All language subtitles for Nixon.1995.DC.1080p.BluRay.x264.3xRus.Eng-E76.comm1.eng

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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:33,950 --> 00:00:37,327 [Stone] It sets the proportions of the film by a biblical standard, 2 00:00:37,412 --> 00:00:41,457 imposed by Richard Nixon's mother, in a sense, a Quaker, and a strict one. 3 00:00:41,541 --> 00:00:44,626 the beauty of that statement, one of my favorites in the Bible, 4 00:00:44,711 --> 00:00:48,338 is many of us surrender our spiritual side as we go. 5 00:00:48,423 --> 00:00:51,633 I just don't understand it, Bob. I've logged a lot of miles. 6 00:00:51,718 --> 00:00:55,429 I've followed the sales textbook by the letter. 7 00:00:55,513 --> 00:00:57,556 I've applied myself diligently. 8 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,518 I mean, I try and I try, and I just cannot get in the door. 9 00:01:01,603 --> 00:01:07,399 - I mean... what am I doin' wrong? - Earl, sit down. 10 00:01:07,484 --> 00:01:11,236 [Stone] this is John McGinley playing a salesman in one of those remakes 11 00:01:11,321 --> 00:01:14,907 of a 1950s training industrial film, which we saw a lot of as kids. 12 00:01:14,991 --> 00:01:19,828 Motivational films. I played with this idea of a salesman because Dick Nixon 13 00:01:19,913 --> 00:01:23,665 was considered by many a car salesman type. He was desperate to succeed. 14 00:01:23,750 --> 00:01:28,462 A little too sweaty in that arrangement. this film embodies that. 15 00:01:28,546 --> 00:01:31,799 [man] Something's changed. I don't want to pry, 16 00:01:31,883 --> 00:01:35,302 but is everything all right at home, with Margie? 17 00:01:35,386 --> 00:01:38,514 - Will there be anything else? - Leave it. 18 00:01:38,598 --> 00:01:41,183 - Just leave it. - Yes, sir. 19 00:01:41,267 --> 00:01:42,559 - Thank you. - Thanks. 20 00:01:42,644 --> 00:01:46,605 [Bob] I watched you walking in front of my desk in an agitated manner, 21 00:01:46,689 --> 00:01:51,693 smoking without having asked if you could smoke in my presence. 22 00:01:51,778 --> 00:01:54,905 - [indistinct chatter] - 0121, mark. 23 00:01:56,825 --> 00:02:00,077 OK, listen up. Fire team discipline in there at all times. 24 00:02:00,161 --> 00:02:03,455 Keep your radios on at all times during the entire penetration. 25 00:02:03,540 --> 00:02:06,083 Check yourselves. False IDs? 26 00:02:06,167 --> 00:02:09,962 - Jim. - No wallets, no keys? 27 00:02:10,046 --> 00:02:13,632 We rendezvous where? The Watergate, room 214. When? 28 00:02:13,716 --> 00:02:17,010 - At 0300 hours. - Jawohl, mein fartin' fuhrer. 29 00:02:18,054 --> 00:02:20,639 I swear, Frank, I'm gonna make you a new asshole. 30 00:02:20,723 --> 00:02:22,391 Let's get the fuck out of here. 31 00:02:22,475 --> 00:02:26,562 [Stone] that's Ed Harris, did me a favor by jumping in there as Howard Hunt. 32 00:02:26,646 --> 00:02:30,232 If anything goes wrong, sit tight. You'll hear from me or Howard. 33 00:02:30,316 --> 00:02:31,984 Personally, if anything goes wrong, 34 00:02:32,068 --> 00:02:34,820 I'll be calling the President of the United States. 35 00:02:34,904 --> 00:02:37,406 [Earl] I'm notjust gonna be a good salesman. 36 00:02:37,490 --> 00:02:40,993 No, doggone it, I'm gonna be a great salesman. 37 00:02:41,077 --> 00:02:44,246 - That's the spirit. - Thanks. 38 00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:48,584 And remember, Earl, always look them in the eye. 39 00:02:48,668 --> 00:02:51,003 Nothing sells like sincerity. 40 00:02:51,087 --> 00:02:54,673 [Stone laughs] the American sort of commercial of that period. 41 00:02:54,757 --> 00:02:56,842 Very direct. Very hard sell. 42 00:02:56,926 --> 00:02:59,928 [man] Five men wearing surgical gloves, business suits, 43 00:03:00,013 --> 00:03:02,973 carrying camera and electronic surveillance equipment 44 00:03:03,057 --> 00:03:07,227 were arrested in the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee 45 00:03:07,312 --> 00:03:09,479 in Washington. 46 00:03:09,564 --> 00:03:12,691 They were unarmed. Nobody knows yet why they were there 47 00:03:12,775 --> 00:03:15,861 or what they were looking for. 48 00:03:19,908 --> 00:03:23,744 [Stone] It's a fast start to the picture. I was conscious of the cutting. 49 00:03:23,828 --> 00:03:27,456 this is a very, perhaps my most encapsulated picture, 50 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:31,168 the most structured in the sense of shooting back and forth through times 51 00:03:31,252 --> 00:03:32,377 and layers of time. 52 00:03:32,462 --> 00:03:35,255 By this point, I felt very confident in doing this 53 00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:39,176 because we'd done it in various ways before with JFK. 54 00:03:44,474 --> 00:03:47,476 Beautiful opening shot. We built that set. the White House, 55 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,646 we ended up shooting as a matte. I believe we took a shot 56 00:03:50,730 --> 00:03:53,732 of approaching the fence at the White House with permission. 57 00:03:53,816 --> 00:03:57,736 If we didn't, we built our own fence. I wanted to pay homage, 58 00:03:57,820 --> 00:04:01,740 but not to slavishly imitate, Citizen Kane with this shot. 59 00:04:01,824 --> 00:04:03,742 But it was fun to do. It was a night shoot. 60 00:04:03,826 --> 00:04:07,329 And that was the man. He was austere, lonely in that White House alone. 61 00:04:07,413 --> 00:04:10,040 Mad, half-mad, despised, 62 00:04:10,124 --> 00:04:11,959 drinking because of his phlebitis 63 00:04:12,043 --> 00:04:13,418 in his knee, the pain. 64 00:04:13,503 --> 00:04:17,381 Taking painkillers. Mixing them. Not drinking a lot, but just... 65 00:04:17,465 --> 00:04:19,258 We didn't ever say he was a drunkard. 66 00:04:19,342 --> 00:04:21,718 there was one scene where you see Nixon drinking, 67 00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:24,346 the scene that replays through the movie as a chorus. 68 00:04:24,430 --> 00:04:27,933 It's always him drinking in the same place, so it could be the same drink. 69 00:04:28,017 --> 00:04:31,478 It's not necessary for him to have more than three drinks in this movie. 70 00:04:31,562 --> 00:04:34,815 [man] The White House continues to deny any involvement. 71 00:04:37,235 --> 00:04:39,278 [man 2] Presidential counsel, John Dean, 72 00:04:39,362 --> 00:04:41,905 testified before the Senate Watergate committee 73 00:04:41,990 --> 00:04:45,450 that the scandal reaches to the highest levels. 74 00:04:47,662 --> 00:04:50,330 [woman] Presidential aides Haldeman and Ehrlichman 75 00:04:50,415 --> 00:04:52,249 were ordered to resign today. 76 00:04:52,333 --> 00:04:56,336 In a stunning announcement, White House aide Alexander Butterfield 77 00:04:56,421 --> 00:04:58,588 revealed the existence of a taping system. 78 00:04:58,673 --> 00:05:01,258 [Stone] this is final stage of Nixon's presidency. 79 00:05:01,342 --> 00:05:04,428 We started at the end, two years before the Watergate break-in. 80 00:05:04,512 --> 00:05:07,973 But we didn't show the break-in because it's been shown in other films. 81 00:05:08,057 --> 00:05:10,642 I skipped it and went right to this, two years later. 82 00:05:10,727 --> 00:05:13,729 this is the end. We go from the beginning of the crime to the end. 83 00:05:13,813 --> 00:05:15,314 Here are the results. 84 00:05:15,398 --> 00:05:18,150 [man] Eight resolutions calling for the impeachment 85 00:05:18,234 --> 00:05:21,987 of the president were referred to thejudiciary committee by the House. 86 00:05:22,071 --> 00:05:26,158 [woman] It was disclosed to Judge Sirica there is an 18-and-a-half-minute gap 87 00:05:26,242 --> 00:05:29,286 in a June 20th, 1972 taped conversation 88 00:05:29,370 --> 00:05:31,413 between the president and Bob Haldeman. 89 00:05:31,497 --> 00:05:35,292 [Stone] Newspaper headlines in The Times. John Williams is back. 90 00:05:35,376 --> 00:05:38,086 [man] Sirica ordered the president to turn over tapes 91 00:05:38,171 --> 00:05:40,172 to special prosecutor Leon Jaworski. 92 00:05:40,256 --> 00:05:43,842 [Stone] the montage of voices and news is essentially 93 00:05:43,926 --> 00:05:48,847 a condensation of two years of misery that the country went through. 94 00:05:48,931 --> 00:05:53,518 It's all jammed together for montage. We will return to these things 95 00:05:53,603 --> 00:05:55,896 as the film unfolds. 96 00:05:59,776 --> 00:06:01,526 [knocking] 97 00:06:02,028 --> 00:06:03,487 [Nixon] Yeah. 98 00:06:04,947 --> 00:06:09,659 [Stone] Powers Boothe, who played in U Turn, was Alexander Haig here 99 00:06:09,744 --> 00:06:12,746 and I thought, certainly, gave Haig the benefit of the doubt. 100 00:06:12,830 --> 00:06:16,375 These are the tapes you requested, Mr. President. 101 00:06:16,459 --> 00:06:21,129 [Stone] Our first view of Nixon, which is shocking, gets your attention. 102 00:06:24,467 --> 00:06:27,803 Air conditioner, fire, contradictions. 103 00:06:29,931 --> 00:06:31,932 Kind of shuffling around there. 104 00:06:39,982 --> 00:06:40,982 Cocksucker! 105 00:06:41,067 --> 00:06:43,735 [Stone] Nixon was notoriously clumsy with his hands. 106 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:46,571 Nixon's never been good with these things, Al. 107 00:06:46,656 --> 00:06:50,325 [Stone] He was a very cerebral man, a thinking man, a worrying man. 108 00:06:50,410 --> 00:06:54,746 He thought too much. that's our first view of Tony Hopkins, 109 00:06:54,831 --> 00:06:58,750 who's Welsh, not English. Many people were surprised at this choice. 110 00:06:58,835 --> 00:07:02,462 But many people were very pleased with it in the long run. 111 00:07:02,547 --> 00:07:05,215 You know, Al, 112 00:07:05,299 --> 00:07:07,926 if Hoover were alive, 113 00:07:08,010 --> 00:07:11,930 these tapes would never have gotten out. 114 00:07:12,014 --> 00:07:13,682 I want the little shit back. 115 00:07:15,309 --> 00:07:17,102 Mr. Hoover was a realist, sir. 116 00:07:17,186 --> 00:07:19,938 [Stone] Tony had that roughness, gruffness. Same time, 117 00:07:20,022 --> 00:07:23,775 he had enough sensitivity to really allow us in, 118 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:25,777 to see into his window, his eyes. 119 00:07:25,862 --> 00:07:29,364 We never got our side of the story out, Al. 120 00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:31,533 People have forgotten. 121 00:07:32,410 --> 00:07:34,828 Such violence. 122 00:07:34,912 --> 00:07:37,539 The tear gassing, the riots, 123 00:07:37,623 --> 00:07:39,958 burning the draft cards, 124 00:07:40,042 --> 00:07:43,170 the Black Panthers. 125 00:07:43,254 --> 00:07:46,298 We fixed it, Al, and they hate me for it. 126 00:07:46,382 --> 00:07:49,718 [Stone] I've seen Nixon movies where they make him look like Nixon. 127 00:07:49,802 --> 00:07:52,762 I don't think that's the point. You have to get to the spirit. 128 00:07:52,847 --> 00:07:57,225 What I did with people in the past. You can't get the exact replica. 129 00:07:57,310 --> 00:08:00,479 Jim Garrison was six-foot-eight. Kevin Costner was six feet. 130 00:08:00,563 --> 00:08:03,690 It was fine with me as long as the spirit of the man comes across. 