The President's Analyst

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The President's Analyst

1967,

1h 43m,

Comedy/

Drama

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78%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

In this lively satire, psychiatrist Sidney Schaefer (James Coburn) is recruited by the U.S. government to serve as the president's own top-secret psychoanalyst. On call at all hours and privy to the leader's most private thoughts, Schaefer develops paranoia, which turns out to be warranted, since numerous international agencies are out to get him for his highly classified knowledge. Aided by spy Don Masters (Godfrey Cambridge), Schaefer must survive the many attempts on his life.

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Critics Consensus

Its cynical satire of government bureaucracy and Cold War paranoia doesn't always land, but The President's Analyst makes a breakthrough with James Coburn's wry performance and Theodore J. Flicker's zippy direction.

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J. Hoberman

Village Voice

Jun 4, 2008

Theodore Flicker's genial exercise in comic paranoia re-emerges, for no apparent reason, a reasonably fit and funny artifact from the age of grooviness.

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Mark Bourne

Film.com

Jan 18, 2008

If Philip K. Dick had worked for Mad magazine, he might have come up with The President's Analyst.

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Variety

Apr 2, 2007

The President's Analyst is a superior satire on some sacred cows, principally the lightly camouflaged FBI, hippies, psychiatry, liberal and conservative politics -- and the telephone company.

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Noah Berlatsky

Everything is Horrible (Substack)

Sep 27, 2026

The real off-kilter brilliance of the film is in the way it presents politics not as a cynical game, or a patriotic duty, but as a kind of whacked-out psychic weight.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Jan 9, 2021

1.5/4

...a dated and completely misbegotten piece of work that has little of relevance to say all these years later.

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Giles M. Fowler

Kansas City Star

Jun 26, 2020

When it works, under the agitated, electric razzle-dazzle of Theodore J. Flicker's direction, it can be a screamingly funny (sometimes just plain screaming) experience.

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Feb 2, 2019

The best comedy movie ever made!

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Theodore J. Flicker

Director

James Coburn

Dr. Sidney Schaefer

Godfrey Cambridge

Don Masters, CEA Agent

William Daniels

Wynn Quantrill

Severn Darden

V.I. Kydor Kropotkin

Joan Delaney

Nan Butler

The President's Analyst: Official Clip - The Science of Microelectronics

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Synopsis

In this lively satire, psychiatrist Sidney Schaefer (James Coburn) is recruited by the U.S. government to serve as the president's own top-secret psychoanalyst. On call at all hours and privy to the leader's most private thoughts, Schaefer develops paranoia, which turns out to be warranted, since numerous international agencies are out to get him for his highly classified knowledge. Aided by spy Don Masters (Godfrey Cambridge), Schaefer must survive the many attempts on his life.

Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Producer: Stanley Rubin
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount, Panpiper Productions
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 21, 1967, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 21, 2010
Runtime: 1h 43m

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