the man

Director: joseph sargent

Actor: james earl jones,martin balsam,burgess meredith,lew ayres

Data Published: Wed Jul 19 1972

Genres: Drama

Key Words: politics,fishing,daughter,protests,picketing

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068912/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_(1972_film)

Description: The Man is a movie starring James Earl Jones, Martin Balsam, and Burgess Meredith. An African-American senator becomes the designated survivor of a tragic accident that kills the President of the United States. Now the first black...

Plot: President Fenton and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives are killed at a summit in Frankfurt, West Germany when the palace hosting the legation collapses. By law the serving President upon the death of the elected one,[4] Vice President Noah Calvin is suffering from a terminal condition and refuses to assume the office. Arthur Eaton, the Secretary of State, corrects the popular assumption that he is the next in the line of succession,[5] explaining that it had been amended by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, and that the next successor is the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, who is Douglass Dilman. Dilman, a Black man, is sworn in and arrives at the White House to assume office. Eaton's outspoken wife, Kay, berates her husband for not pushing to become President, even though it would violate the succession order. Eaton assures her that he will become President once Dilman proves unable to handle the job. In the morning, Eaton and his advisers arrive at the Oval Office and Eaton begins maneuvering himself into a position as the "power behind the throne". Eaton gives Dilman a binder of briefing notes, including responses to News media questions that support the positions of the Fenton administration. Dilman meets the press for the first time as President. He initially follows Eaton's instructions. When Dilman stops to consult notes after each question, an aggressive reporter accuses Dilman of being a puppet. Eaton scribbles a note and has it taken forward to the President. Dilman realizes that he's being manipulated, crumples Eaton's note, and shoves the briefing binder aside. He proceeds under his own initiative, deciding that as President he will have to make his own decisions. Dilman, a political moderate, is confronted by activists and extremists about his skin color. Robert Wheeler (Georg Stanford Brown), a young Black man, is sought for extradition by South Africa for an attempt to assassinate the defense minister of that country; Dilman offers his help when the young man claims he was in Burundi at the time of the assassination attempt. Senator Watson introduces a bill that would require Congressional approval of any dismissal of a cabinet member by the President. Eaton doesn't tell Dilman about it, but several Black congressmen have a meeting with Dilman to discuss their concerns. Dilman believes they are talking about a minority rights bill and pledges his support, until one of the congressmen corrects him. Dilman subsequently reprimands Eaton and a group of senior leaders, questioning why such an important bill is not being brought to his attention. Senator Watson visits the South African embassy. The ambassador comments that his own country would never have a Black man as President. He shows a news film to Watson that proves Wheeler was in South Africa during the assassination attempt. The scandal threatens Dilman's Presidency. Dilman obtains Wheeler's confession and hands him over for extradition. The act alienates his activist adult daughter, Wanda. Wheeler calls the President a "House Person"; the President responds that "Black men don't burn churches and kill four children; they don't hunt down a Martin Luther King with a telescopic sight. Passion may drive you to the streets to throw a brick, but to buy a gun, plant an alibi and travel 5000 miles and kill a human being is bloodless, worthy of the selective morality of Adolf Eichmann." The President addresses reporters, explaining that some people think violence is the only answer, but he will rely on diplomacy and peaceful means. He washes his hands of the Wheeler issue. A reporter asks if he's going to run for the Presidential nomination in the next election. Dilman replies that he is going to "fight like hell" to win the nomination. To the tune of "Hail to the Chief," he is introduced to the party's National Convention.