131 00:08:03,774 --> 00:08:07,819 Tony Hopkins, from the English stage, works a lot with gesture and mannerisms, 132 00:08:07,904 --> 00:08:11,656 studies pictures, film. Works oFten from the outside in. 133 00:08:11,741 --> 00:08:15,660 qrom the outer mannerisms into the head. We used quotes as much as we could 134 00:08:15,745 --> 00:08:18,288 unless we had to build a bridge between them. 135 00:08:18,372 --> 00:08:22,209 Between lines there was missing things. things are not shown up in documents 136 00:08:22,293 --> 00:08:26,087 as dialogue, they're shown up as a remembered line here or there. 137 00:08:30,718 --> 00:08:32,844 [tape rewinding] 138 00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:37,265 [Stone] Here, it gets lost in the tape, which allows us to jump around in time. 139 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:41,353 We go back now to the beginnings following the Watergate break-in. 140 00:08:44,190 --> 00:08:47,150 Start. 141 00:08:47,235 --> 00:08:50,529 - [Nixon] They did what? - [Haldeman] Bugs, photographs. 142 00:08:50,613 --> 00:08:54,157 It was a fishing expedition. It was their fourth attempt at the DNC. 143 00:08:54,242 --> 00:08:56,034 [Nixon] O'Brien doesn't use that. 144 00:08:56,118 --> 00:08:59,162 [Haldeman] Looking for an illegal Hughes donation to the Democrats, 145 00:08:59,247 --> 00:09:01,540 so they couldn't make an issue of your Hughes money. 146 00:09:01,624 --> 00:09:03,875 [Nixon] It was a legal contribution. 147 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,128 [Ehrlichman] Not clear burglars knew what they were looking for. 148 00:09:07,213 --> 00:09:10,549 They were headed for McGovern's office later that same night. 149 00:09:10,633 --> 00:09:12,801 - Christ, Did Mitchell know? - I don't know. 150 00:09:12,885 --> 00:09:16,680 Mitchell's out of his mind. Martha put her head through a window. 151 00:09:16,764 --> 00:09:20,725 [Stone] this is first time leap. there's gonna be more which are necessary 152 00:09:20,810 --> 00:09:23,311 to keeping the unfolding onion of tension. 153 00:09:23,396 --> 00:09:27,232 this film is dictated by the mandates of the mind, what you need to know next. 154 00:09:27,316 --> 00:09:30,318 If Mitchell had been minding the store instead of Martha, 155 00:09:30,403 --> 00:09:33,863 we wouldn't have Magruder running some third-rate burglary. 156 00:09:33,948 --> 00:09:36,491 We feel the bigger concern is Gordon Liddy. 157 00:09:36,576 --> 00:09:40,954 - Liddy? That fruitcake? What about him? - That's just it, sir. He is a nut. 158 00:09:41,038 --> 00:09:44,749 Used to work with the plumbers, turns up running this Watergate caper. 159 00:09:44,834 --> 00:09:48,336 Remember his plan to firebomb Brookings using Cubans as firemen? 160 00:09:48,421 --> 00:09:51,423 - What's Liddy got? - He was using some campaign cash 161 00:09:51,507 --> 00:09:54,718 that was laundered for us through Mexico, the FBI's onto it. 162 00:09:54,802 --> 00:09:57,762 - We could have a problem. - [Stone] this is actual text. 163 00:09:57,847 --> 00:10:00,932 Mostly between Haldeman here, played by Jimmy Woods, and Nixon. 164 00:10:01,017 --> 00:10:05,061 But at times with Ehrlichman, Dean. All kinds of comings and goings. 165 00:10:05,146 --> 00:10:08,523 Actually, this is a very interesting scene, especially if you know 166 00:10:08,608 --> 00:10:10,900 the actual dialogue and how long it was. 167 00:10:10,985 --> 00:10:16,906 We really did a good job of narrowing it down to the basic emotions of the scene 168 00:10:16,991 --> 00:10:20,827 and keeping dialogue as it was and letting actors play it realistically. 169 00:10:20,911 --> 00:10:26,374 Well, sir, one of the people implicated is still on the White House payroll. 170 00:10:26,459 --> 00:10:28,585 Who? Not another goddamn Cuban. 171 00:10:28,669 --> 00:10:31,421 No, sir. A guy named Hunt. 172 00:10:31,505 --> 00:10:34,007 Howard Hunt, sir. 173 00:10:34,091 --> 00:10:37,218 Hunt? Howard Hunt? 174 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,432 Left his White House phone number in his hotel room. 175 00:10:42,516 --> 00:10:46,186 He works for Colson. He used him on the Pentagon Papers. 176 00:10:46,270 --> 00:10:49,939 After arrest, he dumps his wiretapping stuff into his White House safe. 177 00:10:50,024 --> 00:10:54,986 We're trying to figure out when he stopped being a White House consultant. 178 00:10:55,071 --> 00:11:00,200 Howard Hunt is working for the White House? Jesus Christ. 179 00:11:00,284 --> 00:11:02,577 This is goddamn Disneyland. Since when? 180 00:11:02,662 --> 00:11:05,955 [Ehrlichman] Since Chappaquiddick. He wanted dirt on Kennedy. 181 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,917 - Colson brought him in. - You know Hunt, sir? 182 00:11:09,001 --> 00:11:11,503 Yeah, on the list of horribles. 183 00:11:11,587 --> 00:11:15,590 I know what he is and I know what he tracks back to. 184 00:11:15,675 --> 00:11:18,259 - He was involved in the plumbers? - Definitely. 185 00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:21,888 Colson had him break into Bremer's apartment after Bremer shot Wallace 186 00:11:21,972 --> 00:11:24,391 - to plant McGovern's literature. - [screaming] 187 00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:28,311 I had nothing to do with that. 188 00:11:28,396 --> 00:11:31,272 - He was in this Ellsberg thing? - Yes. You approved it. 189 00:11:32,441 --> 00:11:34,693 - I did? - [Stone] What's emerging is Nixon 190 00:11:34,777 --> 00:11:40,281 approved a series of dirty tricks, in a broad sense, against his enemies. 191 00:11:40,366 --> 00:11:44,786 It was his nature. At this time, he was angry about many things. 192 00:11:45,788 --> 00:11:47,372 Fuck. 193 00:11:49,458 --> 00:11:50,959 [thunder rumbles] 194 00:11:53,879 --> 00:11:55,630 [camera shutter clicking] 195 00:11:55,715 --> 00:11:58,758 What the fuck?! You're not supposed to take pictures of me! 196 00:11:58,843 --> 00:12:01,636 Take pictures of the files! Give me the fuckin' film! 197 00:12:03,472 --> 00:12:05,598 Howard Hunt. 198 00:12:05,683 --> 00:12:10,478 Jesus Christ. You open up that scab, you'll uncover a lot of pus. 199 00:12:10,563 --> 00:12:12,856 What do you mean? 200 00:12:14,525 --> 00:12:16,401 - Where's Hunt now? - He's in hiding. 201 00:12:16,485 --> 00:12:20,655 - He sent Liddy in to talk to Dean. - [Nixon] And? 202 00:12:20,740 --> 00:12:23,908 - He wants money. - Pay him. 203 00:12:23,993 --> 00:12:27,245 Pay him? I told him get out of the country. It's crazy to start... 204 00:12:27,329 --> 00:12:30,957 What the hell are you doing, John, screwing with the CIA? 205 00:12:31,041 --> 00:12:33,084 I don't care how much he wants. Pay him. 206 00:12:33,169 --> 00:12:36,838 - What are we paying him for, sir? - [Stone] Nixon approved the bribe. 207 00:12:36,922 --> 00:12:38,423 Silence. 208 00:12:38,507 --> 00:12:41,342 But you're covered. It's only this Ellsberg thing, 209 00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:44,679 and if that comes out, it's national security. 210 00:12:46,265 --> 00:12:49,017 [Stone] I love this implication of silence. 211 00:12:50,186 --> 00:12:52,479 And Woods rethinking this. 212 00:12:54,106 --> 00:12:57,942 Cut ourselves loose from these clowns, and that's all there is to it. 213 00:12:58,027 --> 00:13:00,612 No, it's more than that. I want Hunt paid. 214 00:13:00,696 --> 00:13:03,740 We've never done that before, sir. How do we do it? 215 00:13:03,824 --> 00:13:08,870 We should set up a Cuban defense fund on this and take care of all of 'em. 216 00:13:08,954 --> 00:13:12,081 - Should we talk to Trini about paying? - [Nixon] Keep Trini out. 217 00:13:12,166 --> 00:13:15,043 And for God's sake, keep Colson out. 218 00:13:15,127 --> 00:13:18,546 It's time to baptize our young counsel here, Mr. Dean. 219 00:13:18,631 --> 00:13:22,425 That means John can never talk about it. Attorney-client privilege. 220 00:13:22,510 --> 00:13:26,346 [Stone laughs] Nixon, of course, was a lawyer. 221 00:13:28,516 --> 00:13:31,684 [Stone laughs] I love that look. 222 00:13:32,895 --> 00:13:34,312 OK. 223 00:13:36,732 --> 00:13:40,151 - Did I approve the Ellsberg thing? - [Stone] A rhetorical question 224 00:13:40,236 --> 00:13:42,153 because he doesn't know the answer. 225 00:13:42,238 --> 00:13:45,573 You make so many decisions as president that sometimes you do forget. 226 00:13:45,658 --> 00:13:49,327 I never approved the break-in at the Ellsbergs'. 227 00:13:49,411 --> 00:13:52,956 - Maybe I approved it after the fact. - [Stone] I love the way he let us in 228 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,165 that he did remember it. 229 00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:57,001 Someday we gotta start transcribing these tapes. 230 00:13:57,086 --> 00:14:01,422 You approved that before the fact because I went over it with you. But... 231 00:14:01,507 --> 00:14:04,092 - No one's gonna see these tapes. - [Stone laughs] 232 00:14:04,176 --> 00:14:08,346 It's more of a problem for Ehrlichman. He fixed Hunt up with the phony CIA IDs. 233 00:14:08,430 --> 00:14:12,767 But... what else does Hunt have on us? 234 00:14:14,478 --> 00:14:17,730 We gotta turn off the FBI, Bob. 235 00:14:17,815 --> 00:14:22,402 You go to the CIA and tell Helms that Hunt is blackmailing the president. 236 00:14:22,486 --> 00:14:26,823 [Stone] this is the smoking tape. It's pretty much verbatim. 237 00:14:26,907 --> 00:14:29,325 ...if he goes public, if Hunt goes public, 238 00:14:29,410 --> 00:14:34,497 it will be a fiasco for the CIA. He'll know what I'm talking about. 239 00:14:34,582 --> 00:14:36,374 - All right. - Play it tough. 240 00:14:36,458 --> 00:14:39,669 That's the way they play it, that's the way we're gonna play it. 241 00:14:39,753 --> 00:14:42,589 - [Stone laughs] - Don't say there's no involvement. 242 00:14:42,673 --> 00:14:46,926 Just say this is a sort of comedy of errors, 243 00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:49,554 - bizarre, without getting into it. - [Stone laughs] 244 00:14:49,638 --> 00:14:51,264 Say the president believes 245 00:14:51,348 --> 00:14:54,851 it's gonna open up the whole Bay of Pigs thing again. 246 00:14:54,935 --> 00:14:57,896 And tell Helms he should call the FBI, call Pat Gray, 247 00:14:57,980 --> 00:15:00,523 and say that we wish, for the sake of the country, 248 00:15:00,608 --> 00:15:04,652 don't go any further into this... hanky-panky... 249 00:15:04,737 --> 00:15:09,365 [Stone laughs] I love Hopkins' acting here. 250 00:15:09,450 --> 00:15:11,784 And Haldeman's an innocent. 251 00:15:11,869 --> 00:15:15,079 Whenever Haldeman would ask Nixon, he would be stonewalled. 252 00:15:15,164 --> 00:15:17,206 [Haldeman] The problem with that, sir, 253 00:15:17,291 --> 00:15:22,003 - it gets us to obstruction ofjustice. - [Nixon] Nothing to do with justice. 254 00:15:22,087 --> 00:15:25,256 - It's national security. - [Haldeman] How is this security? 255 00:15:25,341 --> 00:15:27,508 [Nixon] The president says it is. 256 00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:30,178 Now, this isn't a moral issue, Bob. 257 00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:33,097 Myjob is to protect this country from its enemies, 258 00:15:33,182 --> 00:15:36,351 - and its enemies are inside the walls. - [Stone] then we jump back 259 00:15:36,435 --> 00:15:37,894 to the second time in the room. 260 00:15:37,978 --> 00:15:41,940 [Nixon] ...or our whole program goes down the tubes. 