Dave (1993)

Actors: Charles Grodin (actor), Jay Leno (actor), Kevin Kline (actor), Ben Kingsley (actor), Parley Baer (actor), Frank Langella (actor), Kevin Kline (actor), Charles Hallahan (actor), Larry King (actor), Kevin Dunn (actor), Robin Gammell (actor), Bob Bergen (actor), Aaron Michael Lacey (actor), Ving Rhames (actor), Jason Reitman (actor),

Plot: Bill Mitchell is the philandering and distant President of the United States. Dave Kovic is a sweet-natured and caring Temp Agency operator, who by a staggering coincidence looks exactly like the President. As such, when Mitchell wants to escape an official luncheon, the Secret Service hires Dave to stand in for him. Unfortunately, Mitchell suffers a severe stroke whilst having sex with one of his aides, and Dave finds himself stuck in the role indefinitely. The corrupt and manipulative Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander, plans to use Dave to elevate himself to the White House - but unfortunately, he doesn't count on Dave enjoying himself in office, using his luck to make the country a better place, and falling in love with the beautiful First Lady...

Keywords: affair, airforce-one, barber, bicycle, body-double, bodyguard, boss-secretary-romance, budget, cabinet-meeting, campaign-headquarters
Genres: Comedy, Romance,
Taglines: In a country where anybody can become President, anybody just did Dave Kovic was an ordinary guy who was asked to impersonate the President. When they gave him a chance to make the country better...he did.

Quotes:

[singing in the shower]::Dave: Hail to the chief / He's the one we all say "Hail" to. / We all say "Hail" / 'Cause he keeps himself so clean! / He's got the power, / That's why he's in the shower...

Bob Alexander: I'm going to kill him.::Alan Reed: You can't kill a President.::Bob Alexander: He's not a President. He's an ordinary person. I can kill an ordinary person.::Alan Reed: Bob!::Bob Alexander: I can kill a hundred ordinary people!

Ellen Mitchell: Why couldn't you die from a stroke like everyone else?

Dave Kovic: She's great. She's really exotic! She's a princess! She's Polynesian - well, half Polynesian, and half American. She's... Amnesian.

Dave: I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid he's gotta sleep in the street because we want people to feel better about their *car*. Do *you* want to tell them that?::Secretary of Commerce: [quietly] No sir. [sits back in his seat and reflects] No I sure don't.

White House Tour Guide: And we're walking, and we're walking, and we're stopping.

Dave: According to the OMB, we have seventeen defense contractors who are delinquent in their contracts. Is this true, Frank?::Director of OMB: Uh, I believe so, yes.::Dave: So, even though they're late, we keep paying them on time?::Director of OMB: Well, in a sense... yeah.

Dave: The president and the first lady... what is that? How long has that been going on?::Duane: I can't say.::Dave: You mean, you don't know, or "you can't say"?::Duane: I can't say.

Dave: You know, I've always wondered about you guys. You know, about how you're trained to take a bullet for the president?::Duane: What about it?::Dave: Is that really true? I mean, would you let yourself be killed to save his life?::Duane: Certainly.::Dave: So, now that means you'd get killed for me too.

Alan Reed: Bob, at some point we're gonna have to call the Vice President.::Bob Alexander: Don't call the Vice President.::Alan Reed: What?::Bob Alexander: Just don't call him, Al.::Alan Reed: The guy's in a coma, Bob!::Bob Alexander: I don't give a shit.::Alan Reed: Bob!::Bob Alexander: This is mine, Alan. All mine. I made him, I built him. And no Boy Scout is going to come in here and take it away from me, just because he happens to be Vice President of the United States.

Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977)

Actors: Lucie Arnaz (actress), William Wellman Jr. (actor), Don Keefer (actor), Sam Wanamaker (actor), George Wallace (actor), Arthur Tovey (actor), Pat O'Brien (actor), Peter Donat (actor), Robert Karnes (actor), Bill Walker (actor), Harry Holcombe (actor), Kent Smith (actor), E.G. Marshall (actor), Carmen Zapata (actress), Suzanne Somers (actress),

Plot: After a senator suddenly dies after completing (and sealing) an investigation into the nuclear power industry, the remaining senator and the state governor must decide on a person who will play along with their shady deals and not cause any problems. They decide on Billy Jack, currently sitting in prison after being sent to jail at the end of his previous film, as they don't expect him to be capable of much, and they think he will attract young voters to the party. Billy is pardoned, released and nominated, after which he begins his duties. He soon notices that things aren't right, and starts trying to find out just what is going on.

Keywords: action-hero, ambush, american-flag, american-indian, beating, box-office-flop, brawl, character-name-in-title, corruption, cowboy
Genres: Drama, Thriller,
Taglines: The most dangerous Billy Jack of all!

