Nixon is a 1995 American epic historical drama film directed by Oliver Stone, produced by Stone, Clayton Townsend, and Andrew G. Vajna, and written by Stone, Christopher Wilkinson, and Stephen J. Rivele. It tells the story of the political and personal life of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins.
The film portrays Nixon as a complex and in many respects admirable, albeit deeply flawed, person. Nixon begins with a disclaimer that the film is "an attempt to understand the truth ... based on numerous public sources and on an incomplete historical record". The cast also includes Joan Allen, Annabeth Gish, Marley Shelton, Bai Ling, Powers Boothe, J. T. Walsh, E. G. Marshall, Sam Waterston, James Woods, Paul Sorvino, Bob Hoskins, Larry Hagman, Ed Harris, and David Hyde Pierce, plus archival appearances from political figures such as President Bill Clinton in television footage from the Nixon funeral service.
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics, with Hopkins' performance receiving particular praise. Despite this, the film grossed only $13.6 million domestically against a $44 million budget, making it one of the biggest box-office bombs of 1995. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Supporting Actress (Joan Allen), Best Original Score (John Williams) and Best Original Screenplay. This was Stone's second of three films about the presidents of the United States, after JFK, which was about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and W., which was about George W. Bush.
Plot In 1972, the White House Plumbers break into The Watergate and are subsequently arrested. Eighteen months later in December 1973, Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, brings Nixon audio tapes for Nixon to listen to. The two men discuss the Watergate scandal and the resulting chaos. After discussing the death of J. Edgar Hoover, Nixon uses profanity when discussing John Dean, James McCord, and others involved in Watergate. As Haig turns to leave, Nixon asks Haig why he has not been given a pistol to commit suicide like an honorable soldier.
A majority of the movie is told through flashbacks of Nixon's tapes. Nixon starts the taping system, which triggers memories that begin a series of flashbacks within the film. The first begins on June 23, 1972, about one week after the break-in, during a meeting with H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Dean. Ehrlichman and Dean leave, and Nixon speaks the "smoking gun" tape to Haldeman.
Henry Kissinger figures prominently in the film, beginning as a respected professor and later as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State. Throughout the film, there is a battle with Nixon and his staff over who Kissinger actually is—is he a leaker who only cares about his reputation in the press, or is he a loyal subject who follows the president's orders? Although many cabinet members blame Kissinger for the leaks, Nixon cannot turn his back on him.
While at the height of his political career, Nixon thinks back to childhood and how his parents raised him and his brothers. Two of his brothers died of tuberculosis at a young age and this deeply impacted the president. The film covers most aspects of Nixon's life and political career and implies that he and his wife abused alcohol and prescription medications. Nixon's health problems, including his bout of phlebitis and pneumonia during the Watergate crisis, are also shown; his heavy use of medications is sometimes attributed to these.
The film hints at some kind of responsibility, real or imagined, that Nixon felt towards the John F. Kennedy assassination through references to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the implication being that the mechanisms set into place for the invasion by Nixon during his 8-year term as Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president spiraled out of control to culminate in Kennedy's assassination and eventually Watergate.
The film ends with Nixon's resignation and departure from the lawn of the White House on the helicopter, Army One. Real-life footage of Nixon's state funeral in Yorba Linda, California plays out over the extended end credits, and all living ex-presidents at the time—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush—as well as then-president Bill Clinton, are shown in attendance.
Cast
First family Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon Joan Allen as Pat Nixon Annabeth Gish as Julie Nixon Eisenhower Marley Shelton as Tricia Nixon Cox
White House staff and cabinet James Woods as H. R. Haldeman, the Chief of Staff and Nixon's closest advisor. J. T. Walsh as John Ehrlichman, Domestic Affairs Advisor, he is the first to notice the president's paranoia and thinks Nixon is breaking the law. Paul Sorvino as Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State, he is rumored to be self-serving and a leaker. Powers Boothe as General Alexander Haig, a U.S. Army General who served under Henry Kissinger as Deputy National Security Advisor and later the president's White House Chief of Staff during the Watergate scandal. E. G. Marshall as John N. Mitchell, Nixon's longtime friend and later Attorney General, whom he refers to as "family". He is the first to be set up to take the fall for Watergate. David Paymer as Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary that Nixon pushes around, both literally and figuratively. David Hyde Pierce as John Dean, White House Counsel and the first to testify in front of Congress on Watergate and the cover up. Kevin Dunn as Charles Colson, White House Counsel and later Director of Public Liaison, also a close advisor to Nixon. Saul Rubinek as Herbert G. Klein, Nixon's campaign press secretary in 1960 and 1962; then the Director of Communications. Fyvush Finkel as Murray Chotiner, one of Nixon's mentors and chairman of his campaigns in 1960, 1962, 1968, and 1972. Tony Plana as Manolo Sanchez, Nixon's valet and a trusted contact. James Karen as William P. Rogers, Nixon's Secretary of State who urges Nixon not to bomb Cambodia. Nixon thinks he is weak and a leaker and excludes him on international meetings, deferring to Kissinger instead. Richard Fancy as Melvin Laird, Secretary of Defense who concurs with Rogers to not bomb Cambodia.