261 00:15:42,024 --> 00:15:46,194 [Stone] He did have a problem with awkwardness. He was taking pills 262 00:15:46,278 --> 00:15:49,322 for a blood clot in his leg that got very serious with stress. 263 00:15:49,406 --> 00:15:51,157 Very serious. He almost died. 264 00:15:51,241 --> 00:15:54,953 Many people say that he was coming undone the last few months under stress. 265 00:15:55,037 --> 00:15:59,248 You can imagine just a few glasses of Scotch, two glasses with these pills, 266 00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:02,794 he's not a drinking man. Probably had a low tolerance for alcohol. 267 00:16:02,878 --> 00:16:05,046 But was slurring in much of the transcripts. 268 00:16:05,130 --> 00:16:09,759 In one transcript, he even slurred an obscenity. 269 00:16:09,843 --> 00:16:12,887 - Expose me like this. - [Haldeman] Why would that threaten us? 270 00:16:12,972 --> 00:16:15,515 - Why don't they fucking shoot me? - [Stone laughs] 271 00:16:16,892 --> 00:16:20,478 I just love that image of a man crawling on the floor. 272 00:16:20,562 --> 00:16:23,898 Talk about persecution. You gotta admit there's a comedic element. 273 00:16:23,983 --> 00:16:26,609 In the election of 1960, with the world around us, 274 00:16:26,694 --> 00:16:31,280 the question is whether the world will exist half-slave or half-free. 275 00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:34,534 [Stone] And this cuts right back again to 1960. 276 00:16:34,618 --> 00:16:39,330 the key moment, people feel, which he lost the '60 election to Kennedy 277 00:16:39,415 --> 00:16:41,833 was the perception Kennedy had won the debate. 278 00:16:41,917 --> 00:16:43,334 When it comes to experience, 279 00:16:43,419 --> 00:16:47,505 through the years I have sat on the National Security Council, 280 00:16:47,589 --> 00:16:49,173 I have been in the cabinet... 281 00:16:49,258 --> 00:16:52,927 [Stone] Kennedy was handsome and Nixon was sweaty and a little sick. 282 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:57,015 It didn't play well on TV. And he bored people with his statistics, 283 00:16:57,099 --> 00:16:59,976 which I tried to show here. these are actual transcripts. 284 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:03,813 - ...two emperors and the Shah of Iran. - Jesus Christ. 285 00:17:03,897 --> 00:17:05,982 Has he told them how many push-ups he can do? 286 00:17:06,066 --> 00:17:08,484 - [Stone laughs] - ...hydroelectric power. 287 00:17:08,569 --> 00:17:11,154 - What happened? - He just got out of the hospital. 288 00:17:11,238 --> 00:17:12,947 He hasn't taken one hour off. 289 00:17:13,032 --> 00:17:15,950 [Nixon] When we consider the line-up of the world... 290 00:17:16,035 --> 00:17:20,830 [Stone] We used a very good stand-in for Kennedy as well as stock footage. 291 00:17:20,914 --> 00:17:23,458 ...800 million people on the Communist side... 292 00:17:23,542 --> 00:17:26,627 - Shoulda slapped makeup on. - It's not a beauty contest. 293 00:17:27,129 --> 00:17:31,632 - We'd better hope not. - ...600 million people who are neutral. 294 00:17:31,717 --> 00:17:34,385 What are you doing to him, Murray? He's not well. 295 00:17:34,470 --> 00:17:38,306 - He doesn't have to debate Kennedy. - [Stone] Introduction of Joan Allen 296 00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:42,143 who I thought had a remarkable resemblance to Pat Nixon, 297 00:17:42,227 --> 00:17:47,482 was a wonderful theater actress in Chicago, who had been in a few movies. 298 00:17:47,566 --> 00:17:50,068 Oh, shit, he's gonna do it. Here it comes. 299 00:17:50,152 --> 00:17:52,028 We've seen Cuba go to the Communists. 300 00:17:52,112 --> 00:17:54,447 Eightjet minutes from the coast of Florida. 301 00:17:54,531 --> 00:17:58,618 We must attempt to strengthen the democratic anti-Castro forces in exile. 302 00:17:58,702 --> 00:18:01,746 These fighters have had no support from our government. 303 00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:03,581 - Son of a bitch! - What? 304 00:18:03,665 --> 00:18:06,918 Kennedy was briefed last week by CIA. He's using it against us. 305 00:18:07,002 --> 00:18:08,920 We can't respond, he welshed on a deal. 306 00:18:09,004 --> 00:18:12,548 [Stone] Of course, the debate is still shrouded in mystery. 307 00:18:12,633 --> 00:18:15,426 Kennedy was briefed by the CIA. 308 00:18:15,511 --> 00:18:19,931 Nixon believes that he revealed national security secrets here. 309 00:18:20,015 --> 00:18:23,643 the counterargument is that Kennedy was ignorant of all this stuff. 310 00:18:23,727 --> 00:18:27,480 As he himself said, Eisenhower barely briefed him on Vietnam. 311 00:18:27,773 --> 00:18:30,942 - [man] Mr. Nixon. - Yeah. 312 00:18:31,026 --> 00:18:33,861 [Stone] the foreshadowing that he would be a loser. 313 00:18:33,946 --> 00:18:37,573 I think that's the sort of very dangerous 314 00:18:37,658 --> 00:18:40,451 - and irresponsible suggestion that... - It's over. 315 00:18:40,536 --> 00:18:43,579 [Stone] Nixon could not play the common man. He was too smart. 316 00:18:43,664 --> 00:18:46,958 Kennedy would come on as the prince, Nixon as the common man. 317 00:18:47,042 --> 00:18:50,711 But he didn't have the empathy of the common man. 318 00:18:52,214 --> 00:18:54,340 [man] It's still very close. 319 00:18:56,009 --> 00:19:00,263 Senator Kennedy's lead is about 700,000. 320 00:19:00,347 --> 00:19:03,349 [Haldeman] Think Daley stuffed the ballot boxes? 321 00:19:03,433 --> 00:19:07,145 [Stone] there was many strong feelings the Kennedys barely scraped by 322 00:19:07,229 --> 00:19:11,566 and may have stolen the election with Mob help. 323 00:19:11,650 --> 00:19:15,194 In Chicago, with Richard Daley and maybe in West Virginia. 324 00:19:15,279 --> 00:19:18,865 If that were the case, there's a theory that the Mob expected to be 325 00:19:18,949 --> 00:19:20,867 better treated by Robert Kennedy. 326 00:19:20,951 --> 00:19:24,954 All his following investigations against Hoffa and teamsters. Quite a war. 327 00:19:25,038 --> 00:19:26,998 Some say it lead to the assassination, 328 00:19:27,082 --> 00:19:29,876 but I have reasons to doubt that. 329 00:19:30,961 --> 00:19:35,756 [man] Who's gonna do the counting? The Democrats control Texas, Illinois. 330 00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:39,343 - We shift 25,000 votes in two states. - And how long will that take? 331 00:19:39,428 --> 00:19:42,763 - Six months, a year? - What happens to the country? 332 00:19:42,848 --> 00:19:45,766 If I'd called his shot on Cuba, I'd have won. 333 00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:47,935 - That's what I say. - Made me look soft. 334 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:49,478 "I feel very sorry for Nixon 335 00:19:49,563 --> 00:19:52,398 because he does not know who he is." You believe this? 336 00:19:52,482 --> 00:19:56,319 "At each stop he has to decide which Nixon he's going to be at the moment, 337 00:19:56,403 --> 00:19:59,697 which must be very exhausting." Jack Kennedy. 338 00:19:59,781 --> 00:20:03,034 [Stone] this is what Kennedy actually said to him at the time. 339 00:20:03,118 --> 00:20:06,954 these are quotes from some of Kennedy's campaign speeches. 340 00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:10,708 "If you vote for Nixon, then you oughta go to hell." Harry S. Truman. 341 00:20:10,792 --> 00:20:13,044 That's what killed us, Dick, not Cuba. 342 00:20:13,128 --> 00:20:17,673 It's the personality problem. You gonna let the Democrats get away with this? 343 00:20:19,301 --> 00:20:23,387 Goes to Harvard. His father hands him everything on a silver platter. 344 00:20:23,472 --> 00:20:25,848 All my life, they've been sticking it to me. 345 00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:32,021 Not the right clothes, not the right schools, not the right family. 346 00:20:32,105 --> 00:20:34,232 And then he steals from me. 347 00:20:34,316 --> 00:20:38,736 [laughs] He says I have no class, and they love him for it. 348 00:20:38,820 --> 00:20:41,405 Dick, you're only 47. 349 00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:44,408 If you contest this election, you'll be finished. 350 00:20:44,493 --> 00:20:49,205 You gotta swallow this one. They stole it fair and square. 351 00:20:50,332 --> 00:20:51,874 We'll get 'em next time, Dick. 352 00:20:55,462 --> 00:20:57,588 We'll get 'em next time. 353 00:21:00,008 --> 00:21:03,636 What makes you think there's gonna be a next time, Murray? 354 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,181 Because if he's not this Nixon, 355 00:21:07,266 --> 00:21:08,933 he's nobody. 356 00:21:12,604 --> 00:21:14,939 - [man] Good morning, sir. - Hi. 357 00:21:24,449 --> 00:21:27,535 - Hi. - [Pat] Hi. 358 00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:30,705 We lost. 359 00:21:32,124 --> 00:21:33,749 I know. 360 00:21:35,043 --> 00:21:37,169 I hate to lose. 361 00:21:42,217 --> 00:21:44,427 It makes us human. 362 00:21:44,511 --> 00:21:46,429 It's not fair, Buddy. 363 00:21:48,432 --> 00:21:51,475 I can take the insults, I can take the name-calling. 364 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,187 But I can't take the losing. I hate it. 365 00:21:59,776 --> 00:22:03,279 We don't have to put ourselves through this again, Dick. 366 00:22:04,698 --> 00:22:07,325 We worked for it. We earned it. 367 00:22:07,409 --> 00:22:11,245 - It's ours. - [Pat] It is. We know that. 368 00:22:13,582 --> 00:22:15,833 And it's enough that we know. 369 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,343 [Stone] this is a very telling scene. 370 00:22:25,427 --> 00:22:29,722 As you may know, he almost quit politics here. He definitely quit in '62, 371 00:22:29,806 --> 00:22:32,600 when he lost the governorship of California to Ed Brown. 372 00:22:32,684 --> 00:22:36,062 that was a real shock to his system. He couldn't even be a governor. 373 00:22:47,407 --> 00:22:51,243 Maybe I should get out of the game. 374 00:22:52,204 --> 00:22:54,538 What do you think, Buddy? 375 00:22:54,623 --> 00:22:57,875 And go back to being a lawyer. 376 00:22:57,959 --> 00:23:02,171 End up with something solid, some money at the end of the line. 377 00:23:03,507 --> 00:23:05,091 You know, I, uh... 378 00:23:07,177 --> 00:23:10,596 I keep thinking of my old man tonight. 379 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,934 - He was a failure too. - You're not a failure, Dick. 380 00:23:15,018 --> 00:23:18,521 You know how much money he had in the bank when he died? 381 00:23:19,856 --> 00:23:22,066 Nothing. 382 00:23:22,150 --> 00:23:24,318 He was so damned honest. 383 00:23:26,029 --> 00:23:29,240 But I miss him. 384 00:23:29,324 --> 00:23:32,660 I miss him a hell of a lot. 385 00:23:32,744 --> 00:23:37,164 [Stone] Almost like he misses that honesty that he long ago surrendered. 386 00:23:37,249 --> 00:23:41,544 I love this beginning with the orange groves ofWhittier, where he grew up. 387 00:23:41,628 --> 00:23:46,507 We went to another feeling with Mary Steenburgen, who has a classic face. 388 00:23:50,220 --> 00:23:52,263 Gas station. 