Review of The President's Analyst (1967) by Tico P — 04 Oct 2010

Slightly dated, uneven, but often very enjoyable satire on the government and the spy film genre. James Coburn is excellent as the titular psychiatrist, who finds relieving the President's burdens a taxing job; Coburn, with his sly grin and smooth voice, makes for a perfectly slightly extraordinary hero.

Godfrey Cambridge, while not having nearly enough screen time, is wonderful as the CEA (totally not the CIA) agent assigned to track Coburn down after he escapes Washington with a smarmy New Jersey family, the inanely psychotic father of whom is played, also hilariously, by William Daniels ("We're liberals, not left-wing.

"). Cambridge proves both adept at humor and at more serious material; an early monologue where he discusses his discovery of a certain racial slur is quite moving, and it's a credit to Cambridge's performance that you can never be quite sure if he's sincere or acting out a sob story.

Severn Darden is immensely likable as a genial Russian spy; he and Cambridge have a wonderful chemistry, and a scene where they casually discuss Coburn's case, finally making a bet on who will find him first, is one of the film's best.

Joan Delaney is delightful as Coburn's frustrated girlfriend; Will Geer has an amusing cameo as his mentor. Theodore J. Flicker wrote and directed the film, and much of its success, as well as many of its flaws, rest on his shoulders.

The humor is sometimes dated (unavoidable), but more serious is the erratic tone of the film; sometimes biting political satire, sometimes anti-establishment free love comedy, sometimes wacky escapades.

While the film is rich, and packs a lot into its 102 minutes, it does drag in a few spots (there's an extraneous montage early on that stops the action for about 3 minutes). But when the film is good, which is much of the time, it's a blast.

Flicker's direction is usually deft and cleverly-paced, and his sense of humor is often surreal; for example, Coburn is summoned by the President by a flashing red light and alarm, and at one point this alarm emanates from a bowl of soup.

Another scene, where several groups of assassins try to eliminate Coburn in a field, and are all silently dispatched, is a classic. The storyline itself is a bit wobbly, and towards the very end it goes a bit off the rails, satirizing the phone company (here reimagined as a monolithic, and psychotic, corporation); this joke probably rang truer in the 60s, and feels like a slightly lame twist, but the delightful final scene makes up for it.

Lalo Schifrin's music is great, as is William A. Fraker's cinematography. It's worth noting that this film gives every appearance of being one which needs multiple viewings to garner all the details; I look forward to them.