Frost\Nixon

Synopsis: Writer Peter Morgan's legendary battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the story of the historic encounter that changed both their lives. For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans (as well as a $600,000 fee). Likewise, Frost's team harbored doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted.
Director(s): Ron Howard
Production: Universal Pictures
  Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 71 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Metacritic:
80
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
R
Year:
2008
122 min
$18,600,000
Website
914 Views


They'd better not push me on him,

or I'll just kick them

in the teeth on it.

Well, I think, if they...

Internal Revenue people that are kicking

Billy Graham around is Rosenberg.

He is to be out.

I don't give a goddamn

what the story is.

He went on television.

I have not. I've

already ordered Connally,

we're going after the Chandlers,

every one individually, collectively,

their income taxes

are starting this week.

Every one of those sons of b*tches.

Well, this is something that

we can really hang Teddy or...

Yeah.

or the Kennedy clan with.

I'm gonna want to put

that in Colson's hands.

And we're gonna want to run with it.

A controversial day in politics.

A man arrested trying to bug the offices

of the Democratic National

Committee in Washington

turns out to be an employee

of President Richard Nixon's

re-election campaign committee.

He is one of five persons

surprised and arrested yesterday

inside the headquarters of the

Democratic National Committee

in Washington.

And guess what else he is.

A consultant of

President Richard Nixon's

re-election campaign committee.

The trial started today

at the federal courthouse

for the five burglars

caught breaking into

the Democratic National

Party headquarters.

Stand by for camera.

John Dean, the ex-White

House Counsel, testified today

that President Nixon knew

about the Watergate cover-up.

At one point in the conversation,

I recall the President telling me

to keep a good list of the

press people giving us trouble

because we will make life difficult

for them after the election.

Dean read through a 245-page statement

characterizing a president

who was easily outraged

over war protesters and

political adversaries,

and outlining a range of offenses,

including wiretapping of newsmen,

a Charles Colson plan to firebomb

and burglarize the

Brookings Institution,

and spying on Senator

Kennedy and other Democrats.

The misuse of power is the

very essence of tyranny.

And consider, if you will,

the frightening implications

of that for a free society.

The President today accepted the

resignation of three of his closest aides.

Out is H.R. Haldeman, Chief of Staff.

Also quitting under

fire is John Ehrlichman.

Ehrlichman was a key political advisor.

Good morning. The Supreme Court

has just ruled on the tapes controversy,

and here is Carl Stern,

who has that ruling.

It is a unanimous decision,

Doug, eight to zero.

Justice Rehnquist took

no part in the decision

ordering the President of the

United States to turn over the tapes.

It's an eight-to-zero

unanimous opinion.

A White House aide told NBC News today

that impeachment of the President

by the full House of Representatives

now is a virtual certainty.

These are, with no serious doubt,

the last hours of the 37th

presidency of the United States.

This is indeed an historic day,

the only time a president

has ever resigned from office

in our nearly 200 years of history.

You see the White House

there, and in the White House,

in just a few moments now,

President Nixon will be

appearing before the people,

perhaps for the last time as

President of the United States.

Okay, that's five, four, three...

Good evening. This is the 37th time

I have spoken to you from this office

where so many decisions have been made

that have shaped the

history of our nation.

I remember exactly where I was.

My father called. The phone rang,

my father called and he said,

"Turn on the TV right now.

Richard Nixon's going down."

I was at home with friends, and we

were watching television at home.

We stayed up and, like

everyone else, I'd been glued to

the Select and Judiciary Committee

hearings night after night.

And then finally, it had come to this.

Therefore, I shall resign the

presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

But instead of the satisfaction

I imagined I'd feel,

I just got angrier and angrier,

because there was no admission of guilt.

There was no apology.

Little did I know

that I would one day be part of the team

that would try and elicit that apology.

To leave office before

my term is completed

is abhorrent to every

instinct in my body.

I have never been a quitter.

And that that team would be led

by the most unlikely of white knights,

a man with no political

convictions whatsoever,

a man who, as far as I know, had

never even voted once in his life.

But he was a man who had one big

advantage over the rest of us.

He understood television.

And now, the host of

Frost Over Australia,

Mr. David Frost!

Thank you, thank you.

Hello. Good evening.

And with the eyes of the world

focused on the White House,

here in Australia,

burglars have broken into

a meat factory in Brisbane

and stolen a ton of pork sausages.

The Queensland police are looking

for men in a long, thin getaway car.

Now, my first guest tonight...

Well, we in the Nixon camp

really didn't know that

much about David Frost,

other than he was a

British talk show host

with something of a playboy reputation.

He'd had a talk show here in

the US that had won some awards

but hadn't syndicated well and

had been dropped by the network.

He ended up taking it down to Australia,

which is, I believe, where he

was when the President resigned.

Next week's guest will

be Evonne Goolagong.

We'll see you then. God bless.

Great show, David. Thanks, Noah.

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Peter Morgan

Peter Julian Robin Morgan CBE (born 10 April 1963) is a British film writer and playwright. Morgan is best known for writing the historical films and plays The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United and Rush. more…

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