The Man (1972 film)

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The Man
Directed by	Joseph Sargent
Produced by	Lee Rich
Written by	Rod Serling
Starring	James Earl Jones
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Edward Rosson
Editing by	George Jay Nicholson
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	19 July 1972
Running time	93 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Man is a 1972 political drama directed by Joseph Sargent and starring James Earl Jones. Jones plays Douglass Dilman, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, who succeeds to the U.S. Presidency through a series of unforeseeable events, thereby becoming the first African American president. The screenplay, written by Rod Serling, is largely based upon The Man, a novel by Irving Wallace.

[edit] Plot

The president and the speaker of the house are killed in West Germany when its parliament buildings suffer a collapse. The vice-president, elderly and in in very ill health, refuses to assume the office, pointing out that they'll need another replacement almost immediately. Arthur Eaton (William Windom), the Secretary of State, is urged to take the office, but he points out that the law on the line of succession places the job with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Douglass Dilman (Jones).

The stunned Dilman, having been sworn in, arrives at the White House to assume office, and spends his first night there.

In the morning, Eaton and his advisers arrive and work in the Oval Office; it becomes evident to the adviser that Eaton is setting himself up as the "power behind the throne". Dilman, after carefully studying the Oval Office alone, then meets with Eaton, who gives him a binder of briefing notes: the statements he can give in response to questions asked by the press, statements that probably conform to the administration as it was dealing with issues. Dilman meets the press for the first time as president, and at first, Dilman goes along with the information provided as advice. An aggressive reporter notices the puppet strings as Dilman stops to consult notes after each question, and questions Dilman's independence. Eaton scribbles a note and has it taken forward to the president. Dilman, having realized that he's being micromanaged and now dissatisfied with it, crumples Eaton's note, shoves the briefing notes binder to the floor, and proceeds under his own initiative, deciding that if God or fate has made him president, and he'll have to take the fall for his decisions, then he'll lead as he believes he ought.

Dilman, a moderate, runs into issues because of activists and extremists with his own skin colour. Robert Wheeler (Georg Stanford Brown), a young black man, is sought for extradition by apartheid South Africa for a deadly act in that country; Dilman offers his help and the young man claims he was in Burundi. Senator Watson (Burgess Meredith) visits the South African embassy, where the ambassador (Patric Knowles) comments that his country would never have a black man as president! He shows news film to Senator Watson that proves Wheeler was indeed in South Africa, and it breaks as scandal, threatening Dilman's young presidency. Watson has other work in progress: the Watson Bill would prevent Dilman from firing any cabinet secretary without the Senate's approval.

Dilman's activist daughter Wanda (Janet MacLachlan) clashes with the secretary of state's outspoken wife Kay (Barbara Rush) at a dinner in the White House. The secretary of state and his wife, though disagreeing about his "handing over" the presidency to Dilman, both share his ambition to succeed Dilman.

Dilman finally obtains the young man's confession, but handing him over for extradition alienates Dilman's daughter, who doesn't agree with handing over an activist against white minority rule in South Africa. Dilman addresses a scrum of reporters, explaining that some people think only violence is the answer and that he will rely on peaceful means, as he washes his hands of the Wheeler issue; a reporter asks if he's going to pass up a run for the presidential nomination.

Dilman replies that he is going to put every effort of his being into winning the nomination, and to the tune of "Hail to the Chief", he is introduced to the party's national convention.