Le numéro quatre

The President of the US is killed. So is the Speaker of the House. The Vice President is ill and cannot accept the presidency.

Enter US Senator Douglass Dillman, who is president pro tempe of the senate. He is also black. He accepts the presidency to the discontent of many cabinet officials, especially the secretary of state. He would be president if not for Dillman.

Racial feelings are revealed among several politicians as Dillman sits in the oval office, determined to overcome the bigotry of those around him and to be as good a president as he can be.

An early vehicle for James Earl Jones, who as Dillman, is brilliant. Excellent performances by the supporting cast. Hopefully, this film will one day be on DVD or VHS. It's also a good potential historical lesson to be absorbed by Americans if this situation should ever happen.

As an African-American educator, I found this movie to be an extraordinary one. I hope to find a copy to show to my students who will participate in this year's Multicultural Career Institute, which is in its 13th year on our university campus. Situated in the Midwest, only 10 percent of the university's 22,000 students are students of color. The majority of the students come from small to large farming communities where few, and far too often, no persons of color live. One of the biggest fears that white America has always harbored is the insane notion that 1) only whites can lead this country and 2) if a person of color is elected to a high-ranking position, then white America will find itself the recipient of vengeance and payback for slavery, racism, etc. This film disputes these notions and allows the viewer to understand America in its truest form.

Although dated this is an excellent movie with Jones as commanding as usual. One of the most intriguing phenomena to watch is how his character grows into the bold and confident president one would expect of one who has tasted the power of the office. The ubiquitous theme of racism is dealt with adroitly. Moreover the Rod Serling screenplay makes one wish the old master would have left a greater body of work along these lines. The Movie is however much different from the book but this was for me a very enjoyable find, especially after a near 30 year search. I recently got a fair copy from videogrill on Ebay. As of this date 4-20-6 there is another copy being offer through the same online group.

I was interested in reading the comments on the message boards at the base of the IMDb listing for THE MAN.

This is only one of several novels written by Irving Wallace that has been transferred to "the big screen." Irving Wallace did NOT like the treatment that THE MAN received in the translation from his written words to the screen. In that I agree.

I have read ALL of his books and found each one to be a "page turner" regardless of how many times I have read them over the years. He was a superb writer and I'm only one of a legion of his fans.

I was very disappointed in the screen adaption of THE MAN. The novel was approximately 800 pages in length and the screen version covered about the first 150 pages. The other 650 pages were lost to Rod Serling's abilities. Very unusual for Serling and I find it very disappointing to say the least.

I agree, this movie should be released on DVD. It's an excellent movie even taking into consideration the "adaption" to the screen. I also happen to be a great fan of James Earl Jones and for that reason alone I think it should be released.

As a side point, every novel written by Wallace had been opted for screen or mini-series treatment. Unfortunately, he died in 1990 and I do recall him saying that as a result of ABC's treatment of THE MAN he would not allow any of his novels to be made into motion pictures unless he was in control of the process. He died - unfortunately. I was so looking forward to the CBS mini-series on his novel THE MIRACLE! If you can find any of his books I highly recommend that you buy and read them. Every one of them was a "page turner" and you won't be disappointed.

.....then by all means let me know directly at the above e-mail address so that I may arrange for a copy for you. An outstanding undiscovered classic originally made for TV, but whose controversial content resulted in a theatrical release at the 11th hour. James Earl Jones has never been better, nor has Rod Serling's writing, proving he was just as much a genius working outside of the fantasy milieu (as though he hadn't already demonstrated that with "Requiem for a Heavyweight," etc.). Burgess Meredith excels as a white supremacist trying to stymie the new prez at every turn, and Janet MacLachlan is very good as the concerned daughter whose natural opposition to the Oval Office has her torn over her dad's new presence there.