389 00:23:54,015 --> 00:23:58,519 We shot it down in Orange County, not too far from Whittier. 390 00:24:00,522 --> 00:24:03,983 Tony Goldwyn plays the older brother. He was the charismatic one. 391 00:24:06,361 --> 00:24:08,070 And there's Dick. 392 00:24:10,490 --> 00:24:12,616 - How is thy son? - Very well, thank you. 393 00:24:12,701 --> 00:24:17,246 - What'd he say? - [Stone] qather's played by Tom Bower, 394 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:22,626 one of the really underrated actors, a very stern-faced qrank Nixon, 395 00:24:22,711 --> 00:24:25,379 who was as tough as they come, apparently. 396 00:24:25,464 --> 00:24:27,631 One of those tough Irish immigrant types. 397 00:24:27,716 --> 00:24:33,137 Drank, but serious, strong and died broke. 398 00:24:33,221 --> 00:24:36,223 - Relax, Dick. - [register rings] 399 00:24:39,186 --> 00:24:42,980 [Stone] Mary is an interesting actress 'cause she suggests both strength... 400 00:24:43,064 --> 00:24:45,983 that's my son there, again, sneaks into the movie. 401 00:24:46,067 --> 00:24:48,694 I have to keep track of him by diary. that's my diary. 402 00:24:48,778 --> 00:24:54,158 Mary has soFt beauty. At the same time, I sense a will of steel underneath, 403 00:24:54,242 --> 00:24:57,578 which makes her perfect for Hannah Nixon, 404 00:24:57,662 --> 00:25:01,832 who I think is one of the key elements in the story, like Agnes Moorehead 405 00:25:01,917 --> 00:25:03,918 may have been in Kane. 406 00:25:05,962 --> 00:25:11,008 [Hannah] Let Harold's worldliness be a warning to thee, not an example. 407 00:25:11,092 --> 00:25:14,428 [Stone] She talks to him in the most soothing way, 408 00:25:14,513 --> 00:25:17,014 but she terrifies him. 409 00:25:17,098 --> 00:25:20,226 Harold may have lost touch with his Bible, 410 00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:23,103 but thee must never lapse. 411 00:25:25,357 --> 00:25:26,982 Now, give it to me. 412 00:25:32,948 --> 00:25:36,450 [Stone] I think he was held to a standard of tremendous pressure 413 00:25:36,535 --> 00:25:39,370 by his mother in her perfectionism. 414 00:25:39,454 --> 00:25:43,040 I think it affected his life because he was unable to live up to that, 415 00:25:43,124 --> 00:25:47,503 as anybody would be. As a result, allowed himself many black areas 416 00:25:47,587 --> 00:25:51,131 to develop in his soul so that he could lie 417 00:25:51,216 --> 00:25:55,719 and escape his mother's overwhelmingness. 418 00:25:57,013 --> 00:25:59,306 Mother, I'm sorry. It was... 419 00:25:59,391 --> 00:26:01,976 It was just one time. 420 00:26:02,060 --> 00:26:04,562 [Stone] the grandmother spoke in Quaker dialogue. 421 00:26:04,646 --> 00:26:08,649 I transferred it to Hannah Nixon because I wanted the audience to at least 422 00:26:08,733 --> 00:26:13,237 understand influences that surrounded Nixon growing up, "thees" and "thous." 423 00:26:13,321 --> 00:26:15,322 No, please, don't... 424 00:26:15,407 --> 00:26:19,868 [Stone] And qrank Nixon would take the kids behind the woodshed with a strap. 425 00:26:19,953 --> 00:26:23,247 She never laid a hand on them, but it was enough to... 426 00:26:23,331 --> 00:26:25,958 What she could do with her voice was enough. 427 00:26:28,169 --> 00:26:30,713 Then this shall be our little secret. 428 00:26:35,802 --> 00:26:38,637 Remember, I see into thy soul. 429 00:26:39,889 --> 00:26:43,559 Thee may fool the world, even thy father, 430 00:26:43,643 --> 00:26:47,563 but not me, Richard. Never me. 431 00:26:50,108 --> 00:26:51,775 Mother... 432 00:26:52,777 --> 00:26:55,029 ...think of me always as thy faithful dog. 433 00:26:55,113 --> 00:26:58,073 [Stone] He actually wrote a letter to his mother at that time 434 00:26:58,158 --> 00:27:03,078 when he was in the fourth grade, I believe, signed it "your faithful dog." 435 00:27:11,004 --> 00:27:13,631 the mother, of course, under the Quaker laws 436 00:27:13,715 --> 00:27:19,261 kept food for passing people who were in need during the Depression. 437 00:27:23,224 --> 00:27:26,685 - Richard. - Is it my turn? 438 00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:33,442 Oh, Heavenly Father, we humbly thank you... 439 00:27:33,526 --> 00:27:36,612 I'll do it. There's a couple of things I wanna say. 440 00:27:36,696 --> 00:27:40,407 [Stone laughs] that's Tom Bower as the father, qrank. 441 00:27:40,492 --> 00:27:45,162 This blood pays the bills, Hannah. I'm not ashamed of how I earn my money. 442 00:27:45,246 --> 00:27:47,206 [clears throat] 443 00:27:48,166 --> 00:27:50,167 Heavenly Father, 444 00:27:50,251 --> 00:27:53,504 you told Adam in the garden, after that business with the snake, 445 00:27:53,588 --> 00:27:58,300 that man would have to earn his way by the sweat of his face. 446 00:27:58,385 --> 00:28:00,552 Well, as far as I can tell, Father, 447 00:28:00,637 --> 00:28:04,515 what was true in Eden is true in Whittier, California. 448 00:28:04,599 --> 00:28:08,686 So we ask you now to remind certain of our young people 449 00:28:08,770 --> 00:28:12,648 the only way to get a new suit to go to the promenade with Margaret O'Herlihy, 450 00:28:12,732 --> 00:28:15,484 who happens to be a Catholic, by the way, 451 00:28:15,568 --> 00:28:19,947 - is to work for it. Amen. - [Stone laughs] 452 00:28:20,031 --> 00:28:22,032 - Amen. - Amen. 453 00:28:22,117 --> 00:28:25,869 - Amen. - Are we gonna pray now, Daddy? 454 00:28:25,954 --> 00:28:29,289 - [Stone laughs] - You think this is funny? 455 00:28:29,374 --> 00:28:32,835 Maybe a trip to the woodshed'll straighten you out. 456 00:28:32,919 --> 00:28:36,255 Pretty soon you boys are gonna have to get out there and scratch. 457 00:28:36,339 --> 00:28:39,216 'Cause you're not gonna get anywhere on your good looks. 458 00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:41,468 - Just ask those fellas. - [Stone laughs] 459 00:28:41,553 --> 00:28:44,012 Charity's only gonna get you so far, 460 00:28:44,097 --> 00:28:46,849 even with saints like your mother around. 461 00:28:46,933 --> 00:28:49,977 Struggle's what gives life meaning. Not victory, struggle. 462 00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:53,564 [Stone] My son's playing Donald, turns out to be the crook in the family. 463 00:28:54,941 --> 00:28:58,068 And then you end up in the street with your hand out. 464 00:28:58,153 --> 00:29:01,572 [Stone] Pretty scary vision for young Richard, 465 00:29:01,656 --> 00:29:04,825 who's gonna lose two of these brothers to early death. 466 00:29:05,910 --> 00:29:09,455 "My father struggled his whole life" is true. He suffered and struggled. 467 00:29:09,539 --> 00:29:12,541 - He scratched. - [Nixon] ...but they never beat him. 468 00:29:12,625 --> 00:29:18,046 I always tried to remember that, when things didn't go my way. 469 00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:20,883 Let's really get fired up now! 470 00:29:20,967 --> 00:29:23,552 [Stone] Here's the middle Nixon. 471 00:29:23,636 --> 00:29:26,722 He was a punching bag on the Whittier football team. 472 00:29:26,806 --> 00:29:28,807 Mostly a water boy. 473 00:29:30,143 --> 00:29:34,730 But we had fun shooting these old football-style... 474 00:29:36,608 --> 00:29:39,359 - What's Nixon doing here? - He thinks he can make it. 475 00:29:39,444 --> 00:29:41,945 Four years of being a tackling dummy. Poor guy. 476 00:29:42,030 --> 00:29:44,948 - All right! Let's go, defense! - Hike! 477 00:29:45,033 --> 00:29:47,659 [Stone] He did have grit. He would stick out there 478 00:29:47,744 --> 00:29:49,286 and play until he was bleeding. 479 00:29:49,370 --> 00:29:54,082 Worst athlete I've ever seen. But he's got guts. 480 00:29:57,128 --> 00:29:59,379 OK, let's go! Let's do it! 481 00:29:59,464 --> 00:30:01,632 [man] In California's gubernatorial race, 482 00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:04,760 Richard Nixon has returned to the political arena... 483 00:30:04,844 --> 00:30:07,971 [Stone] Again, we do another time shiFt. It gets complicated. 484 00:30:08,056 --> 00:30:10,057 I don't even count the time shiFts. 485 00:30:10,141 --> 00:30:14,102 Brown's campaign has benefited greatly from the support of President Kennedy, 486 00:30:14,187 --> 00:30:16,563 while Nixon has had trouble convincing voters 487 00:30:16,648 --> 00:30:18,941 this is not another run for the presidency. 488 00:30:19,025 --> 00:30:21,193 With only a few precincts left unreported, 489 00:30:21,277 --> 00:30:23,153 indications are of another defeat... 490 00:30:23,238 --> 00:30:27,157 [Stone] Instead of going into newsreel fashion to the vice presidency, 491 00:30:27,242 --> 00:30:32,454 we jump from Whittier back to '62, the close of his political career, 492 00:30:32,539 --> 00:30:37,668 sort of paralleling the defeat in 1960. We go from there 493 00:30:37,752 --> 00:30:41,004 back to the newsreel, March of Time, 494 00:30:41,089 --> 00:30:44,383 which will give us the fill-in the rest of the Nixon background. 495 00:30:44,467 --> 00:30:47,052 It's very important and I like the idea 496 00:30:47,136 --> 00:30:50,514 because in Citizen Kane they do the March of Time at the beginning, 497 00:30:50,598 --> 00:30:52,766 tell you the whole prologue. In this case, 498 00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:57,437 it was very clever to put the documentary of his life 499 00:30:57,522 --> 00:31:00,649 in the first third of the movie, but not the beginning. 500 00:31:00,733 --> 00:31:02,317 [Pat] I'm glad they don't, Dick. 501 00:31:02,402 --> 00:31:06,530 I'm glad they don't because life is tough and it is unfair 502 00:31:06,614 --> 00:31:09,950 and sometimes you forget that in your self pity. 503 00:31:11,870 --> 00:31:15,956 [Stone] In 1962, according to our researchers, the closest 504 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,375 the Nixons came to divorce. 505 00:31:18,459 --> 00:31:20,252 - [bangs keys] - Cocksucker! 506 00:31:23,923 --> 00:31:27,050 Don't you want to listen to Governor Brown's victory speech? 507 00:31:27,135 --> 00:31:30,554 Nope. Not going to listen to any more speeches ever again. 508 00:31:30,638 --> 00:31:32,598 Amen to that. 509 00:31:32,682 --> 00:31:33,807 It's over, Dick. 510 00:31:35,268 --> 00:31:37,978 - I'll concede in the morning. - Not that. 511 00:31:38,062 --> 00:31:40,522 [playing classical piano] 512 00:31:47,822 --> 00:31:49,156 Buddy? 513 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,076 [Stone] I was criticized, but research revealed that he called her Buddy 514 00:31:53,161 --> 00:31:55,787 early on in their relationship. 515 00:31:55,872 --> 00:31:59,333 this may not have been the case, we could be wrong, but we went 516 00:31:59,417 --> 00:32:03,211 to Brodie's Richard Nixon and Roger Morris' Richard Nixon 517 00:32:03,296 --> 00:32:08,634 and Pat's yearbook photograph file, she was called Buddy. 518 00:32:08,718 --> 00:32:11,720 I concede that maybe later in their life, as people get older, 519 00:32:11,804 --> 00:32:15,223 they drop the nicknames, go back to a formal name. I don't know. 520 00:32:15,308 --> 00:32:19,227 But it's quite possible to me that he called her Buddy at this time. 521 00:32:19,312 --> 00:32:23,982 But it's not a make-or-break point, as critics tried to make it. 522 00:32:24,067 --> 00:32:27,152 "Stone's got it wrong again." How can you get everything right? 