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The Man Reviews

1972
1 hr 33 mins
Drama
G

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James Earl Jones portrays the first black President in this study of political machinations and bigotry, filmed in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Martin Balsam, Burgess Meredith. Wanda: Janet MacLachlan. Eaton: William Windom. Kay: Barbara Rush. Wheeler: Georg Stanford Brown. Calvin: Lew Ayres. Ma: Anne Seymour. Joseph Sargent directed.

Jones becomes the first black President of the United States in this adaptation of Irving Wallace's bestseller. When the President and speaker of the house are killed by a collapsing building in Germany and the vice president is bedridden with a stroke, president pro tem of the Senate Jones becomes President. Jones attempts to prove he is the top executive and deserves the respect of the office. Balsam is his chief adviser, Meredith is the racist Southern senator, and Rush is Jones's overambitious wife. The screenplay was written by the creator of TV's "The Twilight Zone," Rod Serling. Originally produced for TV but released theatrically.