington during a sub committee investigation of a man proposed for Secretary of State. Was the candidate a communist? A witness says yes, but under adroit cross examination, comes apart at the seams. The crotchety old southern senator who produces the witness now appears to be only a sour apple obstructionist. But is he? In the ensuing backstage intrigues one opportunistic senator so forces the issues that they end in calamity and in death for the subcommittee chairman. But on the floor of the senate the next day, the senior members restore the traditions of probity and honor.
Advise and Consent premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in November 1960 under the direction of Franklin Schaffner.