Quotes:

Jean Roberts: You did it... no matter what anybody says about you now, you did it. And you didn't have to even once take off your boots!

Advise & Consent (1962)

Actors: Harold Miller (actor), Burgess Meredith (actor), Charles Laughton (actor), Kenner G. Kemp (actor), Will Geer (actor), Peter Lawford (actor), George Grizzard (actor), Edward Andrews (actor), Lew Ayres (actor), Malcolm Atterbury (actor), Eddie Baker (actor), George DeNormand (actor), Henry Fonda (actor), Walter Pidgeon (actor), Don Murray (actor),

Plot: Robert Leffingwell is the president's candidate for Secretary of State. Prior to his approval, he must first go through a Senate investigation to determine if he's qualified. Leading the Senate committee is idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, who soon finds himself unprepared for the political dirt that's revealed, including Leffingwell's past affiliations with a Communist organization. When Leffingwell testifies about his political leanings, he proves his innocence. Later, however, Anderson learns that he lied under oath and even asks the president to withdraw Leffingwell for consideration, especially after the young senator begins receiving blackmail threats about a skeleton in his own closet.

Keywords: airplane, airport, american-politics, ampersand-in-title, anonymous-telephone-call, banquet, based-on-novel, bisexual, blackmail, closeted-homosexual
Genres: Drama,
Taglines: Are the men and women of Washington really like this?

Quotes:

Robert Leffingwell: Son, this is a Washington, D.C. kind of lie. It's when the other person knows you're lying, and also knows you *know* he knows.

Fred Van Ackerman: What I did was for the good of the country.::Bob Munson: Fortunately, our country always manages to survive patriots like you.

Bob Munson: Was that Brig? What's the matter?::Senator Lafe Smith: [Hanging up phone] He's dead.::Bob Munson: Brig?::Senator Lafe Smith: In his office. Cut his throat.

Robert Leffingwell: I'm an egghead. I'm not only an egghead, I'm a premeditated egghead. I set out to become an egghead and at this moment I'm in full flower of eggheadedness, and I hope to spread the spores of egghead everywhere I go.

[first lines]::[a boy is selling newspapers outside the U.S. Capitol, with the headline "Leffingwell Picked for Secretary of State"]::Paperboy: [to a customer] Thank you.::Stanley Danta: Morning, son.::Paperboy: [taking change from Danta] Good morning, senator... thank you.::[Danta gets into a taxicab]

Bob Munson: Mr. President, with the chair's permission, I shall be very brief.::The Vice President: The chair gladly gives any senator permission to be brief.

Bob Munson: He jumped the whale!

[last lines]::Bob Munson: Senators. A great leader is dead. A bitter loss for our country. A bitter personal loss for all of us here. I move we adjurn out of respect until further notice.::Senator Seabright Cooley: So ordered!

Journalist: Senator Anderson. Senator Van Ackerman is accusing the commitee of using smear tatics. Would you comment on this?::Senator Brigham Anderson: If Senator has any complaints to make he ought to write a letter to his congressman. [all the reporters laugh]

Senator Seabright Cooley: Now, Mr. Gelman. You told me something about names in this comunist cell.::Herbert Gelman: Yes. Nobody used their right names. Mr. Leffingwell was called Walker, Bukowski was called Fitzgerald. I never learn James Morton's real name. They tried to give me the name of Andrews. About that time I quit.::Senator Seabright Cooley: What happened when you quit?::Herbert Gelman: Mr. Leffingwell failed me in his class of Government administration.::Senator Seabright Cooley: Why didn't you report all of this to the University authorities?::Herbert Gelman: I was afraid.::Senator Seabright Cooley: And you're not afraid now?::Herbert Gelman: Yes. I'm afraid. But I couldn't stand by and see a man like Mr. Leffingwell get into a position of such power of Secretary of State.::Senator Brigham Anderson: Can you corroborate this story, Mr. Gelman?::Senator Seabright Cooley: This man is an eyewitness, under oath, Mr. Chairman.::Herbert Gelman: [shouting] I'm not lying!::Senator Brigham Anderson: I didn't say you were lying.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Actors: Al Bridge (actor), Stanley Andrews (actor), Edward Arnold (actor), Erville Alderson (actor), Sam Ash (actor), Edwin August (actor), Frank Austin (actor), Harry A. Bailey (actor), William Arnold (actor), Brooks Benedict (actor), Wilson Benge (actor), Wade Boteler (actor), Harry C. Bradley (actor), Lynton Brent (actor), Harlan Briggs (actor),

Plot: Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal.