523 00:32:27,236 --> 00:32:30,822 You're behind closed doors here. We don't know that this scene happened. 524 00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:34,910 We imagined it from our research. this is what we developed. 525 00:32:34,994 --> 00:32:39,790 We go behind closed doors. this is the dramatist's license we have. 526 00:32:39,874 --> 00:32:44,378 I don't know that I have to always defend myself, but I may have to. 527 00:32:47,924 --> 00:32:51,093 It's as if I, I don't know, just went to sleep a long time ago 528 00:32:51,177 --> 00:32:53,387 and missed the years between. 529 00:32:55,890 --> 00:32:57,432 I've had enough. 530 00:33:00,103 --> 00:33:03,271 What are you saying? What are you talking about? 531 00:33:05,358 --> 00:33:06,858 I want a divorce. 532 00:33:08,611 --> 00:33:12,948 My God. Divorce? What about the girls? 533 00:33:15,076 --> 00:33:17,411 The girls'll grow up. 534 00:33:17,495 --> 00:33:21,957 [Stone] this is a powerful scene for Joan. She establishes strength. 535 00:33:22,041 --> 00:33:25,335 She had been a political wife up to this point. In '62, 536 00:33:25,420 --> 00:33:28,839 an age of liberation. Kennedys are in office, Jackie Kennedy. 537 00:33:28,923 --> 00:33:33,301 Sexual liberation. I would imagine Pat would, in several points of his life, 538 00:33:33,386 --> 00:33:38,974 been fed up with the unromantic nature of Dick Nixon. 539 00:33:39,058 --> 00:33:42,561 She was a shy person, it seems. Meeting so many political people 540 00:33:42,645 --> 00:33:47,024 and the public, as a politician's role, it must have been exhausting to her. 541 00:33:47,108 --> 00:33:51,570 I love this scene, the way it's written. And I love their acting. 542 00:33:51,654 --> 00:33:55,532 He's... He lies to her at the end. 543 00:33:55,616 --> 00:33:57,659 We've been through too much together. 544 00:33:57,744 --> 00:34:00,037 We belong together. 545 00:34:00,121 --> 00:34:03,290 That's what you said the first time we met. 546 00:34:03,958 --> 00:34:06,126 You didn't even know me. 547 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:08,920 Oh, yes, I did. 548 00:34:11,632 --> 00:34:15,385 [Stone] He approached her, courted her, without really knowing her. 549 00:34:15,470 --> 00:34:19,890 He met her at a play rehearsal. He was an actor, she was an actress. 550 00:34:19,974 --> 00:34:24,394 In fact, on their first dates, he drove her to the date with another guy. 551 00:34:24,479 --> 00:34:26,813 He never even asked her himself. 552 00:34:27,607 --> 00:34:30,067 So strong. 553 00:34:30,151 --> 00:34:32,360 - So beautiful. - Hi, I'm Pat Ryan. 554 00:34:32,737 --> 00:34:35,655 [Stone] I love John Williams' music here. 555 00:34:35,740 --> 00:34:38,909 - [Pat] It's a pleasure to meet you. - [Richard] Pleasure to meet you. 556 00:34:38,993 --> 00:34:42,079 - [trolley bell ringing] - [Stone] A sense of Orange County, 557 00:34:42,163 --> 00:34:45,457 the beauty of the '30s. 558 00:34:47,502 --> 00:34:49,753 And here he is, driving the date. 559 00:34:49,837 --> 00:34:52,047 tyrue story. [laughs] 560 00:34:55,176 --> 00:34:57,010 [Richard] Well, in a way, yes. 561 00:34:57,095 --> 00:34:59,262 Don't tell me you've been cutting my part. 562 00:34:59,347 --> 00:35:02,724 Of course, honey, you know I would never deceive you. Don't you? 563 00:35:02,809 --> 00:35:04,851 [fireworks whistling] 564 00:35:09,107 --> 00:35:14,611 [Stone] then we use young actors and we went to the beautiful church 565 00:35:14,695 --> 00:35:17,280 where they were actually married, I believe, 566 00:35:17,365 --> 00:35:23,328 Uh, Escondido, down in Orange County. We shot in a home-movie style. 567 00:35:23,412 --> 00:35:27,541 Dick went to the Navy, played poker most of his four years. 568 00:35:27,625 --> 00:35:30,335 Made a lot of money playing poker 569 00:35:30,419 --> 00:35:34,714 and was involved in administration and moving to cargo. Didn't see any combat. 570 00:35:36,676 --> 00:35:40,679 Became very knowledgeable about bureaucracy's parts, 571 00:35:40,763 --> 00:35:43,974 moving things, one of the brightest presidents we ever had. 572 00:35:44,058 --> 00:35:47,435 He actually could read a budget and he could go over detail. 573 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:52,315 He was a very good administrative officer, no question about it. 574 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,277 AFter the war, also selling tires, all the used parts. 575 00:35:55,361 --> 00:35:58,989 there was a huge industry in America. He was part of that, benefited from it. 576 00:35:59,073 --> 00:36:01,241 We can be happy. 577 00:36:02,535 --> 00:36:04,870 We really can. 578 00:36:04,954 --> 00:36:07,998 [Stone] Went to Congress from California as a Republican 579 00:36:08,082 --> 00:36:12,043 in the first wave of post-war enthusiasm, 580 00:36:12,128 --> 00:36:16,173 Republican can-doism, which is sort of basically stripping the New Deal 581 00:36:16,257 --> 00:36:19,676 from Roosevelt, because the New Deal still was bitterly resented 582 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,970 as government interference, socialism. 583 00:36:22,054 --> 00:36:26,933 So Nixon was part of that first wave of Republicans in post-war years. 584 00:36:28,019 --> 00:36:31,771 I'll do it. No more. 585 00:36:31,856 --> 00:36:34,065 [Stone] that's a key moment. 586 00:36:34,150 --> 00:36:35,775 Are you serious? 587 00:36:37,153 --> 00:36:39,654 Yeah. I'm out. 588 00:36:41,157 --> 00:36:42,449 Is that the truth? 589 00:36:42,533 --> 00:36:45,911 [Stone] the acting of these two is so phenomenal. 590 00:36:45,995 --> 00:36:49,497 the way they relate to each other visually. 591 00:36:49,582 --> 00:36:52,375 they both read each other so well. 592 00:36:54,795 --> 00:36:56,963 His beard. We really worked his beard. 593 00:36:57,048 --> 00:37:00,217 I love you, Buddy. 594 00:37:00,301 --> 00:37:04,554 [Stone] We made this scene... Tender as it is, this is our interpretation. 595 00:37:04,639 --> 00:37:08,558 We made this in motivation for this following scene in which he quit. 596 00:37:08,643 --> 00:37:13,104 If you remember, he said the wrongs things that night. 597 00:37:13,189 --> 00:37:18,485 the press hated him for it. "You don't have Nixon to kick around anymore." 598 00:37:18,569 --> 00:37:22,656 But perhaps we're suggesting it was motivated by this promise to his wife 599 00:37:22,740 --> 00:37:25,742 to get out of politics, which he apparently made, 600 00:37:25,826 --> 00:37:29,246 and which he will do here. But he doesn't wanna give up. He's a fighter. 601 00:37:29,330 --> 00:37:32,123 - It's against his very nature. - Just a second! 602 00:37:32,208 --> 00:37:34,918 Some quiet, please. Quiet! 603 00:37:35,002 --> 00:37:37,420 - [reporters shouting] - Thank you! 604 00:37:38,422 --> 00:37:40,590 - [man] Mr. Nixon! - Uh... Ahem. 605 00:37:40,675 --> 00:37:45,178 I believe Governor Brown has a heart, 606 00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:47,847 even though he believes I do not. 607 00:37:47,932 --> 00:37:51,935 [Stone] He said these words. We composited them. 608 00:37:52,019 --> 00:37:54,604 ...even though he feels I am not. 609 00:37:54,689 --> 00:37:59,276 I'm proud of the fact that I defended my opponent's patriotism. 610 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,445 [Stone] It was a very defensive speech, perceived as such. 611 00:38:02,530 --> 00:38:06,116 We shot it in the style, uh, to emphasize 612 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,536 the, uh, fragmentation of his nature. 613 00:38:10,997 --> 00:38:15,417 He had reasons to be angry. He did get the shaFt from the media. 614 00:38:15,501 --> 00:38:19,337 No question about it. On the other hand, he did a lot to deserve the shaFt. 615 00:38:19,422 --> 00:38:22,299 But recognize you have a responsibility, 616 00:38:22,383 --> 00:38:25,802 if you're against the candidate, to give him the shaft. 617 00:38:25,886 --> 00:38:29,556 But if you do that, at least put one lonely reporter on the campaign 618 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:34,144 who will report what the candidate says now and then. Uh... 619 00:38:34,228 --> 00:38:39,190 I think, all in all, I've given as good as I've taken. 620 00:38:39,275 --> 00:38:41,318 [Stone] this will be debated eternally. 621 00:38:41,402 --> 00:38:45,071 Nixon as anti-communist crusader of the '40s and '50s, 622 00:38:45,156 --> 00:38:49,242 breaking Alger Hiss is one perception of him by the right. 623 00:38:49,327 --> 00:38:52,579 the one from the leFt is he broke any rules he could 624 00:38:52,663 --> 00:38:55,332 to persecute communism, 625 00:38:55,416 --> 00:38:58,835 which led to the Watergate problem. Watergate was a culmination 626 00:38:58,919 --> 00:39:02,547 of a career of lying and dirty tricks. 627 00:39:02,631 --> 00:39:06,009 the irony is Watergate is about nothing. they never found anything. 628 00:39:06,093 --> 00:39:09,054 So it's the silliest thing that always traps you. 629 00:39:09,138 --> 00:39:12,349 If you have bad habits, those habits continue through your life. 630 00:39:12,433 --> 00:39:14,809 those bad habits will undo you. 631 00:39:14,894 --> 00:39:19,022 And oFten will be the most banal of the bad habits. 632 00:39:19,106 --> 00:39:21,983 Here's where we go into the past, and I love the way we did it 633 00:39:22,068 --> 00:39:24,444 because his career is over. 634 00:39:26,113 --> 00:39:28,615 that was our original nose on Tony. It was too big. 635 00:39:28,699 --> 00:39:31,409 But we were shooting early stills, so we leFt it in. 636 00:39:31,494 --> 00:39:33,328 We didn't have money to re-shoot it. 637 00:39:33,412 --> 00:39:36,289 You'll see the nose looks like a proboscis there. 638 00:39:36,874 --> 00:39:38,875 [man] Running as a South Pacific veteran, 639 00:39:38,959 --> 00:39:41,127 victories over Congressman Jerry Voorhis 640 00:39:41,212 --> 00:39:44,547 and Senator Helen Gahagan Douglas made it clear that, to Nixon, 641 00:39:44,632 --> 00:39:48,551 politics was war. He didn't have opponents, he had enemies. 642 00:39:48,636 --> 00:39:51,554 Why, she's pink, right down to her underwear! 643 00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:55,558 [Stone] the March of Time at the third-way point is surprising 644 00:39:55,643 --> 00:39:57,769 because where are you gonna go from there? 645 00:39:57,853 --> 00:40:00,730 Where you gonna go? His political obituary is written. 646 00:40:00,815 --> 00:40:05,110 In fact, five nights aFterward, ABC TV ran a program titled 647 00:40:05,194 --> 00:40:08,196 The Political Obituary of Richard Nixon. 648 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:10,657 [man] ...intimate of FDR and Oliver Wendell Holmes, 649 00:40:10,741 --> 00:40:13,326 Alger Hiss was a State Department diplomat 650 00:40:13,411 --> 00:40:16,996 accused by freelance journalist Whittaker Chambers of passing... 651 00:40:17,081 --> 00:40:21,251 [Stone] this will always be in contention. Chambers was the accuser, 652 00:40:21,335 --> 00:40:23,002 Hiss the defendant. 653 00:40:24,338 --> 00:40:28,049 Many of the neo-conservatives have come forward with this attack on Hiss, 654 00:40:28,134 --> 00:40:31,636 which is based on supposed deconstruction of the files. 