The Man (1972)

Directed by

Joseph Sargent

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 33m

Rated

G

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A senator becomes the first black president of the United States after a series of unexpected events. He faces political pushback and personal challenges as he tries to lead the country.

seriousthoughtfuldramatictensemid-pacedgroundedpolitically chargedcharacter-driven

What happens

The Man is a 1972 American political drama film 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 presidency through a series of unforeseeable events, thereby becoming both the first African-American president and the first wholly unelected one. The screenplay, written by Rod Serling, is largely based upon The Man, a novel by Irving Wallace. In addition to being the first black president more than thirty-six years before the real-world occurrence, the fictional Dilman was also the first president elected to neither that office nor to the Vice Presidency, foreshadowing the real-world elevation of Gerald Ford by less than twenty-five months. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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