Nixon family Mary Steenburgen as Hannah Milhous Nixon, Richard's passive but strong Quaker mother. Tony Goldwyn as Harold Nixon, Richard's brother who dies of tuberculosis. Tom Bower as Francis Nixon, Richard's overbearing and rough father. Sean Stone as Donald Nixon, Richard's younger brother. Joshua Preston as Arthur Nixon Corey Carrier as adolescent Richard Nixon David Barry Gray as young adult Richard Nixon
White House plumbers Ed Harris as E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA operative who was attached to the Bay of Pigs. John Diehl as G. Gordon Liddy Robert Beltran as Frank Sturgis
Other cast members Bob Hoskins as J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI. Brian Bedford as Clyde Tolson, Hoover's partner and Deputy FBI Director. Madeline Kahn as Martha Beall Mitchell, John Mitchell's gregarious wife who insists Dick Nixon was nothing but a crook and ruined her family name. In real life, Martha made several phone calls to reporters over Watergate and her husband. Edward Herrmann as Nelson Rockefeller, a wealthy presidential candidate in 1964. He warns Nixon of being too extreme in his ideology. Though not depicted in the movie, Rockefeller would become Gerald Ford's Vice President. Dan Hedaya as Trini Cardoza, based upon Bebe Rebozo, close advisor to Nixon. Bridgette Wilson as Sandy Ric Young as Mao Zedong, the ruler of Communist China. Bai Ling as Mao's interpreter Boris Sichkin as Leonid Brezhnev, a Soviet leader. Sam Waterston as Richard Helms (scenes present only in director's cut), the Director of the CIA who knows more about Nixon than Nixon feels comfortable knowing. The two of them go back to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Joanna Going as young student Tony Lo Bianco as Johnny Roselli, a gangster Nixon knew in Cuba who was attached to the Castro assassination attempt. George Plimpton as the President's lawyer. Larry Hagman as "Jack Jones" - Unlike some other characters in the film who represent actual people, Jack Jones, a billionaire investment banker and real estate tycoon, is a composite character, who is emblematic of "big business" in general. The character may be a reference to Nixon's meetings with Clint Murchison Sr., although he also illuminates Nixon's relationships with Howard Hughes, H. L. Hunt and other entrepreneurs. Michael Chiklis as the TV director Jack Wallace as the football coach John C. McGinley as the salesmen in the Dept. of Labor training film James Pickens Jr. as an audience agitator
Production Origins Eric Hamburg, former speechwriter and staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, got the idea of a film about Richard Nixon after having dinner with Oliver Stone. Originally, Stone had been developing two projects – the musical Evita and a movie about Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. When neither was made, Stone turned his attention to a biopic about Nixon. The former President's death on April 22, 1994, was also a key factor in Stone's decision to make a Nixon film. He pitched the film to Warner Bros., but, according to Stone, they saw it, "as a bunch of unattractive older white men sitting around in suits, with a lot of dialogue and not enough action".
In 1993, Hamburg mentioned the idea of a Nixon film to writer Stephen J. Rivele with the concept being that they would incorporate all of the politician's misdeeds, both known and speculative. Rivele liked the idea and had previously thought about writing a play exploring the same themes. Hamburg encouraged Rivele to write a film instead and with his screenwriting partner, Christopher Wilkinson, they wrote a treatment in November 1993. They conceived of a concept referred to as "the Beast", which Wilkinson describes as "a headless monster that lurches through postwar history," a metaphor for a system of dark forces that resulted in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, and helped Nixon's rise to power and his fall from it as well. Stone said in an interview that Nixon realizes that "the Beast" "is more powerful than he is. We can't get into it that much, but we hint at it so many times—the military-industrial complex, the forces of money". In another interview, the director elaborates, It was this concept that convinced Stone to make Nixon and he told Hamburg to hire Rivele and Wilkinson. Stone commissioned the first draft of the film's screenplay in the fall of 1993. Rivele and Wilkinson delivered the first draft of their script on June 17, 1994, the anniversary of the Watergate scandal. Stone loved the script but felt that the third act and the ending needed more work. They wrote another draft and delivered it on August 9, the 20th anniversary of Nixon's resignation.
Pre-production