655 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:36,182 But this has not been examined enough. It's hard to find the evidence 656 00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:40,770 that Hiss was this malevolent traitor. He was not. He was very much... 657 00:40:40,855 --> 00:40:43,106 I met the man as an old man, fascinated by him. 658 00:40:43,190 --> 00:40:46,985 I'm not saying I knew the answers, but I certainly sensed in him 659 00:40:47,069 --> 00:40:50,280 a conviction of being an American and proud of it, 660 00:40:50,364 --> 00:40:53,032 and a conviction he'd been wronged by this man, Nixon, 661 00:40:53,117 --> 00:40:57,454 because he was a traveler, a fellow traveler, with the Soviet Union, 662 00:40:57,538 --> 00:40:59,789 as were many intelligent people in the '30s. 663 00:40:59,874 --> 00:41:02,292 Henry Wallace, our vice president, was. 664 00:41:02,376 --> 00:41:07,380 And Wallace was one of the great visionaries. these people were really 665 00:41:07,465 --> 00:41:10,717 scalded by people like Nixon and McCarthy. 666 00:41:10,801 --> 00:41:14,721 [man] His speeches, if more subtle than those of his Republican ally... 667 00:41:14,805 --> 00:41:18,266 [Stone] Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, when I was a child in New York, 668 00:41:18,350 --> 00:41:21,644 was a staggering event. that's John Dean, by the way... 669 00:41:21,729 --> 00:41:23,730 [laughs] ...playing one of our extras. 670 00:41:25,107 --> 00:41:29,486 It's funny that Nixon made a large reputation attacking Mao 671 00:41:29,570 --> 00:41:33,072 and, of course, reconciled with him later, historically. 672 00:41:33,157 --> 00:41:36,910 that was Oppenheimer, another suspected communist spy. 673 00:41:36,994 --> 00:41:39,329 He was the head of our atomic energy program 674 00:41:39,413 --> 00:41:42,832 and who many people believe... I don't think so, 675 00:41:42,917 --> 00:41:45,919 but was concerned about world peace to the degree that he felt 676 00:41:46,003 --> 00:41:50,632 that if there was a mutual ability to destroy, there would be no war 677 00:41:50,716 --> 00:41:53,801 which is what we pursued for many years unofficially. 678 00:41:53,886 --> 00:41:58,181 It's called MADD. Mutual assured destructive deterrence. 679 00:41:58,265 --> 00:42:02,018 ...a complete financial history. Everything I've earned... 680 00:42:02,102 --> 00:42:04,646 [man] The list included their house, Oldsmobile, 681 00:42:04,730 --> 00:42:08,816 Pat's Republican cloth coat. And lastly, in what was to become history, 682 00:42:08,901 --> 00:42:11,986 - a sentimental gift... - [Stone] Checkers speech. 683 00:42:12,738 --> 00:42:17,700 Regarded by many as a new low in political groveling. 684 00:42:17,785 --> 00:42:22,121 But it was, to Nixon, a highlight of his life. In his Six Crises book, 685 00:42:22,206 --> 00:42:25,375 he considered that a major crisis, which he resolved 686 00:42:25,459 --> 00:42:30,046 with his triumphant speech about his little pet dog. 687 00:42:30,130 --> 00:42:32,507 It was one of the first really event things 688 00:42:32,591 --> 00:42:34,926 that happened on national television 689 00:42:35,010 --> 00:42:36,803 in black and white back then. 690 00:42:36,887 --> 00:42:40,056 [man] He stayed on the scene, serving two terms as vice president 691 00:42:40,140 --> 00:42:44,310 under Eisenhower, against Khrushchev at the Kitchen Debate in Moscow 692 00:42:44,395 --> 00:42:50,191 and stoned by Latin mobs in Venezuela. Nixon once again became a national hero. 693 00:42:50,276 --> 00:42:53,361 [Stone] Some nice digital work is in here. 694 00:42:53,445 --> 00:42:57,031 [man] ...and Pat Brown in California in '62. 695 00:42:59,118 --> 00:43:02,370 [Stone] the governorship of California is what stunned him. 696 00:43:02,454 --> 00:43:07,417 He should not have lost it, he thought. But he was out of touch with that time. 697 00:43:07,501 --> 00:43:11,629 We try to emphasize it here with that moment, that stop-frame moment. 698 00:43:12,923 --> 00:43:15,550 We shoot forward in time into the future. 699 00:43:17,344 --> 00:43:19,012 New York. 700 00:43:20,848 --> 00:43:23,433 that's Madeline Kahn, the late Madeline Kahn, 701 00:43:23,517 --> 00:43:27,770 who I admired so much from many films, including Mel Brooks', 702 00:43:27,855 --> 00:43:32,442 but we didn't have much for her to do. the little I could, I tried to use. 703 00:43:32,526 --> 00:43:34,986 E.G. Marshall is John Mitchell. 704 00:43:35,070 --> 00:43:38,656 E.G. Marshall's another icon I always died to work with. 705 00:43:38,741 --> 00:43:42,619 E.G. was a guy like Y.A. tyittle, who looked the same age in the '50s 706 00:43:42,703 --> 00:43:46,080 as he did then. He never aged. [laughs] 707 00:43:46,165 --> 00:43:48,124 He had that great New England face 708 00:43:48,208 --> 00:43:53,921 and that flinty Americanism that we find in short supply. 709 00:43:54,006 --> 00:43:56,549 Typical of the press, they wouldn't correct it. 710 00:43:56,634 --> 00:43:59,302 I think we oughta catch Rocky before he leaves. 711 00:44:00,721 --> 00:44:03,139 [Stone] Rocky was played by Edward Herrmann. 712 00:44:03,223 --> 00:44:07,852 And I cut the scene too much, I think. But I loved Herrmann's performance. 713 00:44:07,936 --> 00:44:10,355 Great theater actor and a fine film actor. 714 00:44:10,439 --> 00:44:13,733 Dick Nixon is as misunderstood as a fox in a henhouse. 715 00:44:13,817 --> 00:44:16,986 And do you know why? Because, my darlin', 716 00:44:17,071 --> 00:44:19,322 they all think that your smile and your face 717 00:44:19,406 --> 00:44:22,700 are never in the same place at the same time. [chuckles] 718 00:44:22,785 --> 00:44:25,578 You and me, we're gonna have to work on that, sweetie. 719 00:44:27,081 --> 00:44:30,708 [Stone] Now, Martha had a drinking problem, according to many people, 720 00:44:30,793 --> 00:44:35,338 and her husband divorced her, put her in an institution saying she was alcoholic, 721 00:44:35,422 --> 00:44:38,007 but she was the Cassandra of that administration 722 00:44:38,092 --> 00:44:41,678 in that, in her wailing, she was saying outrageous things, 723 00:44:41,762 --> 00:44:45,932 like, "there's a cancer" kind of thing, "Madness at the heart of this." 724 00:44:46,016 --> 00:44:49,060 And she was right. [laughs] there was an insanity. 725 00:44:49,144 --> 00:44:52,522 But she called it... Like Rose Cheramie in JFK. 726 00:44:52,606 --> 00:44:54,982 I have my Rose Cheramie. this is Madeline Kahn. 727 00:44:55,067 --> 00:44:58,486 Susan Kirkwood and then Madeline Kahn. 728 00:44:58,570 --> 00:45:00,863 And you came damn close, Dick. How are you? 729 00:45:00,948 --> 00:45:03,533 Hi, John. New York treating you all right? 730 00:45:03,617 --> 00:45:05,785 I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you. 731 00:45:05,869 --> 00:45:09,038 - You're looking happy, Rocky. - Happy. Happy, Dick Nixon. 732 00:45:09,123 --> 00:45:11,207 - You remember him. - Nice to see you again. 733 00:45:11,291 --> 00:45:16,796 - You're obviously making him happy. - Repartee, Dick! That's marvelous! 734 00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:21,217 What you predicting? Your boy Goldwater gonna split the party? 735 00:45:21,301 --> 00:45:23,970 - Some say you are, Rocky. - Let me tell you something. 736 00:45:24,054 --> 00:45:28,725 Every time the Republican party is a home to extremism, we lose the election. 737 00:45:28,809 --> 00:45:33,980 [Stone] Nelson Rockefeller was always a great shaker, mover, shaker. 738 00:45:34,064 --> 00:45:37,984 He touched and feel you like Johnson would. He was a big guy, confident. 739 00:45:38,068 --> 00:45:41,487 He had not had the defeats of his life yet, 740 00:45:41,572 --> 00:45:43,698 until... he just had the divorce. 741 00:45:43,782 --> 00:45:46,242 they say that was the end of his political career, 742 00:45:46,326 --> 00:45:48,161 but he was denying it in that scene. 743 00:45:48,245 --> 00:45:50,747 But I love the way he kind of crept on top of Nixon. 744 00:45:50,831 --> 00:45:56,127 If you go to the outtakes, you will find this scene elaborated on. 745 00:45:56,211 --> 00:46:00,590 I think it becomes more interesting if you're into acting and see what happens. 746 00:46:00,674 --> 00:46:04,302 I miss making love to the people. I miss entering a room. 747 00:46:04,386 --> 00:46:07,638 [Stone] this is a great little moment between these two. 748 00:46:07,723 --> 00:46:09,974 this is self-realization that is wonderful. 749 00:46:10,058 --> 00:46:11,934 I gotta get back in the arena. 750 00:46:12,019 --> 00:46:15,271 [Stone] that is a line that he said. We tried to dramatize it. 751 00:46:15,689 --> 00:46:18,357 [man] Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime! 752 00:46:18,442 --> 00:46:22,445 Come on up. Right this way, ladies and gentlemen. 753 00:46:22,529 --> 00:46:25,114 It's for you, it's for me. 754 00:46:25,199 --> 00:46:30,203 [Stone] Into the arena, he got back as a lawyer for Coca-Cola, I believe. 755 00:46:32,164 --> 00:46:35,750 He did a lot of work all over the country and other companies. 756 00:46:35,834 --> 00:46:39,712 He joined a top Wall Street firm, which would give him access 757 00:46:39,797 --> 00:46:44,425 to the East Coast. He stayed in the east, a house in New Jersey. 758 00:46:44,510 --> 00:46:46,219 Commuting to the city. 759 00:46:47,221 --> 00:46:51,349 I wanted Larry Hagman to play one of these big, broad Texas types. 760 00:46:51,433 --> 00:46:54,769 Not because I liked Dallas. I didn't really watch Dallas. 761 00:46:54,853 --> 00:46:57,605 I just believed him. Something about him I like. 762 00:46:58,774 --> 00:47:01,692 I met a lot of powerful guys like that. 763 00:47:03,153 --> 00:47:06,155 I love this eight-millimeter grain look here, home movie. 764 00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:08,741 Getting kissed by a girl. So ironic in his life. 765 00:47:08,826 --> 00:47:11,160 He was never kissed. 766 00:47:11,245 --> 00:47:14,455 - [Jack] We'll see about that. - Mr. Nixon, are you gonna run again? 767 00:47:14,540 --> 00:47:16,707 - I don't know. - He will! I guarantee it! 768 00:47:18,752 --> 00:47:21,754 [jazz music playing] 769 00:47:22,256 --> 00:47:24,507 - Name it, baby. - That little convertible? 770 00:47:24,591 --> 00:47:26,968 I'll buy you a diamond ring. I'll buy you one. 771 00:47:27,052 --> 00:47:28,761 - [woman] Thank you. - Hello, baby. 772 00:47:29,346 --> 00:47:33,850 [Stone] I love this interior. I dreamed of going through that... 773 00:47:33,934 --> 00:47:39,355 ...archway to introduce this strange little kind of gathering 774 00:47:39,439 --> 00:47:42,108 at a big hacienda. 775 00:47:45,237 --> 00:47:48,865 that's Bridgitte Wilson, who later went on to some success 776 00:47:48,949 --> 00:47:51,367 with the Mortal Kombatseries and is still young. 777 00:47:51,451 --> 00:47:55,246 Very beautiful. this is her first major role, with Anthony Hopkins. 778 00:47:55,330 --> 00:47:58,374 - She did a wonderful job. - Well, I guess, 779 00:47:58,458 --> 00:48:03,004 for me, it also depends on what I'm doin' to the music, Dick. 780 00:48:04,298 --> 00:48:07,550 - Yeah. - So, what's it like bein' so famous? 