What was the most accurate/masterful portrayal of President Nixon on stage or screen?

[TreacherousCretin]

Honorable Mention for intentionally non-masterful, inaccurate (?) portrayal: Dan Ackroyd.

[drewtwo99]

I’m not old enough to have lived through Nixon, so all I have is some scant archive footage to go by. I also haven’t seen many portrayals of Nixon in fiction, so I can’t say I could pick the best of all of them. I did like Frost/Nixon though, and his portrayal came off as genuine and non-caricatured.

[lisiate]

I’m in much the same boat as drewtwo99, and agree that Frank Langella did a fine job in Frost/Nixon. This despite Langella appearing to be a much bigger man than Nixon and not having much of a ‘natural’ resemblence to him. All in all a fine piece of acting on Langella’s part.

[The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski]

@LC_Strawhouse

Just goes to show, the best movies are made by adults who have lived a little, not teacher’s pets right out of film school!

Funny that you should say that, because the director of the movie when I worked w PB Hall was Brett Ratner, a man who thinks that “rehearsing is for fags”, and who, on this particular movie that I worked, shot one small scene (two actors walk up to PB Hall’s character and say hello) 65 times!!
Apologies for the hijack.
I must highly recommend Secret Honor for anyone who hasn’t seen it. Hall’s performance is really wonderful. It’s dark and brooding, but full of life. Nixon Burgers!!

[terentii]

Back in the '70s, impressionist Rich Little played Nixon in what I suppose was a satirical feature film (it was before Nixon resigned). I don’t recall the name of the movie (it certainly wasn’t a box-office smash), but Little showed a still to Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show” in which he was in full makeup. The resemblance between him and Nixon was scary; knowing what a great impressionist he is, I can only imagine his performance was equally as convincing.

[terentii]

I found the movie at filmreference.com. The title was* Another Nice Mess* (Fine Films, 1972).

I remember Little telling Carson the premise of the movie: Nixon and Vice-President Agnew as Laurel and Hardy in the White House.

[Green_Bean]

I’m so glad to see that there are others out there that appreciate the movie Dick. Dan Hedaya’s Nixon was played for laughs, so it’s not an accurate or nuanced portrayal, but as soon as I saw this thread title, I thought of it and smiled. Hopefully that counts for something.

I wonder if the movie would have been better received if it had a different title. Calling it “Dick” makes it sound like a stupid/gross-out kind of movie while it’s actually really clever and sly. It is very silly, but not stupid, and definitely worth a couple hours of your life. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it’s an alternate explanation of the events surrounding the Watergate scandal involving two airheaded teenage girls and the White House dog.

Dan Hedaya also played Bette Midler’s horrible husband in First Wives’ Club and Mr. Monk’s father in Monk.

[cochrane]

I wonder how many Dopers have seen the Showtime movie “Elvis Meets Nixon” from 1997? It was the story of Nixon’s meeting with Elvis Presley on December 21, 1970, and featured Bob Gunton as Nixon. It was a mockumentary, and like “Dick,” it was largely played up as a comedy, although it had commentary from people such as Dick Cavett and Graham Nash.

[Sam_A.Robrin]

Cliff Robertson’s transparent roman a clef in the Gore Vidal - scripted The Best Man deserves some attention in this matter.

[BrainGlutton]

@Alessan

He did, didn’t he? It was interesting seeing the British perspective on Nixon. To most Americans these days, he’s essentially a cartoon Satan; to the Brits (and much of the rest of the world) he was just another smart, moderately corrupt politician who got caught up in a scandal.

And isn’t Margaret Thatcher a cartoon Satan in the UK? (Going by BritDoper comments, anyway.) Over Here, she’s still “The Iron Lady” and vaguely associated with Reagan.

[BrainGlutton]

Let’s not forget Brian Cummings (voice) in Where the Buffalo Roam. He only had one line – “Fuck the Doomed!” – but he delivered it perfectly!

[Labdad]

I’m one of the dozens who saw Gene Barry in “Watergate: The Musical!” It opened and closed in Atlanta in 1982. Click here, and scroll to the bottom of the page.

From a blog about Nixon comes the following:

But it came as quite a surprise, reading Barry’s obituaries this evening, to find out that the previous year, he had starred in a show that seemed destined for Broadway but (according to this interview with the actor) opened and closed in Atlanta in July 1982, proving so expensive to produce in its three-week run that plans to bring it to New York were set aside.

The show was co-written by Tommy Oliver and Edward J. Lakso, and its title was simple yet quite descriptive – Watergate: The Musical – with Gene Barry starring as Richard Nixon. His wife, Betty Clair Barry, played Pat Nixon. Ed Herlihy, the instantly recognizable narrator of countless ’40s and ’50s newsreels, played Sen. Sam Ervin.

I imagine many readers of TNN are trying to visualize TV’s Bat Masterson trading in his embroidered vest for a dark blue suit and wingtips, so here’s a photo of Barry as RN – before the offer to play Georges [in La Cage Aux Folles] came and he went back to his finery.

[Mr.Excellent]

@Alessan

He did, didn’t he? It was interesting seeing the British perspective on Nixon. To most Americans these days, he’s essentially a cartoon Satan; to the Brits (and much of the rest of the world) he was just another smart, moderately corrupt politician who got caught up in a scandal.

Do Israelis consider him to be especially unpleasant as well? My dad was in the IDF shortly after the Yom Kippur War, and he despises Nixon and Kissinger to this day; he believes their botched diplomacy nearly led to a fresh war right after the resolution of that one.

[Alessan]

@Mr.Excellent

Do Israelis consider him to be especially unpleasant as well? My dad was in the IDF shortly after the Yom Kippur War, and he despises Nixon and Kissinger to this day; he believes their botched diplomacy nearly led to a fresh war right after the resolution of that one.

Not as far as I can tell. In fact, he tends to get some credit for the 1973 arms airlift that helped us win the war. I’ve never heard the opinion expressed by your dad before.

Israelis have a different attitude toward politicians than Americans - they tend to respect intelligence and competence over morals. After all, we elected Sharon, didn’t we?

[AK84]

@Alessan

Not as far as I can tell. In fact, he tends to get some credit for the 1973 arms airlift that helped us win the war. I’ve never heard the opinion expressed by your dad before.

Israelis have a different attitude toward politicians than Americans - they tend to respect intelligence and competence over morals. After all, we elected Sharon, didn’t we?

What was wrong with him?

I agree with your assessment of Nixons international reputation. As for portrayals, I still think Hopkins got him. Frost/Nixon is less impressive.

[MovieMogul]

@cochrane

I have to nominate Lane Smith in The Final Days, which was a dramatization of the Woodward and Bernstein book. His Nixon was uncanny, even better than Anthony Hopkins.

Smith was probably best known as Daily Planet editor Perry White in Lois & Clark.

And Langella played White in the most recent Superman film.

[fiddlesticks]

Mr. Bookman as Nixon? Oh gosh, I just watched the top youtube hit for Secret Honor, which is apparently the final scene. Fantastic. Flashy, making the scene, flaunting convention. But Philip Baker Hall looks nothing like Nixon, joy boy! So I’ll go with Anthony Hopkins’ version (another great youtube clip that’s out there, Hopkins jousting with Sam Waterston as CIA director Richard Helms and his orchids).