Michael Sheen as British television journalist David
Frost during an interview with former U.S. president Richard Nixon (played by
Frank Langella) in Ron Howard's film "Frost/Nixon", which opens in New York and
Los Angeles on Friday, with an expansion to San Francisco on December 12 and
elsewhere on December 25. (Photo: Universal Pictures)
THE POPCORN REEL FILM
FOCUS: "FROST/NIXON"
Well, When Mr. Frost Does It, That Means
That It Is Not Illegal
By
Omar P.L. Moore/December
1, 2008
In America there have been famous televised interviews of presidents or future
presidents by news anchors or television interview personalities o. There
was the interview of former president Bill Clinton by Fox News' Chris Wallace
(son of legendary "60 Minutes" interviewer Mike Wallace) in 2006. In 1988,
Dan Rather's live interview with then-vice president George H.W. Bush on the CBS
Evening News, where the future U.S. president angrily chided Mr. Rather, asking
the anchorman "how would you like it if I judged your career by those seven
minutes when you walked
off the set in New York?", but of all the notorious interviews none perhaps have
been as riveting and tension-filled as the series of interviews in 1977 of
disgraced American president Richard Nixon in by British television journalist
David Frost, which were seen live worldwide by more than 400 million people, a
record television audience.
Tomorrow the actual interviews Sir David Frost conducted 31 years ago will be
released for the first time on DVD in North America. And this Friday, Ron
Howard's film "Frost/Nixon" opens in New York and Los Angeles before expanding
its release on December 12 in San Francisco and other American cities before
expanding on Christmas Day across the U.S. and Canada. "Frost/Nixon" is
based upon Peter Morgan's original play in London which starred Frank Langella,
who won a Tony Award for playing the 37th President of the United States and
Michael Sheen as David Frost. Both actors reprise their roles in Mr.
Howard's film, with Mr. Morgan adapting his play for the big screen.
Unlike the famous interviews mentioned above, in 1977 Mr. Frost had a chance to
save his career and catapult it into mega stardom with what was considered one
of the great coups of the 20th century: an interview with Richard Nixon, the
first Mr. Nixon had given since he resigned his office as president on August 9,
1974. Mr. Nixon, the Republican politician from Southern California who
left the White House in the face of almost-certain impeachment proceedings
against him for the Watergate Hotel Break-In and surveillance of democratic
politicians during the 1972 Democratic National Convention, had the opportunity
to set the record straight and push back against the overwhelming conventional
wisdom that Mr. Nixon and some members of his administration committed high
crimes and misdemeanors. One of the former president's most infamous lines
during a May 19, 1977 interview with Mr. Frost was "well when the president does
it, that means that it is not illegal", a line seen as Mr. Nixon's justification
for breaking the law. In Mr. Howard's film "Frost/Nixon", Mr. Langella
repeats almost word for word Mr. Nixon's refrain, just as he did on stage in
London and New York in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
In the annals of journalistic ethics David Frost may not have been completely
above board in his own right. Mr. Frost admitted in his book "Shooting
Stars" that in 1977 he paid Mr. Nixon $600,000 to secure the interview with him,
which took place over two days. The money (which would have been about $3
million in today's currency) was secured via Mr. Frost's ownership of a five
percent stake in the British television weekend channel London Weekend
Television (LWT). Mr. Frost characterized it as "one of the riskiest
ventures on which I have ever embarked." (For the record, LWT no longer
exists; it was bought by Manchester-based Granada Television in 1994.)
The television personality took on Mr. Nixon by taking off the gloves in a most
combative way, and the former president responded in kind, feisty, unrepentant
(at least until the end when the Whittier, California native admitted that he
may have been culpable for the crimes of his Administration). In between
the interviews, Mr. Nixon attempted to intimidate or at least pressure Mr. Frost
as to the magnitude of the circumstances of the historic television event.
Thirty-one years ago with the Frost/Nixon interviews David Frost succeeded in
what some American politicians today refer to as "gotcha journalism", but
arguably no interviewer on television is more combative than the BBC's Jeremy
Paxman, who can be seen in the U.K. on the news program "Newsnight".
Here's one famous interview Mr. Paxman did during a BBC broadcast on election
night in London in 2005 with George Galloway, the Glasgow, Scotland politician
who had just won election to a seat in Parliament in the East London district of
Bethnal Green & Bow.
*
*
*
"Frost/Nixon" playwright and film
screenwriter Peter Morgan (left) with "Frost/Nixon" director Ron Howard, seen
here at the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival in May 2007.
(Photo: Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com)
Ron Howard completed the filming of "Frost/Nixon" in October 2007, two days
sooner than expected, in 38 days instead of 40, a most rare feat in film.
The filming started almost immediately after the conclusion of the original
play's theatrical run on Broadway in mid-August 2007. Most of the filming
locations were in Southern California, including the making of Heathrow Airport,
the Sydney Opera House and the locales near where the actual two-day interview
occurred. In addition to Mr. Langella (who could be nominated for an Oscar
next month) and Mr. Sheen (whose name could also be called), Kevin Bacon, Oliver
Platt, Sam Rockwell, Michael McFadyen, Rebecca Hall and Toby Jones are among the
cast in Mr. Howard's film.
"Frost/Nixon" reflects what the interviews of 31 years ago depicted: a chess
match between two larger-than-life figures whose careers were passing each
other, one on an "up" escalator, the other on a "down" escalator. The
actual interviews were as much a battle for credibility on the eastern side of
the Atlantic in Mr. Frost as they were on the western side with Mr. Nixon.
Two polar opposites, a liberal-minded television personality whose career was
about getting people to reveal themselves publicly to millions, and a
conservative politician who didn't translate well on television and whose
Administration was shrouded in secrecy and whose personality was wrapped in
paranoia and neuroticism.
"Frost/Nixon" opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, in San Francisco
and other Northern California cities on December 12, with additional cities on
Christmas Day.
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