781 00:48:07,634 --> 00:48:12,597 [Stone] It was very important to show Nixon as... 782 00:48:12,681 --> 00:48:15,725 ...immune to sexual approaches. 783 00:48:15,809 --> 00:48:20,021 there may have been a hint of an affair with a Chinese woman in Taiwan, 784 00:48:20,105 --> 00:48:22,231 but there's very little talk of it. 785 00:48:22,316 --> 00:48:27,904 He seems to have been a very physically neutered person, or repressed. 786 00:48:30,324 --> 00:48:34,160 - No, Trini, we're fine here. - [Stone] I wanted to make this point 787 00:48:34,244 --> 00:48:36,078 here in this fictional scene. 788 00:48:36,163 --> 00:48:40,249 We do know Nixon was in Dallas the day of and the day before. 789 00:48:40,334 --> 00:48:42,752 And he went to a couple of parties. 790 00:48:42,836 --> 00:48:46,255 - Hoover was in town too. - ...especially for business. 791 00:48:46,340 --> 00:48:50,593 - Agreed. - We know what you tried to do for Cuba. 792 00:48:50,677 --> 00:48:54,513 If you had been elected in '60, Castro would be dead now. 793 00:48:58,644 --> 00:49:01,771 [Stone] I've been criticized in this scene as overly dramatic, 794 00:49:01,855 --> 00:49:06,108 and it probably is because, you know, perhaps too crude. 795 00:49:06,193 --> 00:49:08,653 this is the problem when you make these movies, 796 00:49:08,737 --> 00:49:14,742 or this kind of scene, where you have to get to the heart of an idea quickly. 797 00:49:14,826 --> 00:49:19,121 People will hint around something forever and ever and ever. 798 00:49:19,206 --> 00:49:24,168 And, uh, they're hinting here, but I did it broadly, 799 00:49:24,252 --> 00:49:28,965 in one room. It probably would have been done in smaller meetings, phone calls. 800 00:49:29,049 --> 00:49:31,801 But I love the scene anyway. It plays for me 801 00:49:31,885 --> 00:49:36,389 'cause Nixon is so smart, and understands the veiled hint, 802 00:49:36,473 --> 00:49:39,100 and he doesn't want to know about it, 803 00:49:39,184 --> 00:49:41,644 which is smart. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt 804 00:49:41,728 --> 00:49:44,939 in Dallas, when he was there. Him and Howard Hunt 805 00:49:45,023 --> 00:49:48,651 were the only two people in the world, they said, who forgot where they were 806 00:49:48,735 --> 00:49:52,238 when Kennedy was killed, because Nixon has three different stories 807 00:49:52,322 --> 00:49:55,408 of where he was when Kennedy was killed. It's very confusing. 808 00:49:59,454 --> 00:50:02,748 Love the way it's cut and canted, these shots. 809 00:50:06,586 --> 00:50:09,422 I like the way he handles these people. He's tough. 810 00:50:10,632 --> 00:50:15,011 that's the Nixon that was powerful and dominating. 811 00:50:15,095 --> 00:50:16,095 I'm out of politics. 812 00:50:16,179 --> 00:50:20,141 [Stone] It was sufficient. He didn't have to do more to scare people. 813 00:50:20,225 --> 00:50:21,976 that's my feeling. 814 00:50:25,939 --> 00:50:31,861 One criticism was, "Stone doesn't allow Nixon to show his positive traits, 815 00:50:31,945 --> 00:50:34,196 his capacities to rule." there's an example, 816 00:50:34,281 --> 00:50:37,992 perhaps in a negative capability. But by saying no, 817 00:50:38,076 --> 00:50:42,663 he's saying something very important. He's saying, "Leave me out of the loop." 818 00:50:42,748 --> 00:50:47,918 But he is saying, at the same time, "I would be president if it were possible." 819 00:50:48,003 --> 00:50:51,005 It's a very veiled scene, but I liked it. 820 00:50:51,089 --> 00:50:55,926 I love this shot. We did it in an airport somewhere in Los Angeles. 821 00:51:02,225 --> 00:51:05,269 I just love dropping down from the sky. 822 00:51:10,817 --> 00:51:14,070 Watch this. Nixon's going by. 823 00:51:14,154 --> 00:51:18,657 Confederate flags, very anti-Kennedy period in the South. 824 00:51:23,914 --> 00:51:27,083 And now we get down... wham. 825 00:51:27,167 --> 00:51:30,169 Dallas Love qield. that's where it all comes to bear. 826 00:51:30,253 --> 00:51:34,882 that's where Kennedy lands the next day, I believe. 827 00:51:36,259 --> 00:51:38,260 that's a beautiful shot. 828 00:51:43,308 --> 00:51:45,518 there is the retreat. 829 00:51:45,602 --> 00:51:48,938 I'm trying to say something here that's sort of a... 830 00:51:49,022 --> 00:51:52,608 A fate that is gonna befall the entire nation now. 831 00:51:52,692 --> 00:51:55,444 then we're back into his mind. 832 00:51:55,529 --> 00:51:58,197 Beautiful shot. Of course... 833 00:51:59,533 --> 00:52:03,911 ...the end of that moment of time, which was changed forever. 834 00:52:04,538 --> 00:52:05,830 History. 835 00:52:09,709 --> 00:52:12,545 those of us who don't know that should know it. 836 00:52:13,338 --> 00:52:16,715 Look, Edgar, these... these guys were really strange. 837 00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:19,927 - You know, extremists. - What do you mean? 838 00:52:20,011 --> 00:52:22,012 - Right-wing stuff. - Birchers? 839 00:52:22,097 --> 00:52:24,765 - Birchers, yeah. - [Stone] Dialogue I read about, 840 00:52:24,850 --> 00:52:28,811 but the rest of the conversation is more or less what Hoover told them. 841 00:52:28,895 --> 00:52:32,148 - To Castro? - [man] ...maximum security facility. 842 00:52:32,232 --> 00:52:34,859 - Mrs. Kennedy... - [Nixon] He's a real Communist. 843 00:52:34,943 --> 00:52:37,153 Well, that makes sense. 844 00:52:37,237 --> 00:52:39,947 OK, well, thank you, Edgar. 845 00:52:41,491 --> 00:52:46,245 Senator Ted Kennedy, arriving early this morning with his mother and sister. 846 00:52:46,329 --> 00:52:52,084 Hoover says this Oswald checks out as a beatnik... 847 00:52:52,169 --> 00:52:55,796 - [Stone] "Beatnik." - Dick, you should call Bobby. 848 00:52:55,881 --> 00:52:58,841 [Stone] I love this scene because I like Pat's reactions. 849 00:52:58,925 --> 00:53:02,094 - You don't have to go. - De Gaulle's gonna be there. 850 00:53:02,179 --> 00:53:06,056 [Stone] She's emphasizing the human response and he is mechanical. 851 00:53:06,141 --> 00:53:10,352 - He has to be invited to the funeral. - Nixon can't not be there. 852 00:53:10,437 --> 00:53:15,316 [Stone] It's important to be seen. "Nixon can't not be there." 853 00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:17,818 He's using the third person early. 854 00:53:18,278 --> 00:53:21,572 - Jesus. - [man] ...to their fallen leader. 855 00:53:21,656 --> 00:53:23,866 It's awful. 856 00:53:23,950 --> 00:53:27,620 - It's an awful thing for this country. - [Pat] Dick? 857 00:53:28,788 --> 00:53:31,624 [Stone] I give Nixon the benefit of the doubt on this. 858 00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:34,043 He hates me. 859 00:53:34,127 --> 00:53:36,712 He and Teddy. 860 00:53:36,796 --> 00:53:38,339 They always hated me. 861 00:53:38,423 --> 00:53:42,259 [Stone] Maybe Nixon was sentimental, able to kill millions abroad, 862 00:53:42,344 --> 00:53:46,680 but not in this country. Maybe I'm being... Hitler liked dogs. 863 00:53:46,765 --> 00:53:50,184 You don't know if somebody knows the price of murder 864 00:53:50,268 --> 00:53:54,396 or lives it the way I might do or you might do. 865 00:53:54,481 --> 00:53:55,606 [crying] 866 00:53:55,690 --> 00:53:58,025 [doctor] Hold him tighter. Hold him tighter. 867 00:53:58,109 --> 00:53:59,068 [screaming] 868 00:53:59,152 --> 00:54:02,029 [Stone] this is his youngest brother dying. 869 00:54:03,156 --> 00:54:05,407 Meningitis, I believe. 870 00:54:06,451 --> 00:54:08,369 Ugh! 871 00:54:08,453 --> 00:54:12,498 that's Dr. Chris Renna, who helped us on many movies. 872 00:54:13,583 --> 00:54:17,419 To keep our crews going with maintenance and health. 873 00:54:22,676 --> 00:54:27,096 Arthur was a beautiful little boy. 874 00:54:27,180 --> 00:54:29,765 Must have broken Nixon's heart. 875 00:54:29,849 --> 00:54:32,142 Whatever was leFt of his young heart. 876 00:54:32,227 --> 00:54:35,145 that's my son, Sean, sneaking in as the evil Donald Nixon, 877 00:54:35,230 --> 00:54:37,940 who took the money later from Hughes. 878 00:54:42,404 --> 00:54:44,071 Arthur's getting sicker. 879 00:54:45,365 --> 00:54:49,118 And Mom is praying every day. 880 00:54:49,202 --> 00:54:51,245 "As I lay me down to sleep, 881 00:54:51,329 --> 00:54:54,707 Lord, now I ask for you my soul to keep" 882 00:54:54,791 --> 00:54:57,167 was the last things he was heard to say. 883 00:55:08,471 --> 00:55:11,056 No. No, don't! 884 00:55:11,141 --> 00:55:13,142 [Stone] Apparently, that happened. 885 00:55:13,226 --> 00:55:16,812 In the moment, she was so shaken that she couldn't succor him 886 00:55:16,896 --> 00:55:19,356 at a key moment there. I think that was a mistake. 887 00:55:19,441 --> 00:55:22,318 If I'd been president, they never would've killed me. 888 00:55:22,402 --> 00:55:25,988 [Stone] He felt unloved. that connection, "Even if I'd been president, 889 00:55:26,072 --> 00:55:29,241 nobody would have loved me enough to hate me enough to kill me," 890 00:55:29,326 --> 00:55:32,244 which is an interesting allusion. 891 00:55:32,329 --> 00:55:36,832 And it ends, prophetically enough, on Robert Kennedy, who's gonna be his foe 892 00:55:36,916 --> 00:55:39,209 in '68 and end up also dead. 893 00:55:47,135 --> 00:55:51,930 the riderless horse, which we'll see at the racetrack with Nixon and Hoover. 894 00:55:54,559 --> 00:55:58,520 We saw it already with Jack Lemmon in JFK. 895 00:56:01,232 --> 00:56:03,734 [Lyndon Johnson] ...to defend an honored cause... 896 00:56:03,818 --> 00:56:07,363 [Stone] Like the Garrison story, it jumps ahead from November '63 897 00:56:07,447 --> 00:56:09,531 to years later. 898 00:56:09,616 --> 00:56:12,951 the Garrison story moves from '63 to '67. 899 00:56:13,453 --> 00:56:18,665 Accordingly... I shall not seek... 900 00:56:20,168 --> 00:56:22,711 ...and I will not accept... 901 00:56:22,796 --> 00:56:26,924 ...the nomination of my party for another term as your president. 902 00:56:28,885 --> 00:56:32,388 Good night, and God bless all of you. 903 00:56:32,472 --> 00:56:33,889 [Stone] He feels the call. 904 00:56:33,973 --> 00:56:38,102 this is his moment in time, his chance. Churchill, his hero, De Gaulle, 905 00:56:38,186 --> 00:56:41,063 these people had come back from political burial. 906 00:56:41,147 --> 00:56:44,400 [man] His mother, Hannah Nixon, just before her death last year, 907 00:56:44,484 --> 00:56:47,152 commented on her son's chances. 908 00:56:47,237 --> 00:56:52,741 Mrs. Nixon, do you think your son will ever return to politics? 909 00:56:52,826 --> 00:56:55,953 I don't think he has a choice. 910 00:56:56,037 --> 00:56:58,872 He has always been a leader. 911 00:56:58,957 --> 00:57:03,502 Do you think he'd make a great president, Mrs. Nixon? 912 00:57:03,586 --> 00:57:07,339 If he's on God's side, yes. 913 00:57:07,424 --> 00:57:10,384 [Stone] Mary had prosthetics for this scene. Tough scene. 914 00:57:10,468 --> 00:57:14,847 It was done improvisationally. I'm asking questions off-camera. 915 00:57:16,307 --> 00:57:17,766 [indistinct chatter] 916 00:57:17,851 --> 00:57:20,102 [Hannah] No one can see into the future. 