Keywords: aide, american, american-politics, appointment, band, banquet, bill, briefcase, camp, car-accident
Genres: Drama,
Taglines: Capra at his greatest! Stirring - In the seeing! Precious - In the remembering! Capra's Greatest Hit --- The Screen At Its Most Inspired! Entertainment As Powerful As the Strength of the People! As Great As the Genius of Capra! Romance, drama, laughter and heartbreak ... created out of the very heart and soil of America ... by a great director and cast!

Quotes:

Jefferson Smith: You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.

Jefferson Smith: Either I'm dead right, or I'm crazy!

[the filibuster begins]::President of Senate: The Chair recognizes... Senator Smith!::Jefferson Smith: Thank you, sir.::Clarissa Saunders: Diz, here we go.::Jefferson Smith: Well, I guess the gentlemen are in a pretty tall hurry to get me out of here. The way the evidence has piled up against me, I can't say I blame them much. And I'm quite willing to go, sir, when they vote it that way - but before that happens I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before, and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not going to leave this body until I do get them said.::Senator Joseph Paine: Mr. President, will the Senator yield?::President of Senate: Will the Senator yield?::Jefferson Smith: No, sir, I'm afraid not, no sir. I yielded the floor once before, if you can remember, and I was practically never heard of again. No sir. And we might as well all get together on this yielding business right off the bat, now. [laughter from the gallery] Now, I had some pretty good coaching last night, and I find that if I yield only for a question or a point of order or a personal privilege, that I can hold this floor almost until doomsday. In other words, I've got a piece to speak, and blow hot or cold, I'm going to speak it.::Senator Joseph Paine: Will the Senator yield?::President of Senate: Will Senator Smith yield?::Jefferson Smith: Yield how, sir?::Senator Joseph Paine: Will he yield for a question?::Jefferson Smith: For a question, all right.

Senator Joseph Paine: I wish to ask my distinguished colleague, has he one scrap of evidence to add now to the defense he did not give and could not give at that same hearing?::Jefferson Smith: I have no defense against forged papers!::Senator Joseph Paine: The Committee ruled otherwise! The gentleman stands guilty, as charged. And I believe I speak for every member when I say that no one cares to hear what a man of his condemned character has to say about any section of any legislation before this House.::President of Senate: Order, order, gentlemen.::Jefferson Smith: Mr. President, I stand guilty as FRAMED! Because section 40 is graft! And I was ready to say so, I was ready to tell you that a certain man in my state, a Mr. James Taylor, wanted to put through this dam for his own profit. A man who controls a political machine! And controls everything else worth controlling in my state. Yes, and a man even powerful enough to control Congressmen - and I saw three of them in his room the day I went up to see him!::Senator Joseph Paine: Will the Senator yield?::Jefferson Smith: No, sir, I will not yield! And this same man, Mr. James Taylor, came down here and offered me a seat in this Senate for the next 20 years if I voted for a dam that he knew, and I knew, was a fraud. But if I dared to open my mouth against that dam, he promised to break me in two.

[after all the other Senators walk out]::Jefferson Smith: Oh, Mr. President, we seem to be alone. I, I'm not complaining for a social reason; it's just, I think it'd be a pity if these gentlemen missed any of this, and...::[Clarissa starts waving from the visitors gallery, and making hand signals]::Jefferson Smith: And, uh...::[he grabs the rule book]::Jefferson Smith: I, I call the chair's attention to... to, uh... Rule 5 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, Section... Section 3. "If it shall be found that a quorum is not present, a majority of the Senators present" - and that looks like me - uh, uh, "may direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to request, and if necessary compel, the attendance of the absent Senators." Well, Mr. President, I so direct.

Diz Moore: [dictating into phone] In protest, the whole Senate body rose and walked out.::Clarissa Saunders: No! No, not that straight stuff. Now listen, kick it up, get on his side, fight for him! Understand?::Diz Moore: You love this monkey - don't you?::Clarissa Saunders: What do you think? Now listen, go to work. Do as I tell you.::Diz Moore: [into phone] Throw out that last, take this. This is the most titanic battle of modern times. A David without even a slingshot rises to do battle against the mighty Goliath, the Taylor machine, allegedly crooked inside and out. Yeah, and for my money, you can cut out the "allegedly."

Senator Joseph Paine: He can raise public opinion against us - if any part of this sticks...::James Taylor: Aah, he'll never get started. I'll make public opinion out there within five hours! I've done it all my life. I'll blacken this punk so that he'll - You leave public opinion to me. Now, Joe, I think you'd better go back into the Senate and keep those Senators lined up.

Jefferson Smith: [His voice very hoarse] Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!

[when Smith is announced as the newly appointed Senator]::James Taylor: I want you to let the ballyhoo boys loose, plan a celebration, and declare a holiday.

Jefferson Smith: I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella, too.