Advise and Consent

Circa 1985 print run for Otto Preminger's 1961 political drama. For more information about Silkscreens click here

Bass' bold symbol for the film poster Advise & Consent is a visual pun that literally 'takes the lid off' contemporary Cold War politics in the United States. Based on Allen Drury's 1959 Pultizer Prize winning novel of the same name, the movie exposes the scheming and blackmail in the U. S. Senate, aimed at defeating the nomination of a candidate for the office of Secretary of State who was open to rapprochement with the Soviet Union. After creating several symbols representing politicians as puppets on a string, or mechanical toys to be wound up at will, Bass came up with a solution which raises the question of what goes on beneath the surface of political life. Witty and evocative, Saul Bass' trademark found resonance at home and abroad and was used as a visual gag in various political cartoons in Europe and the United States.