Le numéro quatre

The premise of this film is about a man appointed to be President under unusual circumstance. The current President and Speaker of the House tour a building in Europe, which colapses and kills them both, the vice-president is ill and can't fullfill the office.

The Presidency falls to a surprizing fourth in line.

It's a great story and I don't understand why it isn't on video yet.

The only small flaw is that it is time dated with the premise of Apartied in South Africa. Everyone write to the studio and get them to put it out on video. It has appeared on TV but they cut it to ribbons and destroy the continuity. -ARBY

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.

"The Man" is dominated by a screenplay written by Rod Serling in his oh-so-earnest mode. The movie benefits from Serling's sincere convictions towards racial progress, but the film is undercut by Serling's tin ear for dialogue.

In the opening scene, a White House breakfast is in progress even though the President and the Speaker of the House are visiting a mediaeval cathedral in Europe. Suddenly news arrives that the cathedral has collapsed: the President and the Speaker are dead. White House aides inform Vice President Calvin (a good performance by Lew Ayres) that he's now the chief executive. But Calvin is old and frail, and he refuses the job. I found this contrived: if the Vice President isn't medically fit to replace the President at an instant's notice, then he isn't fit to be Vice President and shouldn't hold the office.

By an obscure but apparently genuine constitutional fluke, the Presidential succession devolves to an obscure senator named Douglass Dilman (James Earl Jones) who happens to be Negro. Yes, a black man is now President!

"The Man" raises some interesting issues. Jones gives an intelligent and dignified performance as the black President who refuses to see his job promotion as proof of racial progress. He knows he wasn't *elected* to the job, and he doesn't believe that America will elect a black President any time soon. (This was 1972.)

William Windom, who usually played sympathetic roles, gives an excellent performance as a bigoted white politician who covets the Presidency. (The posters for this movie depicted Windom speaking a racial epithet.) Charles Lampkin is excellent in a small role as a black Congressman. And, of course, now that a black man is in the Oval Office, there's a plot to assassinate him...

For some reason, comedian Jack Benny gets very large billing for a very brief scene in "The Man". He appears only in the opening teaser sequence: when the opening credits roll with Benny's name on the screen, we've already seen his entire performance and he won't show up again! Playing himself, Jack Benny performs a comedy monologue during the White House breakfast. But Benny's legendary timing is off, and he doesn't bother to conceal that he's reading his jokes off a legal pad. I'm a Jack Benny fan, but he disgraces himself here.

There are some good scenes in "The Man" but there's a lot of sermonising too, and very little action. I recommend this film with reservations, and I'll give it 5 points out of 10. I sincerely believe that the U.S.A. will eventually elect a black President ... but, sad to say, I also believe that the first African-American President will almost certainly be assassinated. I hope I'm wrong.

I think I can breathe now. The political and racial tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. But this wasn't a sledgehammer movie beating us over the head with a political or racial message, it was very intelligently done.

When the POTUS, the Speaker of the House, and others are killed in a very unfortunate accident, and the VP declines being sworn in due to his health, the next in line for the presidency became Senator Douglas Dilman (James Earl Jones). The initial thought was that the Secretary of State would be the next in line, but due to the Succession Act of 1947 the hierarchy was the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, then President Pro Tempore of the Senate. This thrust a Black man into the presidency for the first time in U.S. history.

Naturally, the implications, expectations, and non-expectations were tremendous. This movie could've gone in almost any direction and that's what we were waiting for as viewers: to see what direction it would go.

The plot thickened as did the agendas once Dilman was sworn in. I think we only got a small taste of both the positive and negative expectations placed upon Dilman by Blacks and Whites. The movie settled in on one hot button issue surrounding the apartheid country of South Africa. It was an intricate hot mess President Dilman had to deal with. He was in a most unenviable position and I think the film (and Jones) conveyed that well.

This was a bold and brave movie for 1972. The dialogue was excellent as was the script. I only wonder if Obama ever watched this?

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.