917 00:57:20,186 --> 00:57:22,438 We didn't know this day would come. 918 00:57:22,522 --> 00:57:25,023 - [man] Where'd he go? - [man 2] In the side door. 919 00:57:25,108 --> 00:57:28,026 - Is that Mitchell? - Shit! Missed him. 920 00:57:28,111 --> 00:57:29,445 [doorbell buzzes] 921 00:57:29,529 --> 00:57:32,698 I thought that guy was gonna kiss your hand on the side of it. 922 00:57:32,782 --> 00:57:36,952 [Stone] I love that hat he wears. My father wore that in that period. 923 00:57:37,036 --> 00:57:39,872 And always buttoned the jacket. 924 00:57:39,956 --> 00:57:42,374 qour guys coming home from Wall Street. 925 00:57:42,459 --> 00:57:45,794 this is a fun movie because it's just white guys talking. It's great. 926 00:57:45,879 --> 00:57:51,008 It's like... Very few movies like this get made. 927 00:57:51,092 --> 00:57:54,136 And she's so WASP-y, Joan. 928 00:57:54,220 --> 00:57:57,764 She's a perfect WASP wife, in a way. I can see why Ang Lee cast her 929 00:57:57,849 --> 00:58:00,017 in Ice Storm right aFter this. 930 00:58:00,852 --> 00:58:03,061 Jesus. Pat? 931 00:58:05,523 --> 00:58:08,984 [Stone] She was also good in The Crucible, Joan. 932 00:58:09,068 --> 00:58:12,654 You need her, Dick. In '60, she was worth five, six million votes. 933 00:58:12,739 --> 00:58:16,283 - [Stone laughs] - I'll use the old Nixon charm. 934 00:58:16,367 --> 00:58:19,912 [Stone laughs] that got a laugh in the theaters. 935 00:58:20,955 --> 00:58:22,247 Who could resist that? 936 00:58:22,916 --> 00:58:25,876 [Stone] He's got a great expression. He's a wonderful actor. 937 00:58:25,960 --> 00:58:29,129 He really inhabits the role and makes you get involved with him. 938 00:58:29,214 --> 00:58:32,007 Look at his eyes. He's always slightly psychotic. 939 00:58:32,091 --> 00:58:34,968 You should be going. Primaries are soon, aren't they? 940 00:58:35,053 --> 00:58:37,513 [Stone] He broke her promise to her. 941 00:58:37,597 --> 00:58:39,973 He was secretly planning to go back in. 942 00:58:40,058 --> 00:58:44,436 Apparently, there was quite a bit of a spat at this point. 943 00:58:44,521 --> 00:58:49,858 So we decided to dramatize it as best we could behind these closed doors. 944 00:58:49,943 --> 00:58:52,528 I can win. We deserve it. 945 00:58:52,612 --> 00:58:54,488 [Stone] We built this set 946 00:58:54,572 --> 00:58:59,034 inside the old AqI building above Sunset. 947 00:58:59,118 --> 00:59:01,119 Frank Nixon's boy. 948 00:59:01,204 --> 00:59:05,374 Do you remember what Mom said? We're not like other people. We... 949 00:59:05,458 --> 00:59:07,584 We don't choose our way. 950 00:59:08,628 --> 00:59:10,879 We can really change things, Buddy. 951 00:59:10,964 --> 00:59:14,550 We got a chance to get it right. We can change America. 952 00:59:14,634 --> 00:59:18,262 It was our dream, Buddy, together, always. 953 00:59:20,223 --> 00:59:24,393 - Do you really want this, Dick? - [Stone laughs] 954 00:59:24,477 --> 00:59:29,773 - And then you'll be happy? - Yeah, you know I will. Yes! I will. 955 00:59:30,858 --> 00:59:32,943 Then I'll be there for you. 956 00:59:33,027 --> 00:59:35,904 And we are gonna win this time. I can feel it. 957 00:59:35,989 --> 00:59:37,489 Yeah! 958 00:59:38,533 --> 00:59:41,410 You're the strongest woman I ever met, Buddy. 959 00:59:41,494 --> 00:59:44,580 - Can I just ask for one thing? - Anything. 960 00:59:44,664 --> 00:59:46,373 - Would you kiss me? - Yeah! 961 00:59:46,457 --> 00:59:48,166 [Stone laughs] 962 00:59:48,251 --> 00:59:50,877 [big band jazz playing] 963 00:59:50,962 --> 00:59:53,338 [Stone] I find that scene charming. 964 00:59:53,423 --> 00:59:56,341 And I love Joan and Anthony. 965 00:59:58,511 --> 01:00:02,764 My thanks to all of you. It's on to Chicago and let's win there. Thank you. 966 01:00:02,849 --> 01:00:05,767 I would never question Senator Kennedy's patriotism. 967 01:00:05,852 --> 01:00:09,605 But going around the country, promising peace at any price 968 01:00:09,689 --> 01:00:12,524 is, uh, exactly what the North Vietnamese want to hear. 969 01:00:12,609 --> 01:00:15,902 - [man] Cue the crowd. - [Stone] there's several stories 970 01:00:15,987 --> 01:00:18,447 of Nixon manipulating campaigns. 971 01:00:18,531 --> 01:00:21,575 Campaigning, it was just in his nature. 972 01:00:23,453 --> 01:00:27,289 He'd have stuffed audiences, dummy audiences. 973 01:00:27,373 --> 01:00:31,877 In one of them, apparently, it was an incident where one of these guys 974 01:00:31,961 --> 01:00:36,465 in the audience started to get a little too tough on Nixon. You'll see this. 975 01:00:36,549 --> 01:00:39,176 That's why Nixon's always been useful. 976 01:00:39,260 --> 01:00:42,262 - [Tolson speaking Spanish] - [man replies] 977 01:00:42,347 --> 01:00:44,056 Hold still. 978 01:00:44,140 --> 01:00:46,725 - OK, who's next? - The Negro. 979 01:00:46,809 --> 01:00:49,436 No, we gotta have a Negro. This guy right here. 980 01:00:49,520 --> 01:00:50,562 Negro, front row. 981 01:00:51,397 --> 01:00:55,651 [Stone] there's a third scene I put back in the movie for this version in DVD. 982 01:00:55,735 --> 01:01:00,155 I hope you get a chance to look at it 'cause it establishes what Hoover's role 983 01:01:00,239 --> 01:01:02,824 was in the wiretapping concept. 984 01:01:02,909 --> 01:01:06,495 So there are now three scenes with Bob Hoskins instead of two, and I felt 985 01:01:06,579 --> 01:01:09,915 - I made a mistake. - ...turning people against each other. 986 01:01:09,999 --> 01:01:12,000 - Fuck's he doing? A speech! - Cut him off. 987 01:01:12,085 --> 01:01:15,712 [Stone] I love Woods and this guy. He has a very good argument. 988 01:01:15,797 --> 01:01:20,300 - Saying Negro things. - [Stone] "Negro things." tyrue line 989 01:01:20,385 --> 01:01:24,471 - from one of Nixon's people. - ...what you really stand for? 990 01:01:24,555 --> 01:01:26,181 - Go to commercial! - There are no commercials. 991 01:01:26,265 --> 01:01:29,726 [Stone] that's Michael Chiklis, who played Belushi in Wired, 992 01:01:29,811 --> 01:01:33,438 - who just cameo'ed for the day. - ...who you really are? 993 01:01:33,523 --> 01:01:34,815 [man] Shut up and sit down! 994 01:01:34,899 --> 01:01:37,401 - [Nixon] OK. OK. - It's a high hard one, chief. 995 01:01:37,485 --> 01:01:39,945 [Stone] Woods has such intensity. 996 01:01:40,029 --> 01:01:43,699 - That's because you created them. - I did not. The Democrats did. 997 01:01:43,783 --> 01:01:46,493 If it's dialogue you want, you're more likely to get it from me 998 01:01:46,577 --> 01:01:49,204 than from people burning down cities. Just think about it. 999 01:01:49,288 --> 01:01:51,498 - Dr. King said the same thing. - Oh, please. 1000 01:01:51,582 --> 01:01:54,543 You know, young man, who a great hero is? Abraham Lincoln. 1001 01:01:54,627 --> 01:01:57,170 - Abraham Lincoln. - Lincoln. Is he beautiful? 1002 01:01:57,255 --> 01:02:00,298 He believed in common ground. He brought this country together. 1003 01:02:00,383 --> 01:02:02,426 - [applause] - I love that man. I love him. 1004 01:02:02,510 --> 01:02:03,510 [Stone laughs] 1005 01:02:03,594 --> 01:02:06,972 I want the son of a bitch who got that agitator in here fired! 1006 01:02:07,056 --> 01:02:10,392 - I have another question. - There's a little girl sitting here. 1007 01:02:10,476 --> 01:02:13,770 - A little girl sitting with a sign. - Bag the spook. Go to the girl. 1008 01:02:13,855 --> 01:02:16,565 - Can you see the girl? - There are three simple words: 1009 01:02:16,649 --> 01:02:18,942 "Bring us together." That is what I want, 1010 01:02:19,026 --> 01:02:22,446 and that is what the great silent majority ofAmericans want. 1011 01:02:22,530 --> 01:02:27,075 And that is why I want to be president. To bring us together. 1012 01:02:27,160 --> 01:02:30,662 - Give me a break, Mary. - Now, you all know me. I'm one of you. 1013 01:02:30,747 --> 01:02:32,998 I grew up here, a stone's throw from here, 1014 01:02:33,082 --> 01:02:37,753 - on a lemon ranch in Yorba Linda. - Poorest lemon ranch in California. 1015 01:02:37,837 --> 01:02:41,339 - Poorest lemon ranch... - [Stone] Speech he was famous for. 1016 01:02:41,424 --> 01:02:44,885 - My dad sold it before they found oil. - My dad sold it before they found oil. 1017 01:02:44,969 --> 01:02:48,221 - But it was all we had. - But it was all we had. 1018 01:02:48,306 --> 01:02:53,185 - My dad built the house with his hands. - You're new here. What's your name? 1019 01:02:53,269 --> 01:02:55,228 Joaquin, Mr. Hoover. 1020 01:02:56,147 --> 01:02:58,315 Oh. 1021 01:02:58,399 --> 01:03:04,029 [Nixon] My father sacrificed everything so that his sons could go to college. 1022 01:03:04,113 --> 01:03:08,742 - A gentle Quaker mother quietly wept... - [Stone laughs] 1023 01:03:08,826 --> 01:03:11,453 - Getting back at him. - Turn this crap off, Clyde. 1024 01:03:11,537 --> 01:03:14,039 - Giving me a headache. - [Nixon] Great teacher. 1025 01:03:14,916 --> 01:03:19,544 - You may go, Joaquin. - [Stone laughs] Bizarre scene. 1026 01:03:19,629 --> 01:03:24,800 - I want to see him, Clyde. - [Stone] "Edgar." 1027 01:03:24,884 --> 01:03:28,512 - Not the boy, you idiot. Nixon. - [Stone laughs] 1028 01:03:29,889 --> 01:03:32,682 As if Nixon is the flyboy. 1029 01:03:33,810 --> 01:03:37,020 It's between Nixon and a Kennedy again. 1030 01:03:37,104 --> 01:03:41,316 [Stone] Hoover reasserts his position on Nixon. He had files on everybody. 1031 01:03:41,400 --> 01:03:42,400 Never. 1032 01:03:42,485 --> 01:03:46,321 [Stone] He knew a lot about Nixon and the gangsters and Mafia. 1033 01:03:46,405 --> 01:03:48,240 He knew a lot about Cuba. 1034 01:03:48,324 --> 01:03:50,492 He knew about Rebozo. 1035 01:03:50,576 --> 01:03:55,997 ...remind him that he needs us a hell of a lot more than we need him. 1036 01:03:56,082 --> 01:03:57,833 [trumpet plays Call to the Post] 1037 01:03:57,917 --> 01:04:01,086 [Stone] Hoover felt superior, Nixon would be in his pocket. 1038 01:04:01,170 --> 01:04:03,755 He was never upset with Nixon 1039 01:04:03,840 --> 01:04:07,175 as he was with Robert Kennedy and the Kennedys when they came in. 1040 01:04:11,973 --> 01:04:15,851 they'd had a good relationship in the '50s when Nixon was vice president. 1041 01:04:15,935 --> 01:04:20,856 Vice President Nixon also worked Allen Dulles and John qoster Dulles, 1042 01:04:20,940 --> 01:04:23,692 having dinner in Georgetown, getting to know them. 1043 01:04:23,776 --> 01:04:27,863 He was one of the young apprentice, young Dan Quayle of his time, 1044 01:04:27,947 --> 01:04:29,906 learning the ropes. 1045 01:04:34,453 --> 01:04:36,079 He's folding, Johnny. 1046 01:04:39,792 --> 01:04:41,835 No, no, no. You just wait a second. 1047 01:04:41,919 --> 01:04:44,838 [announcer] Olly's Boy on the inside! 1048 01:04:45,756 --> 01:04:47,507 Come on! Come on! 1049 01:04:47,592 --> 01:04:50,468 - [people gasping and shouting] - [horses whinnying] 1050 01:04:53,806 --> 01:04:58,852 [announcer] And a tragedy! Olly's Boy has fallen on the 16th pole. 1051 01:05:01,898 --> 01:05:05,567 [Stone] Different style, but a repeat of the JFK horse race. 1052 01:05:05,651 --> 01:05:08,528 It's rigged by Hoover. Never a level playing field. 1053 01:05:08,613 --> 01:05:12,866 Tony Lo Bianco, I love this character. 1054 01:05:15,536 --> 01:05:19,247 It was unbelievable, that stunt. He got the horse to take a fall. 1055 01:05:19,332 --> 01:05:20,582 Broke its leg. 1056 01:05:20,666 --> 01:05:24,753 there was numerous allegations... I can't get into it, 1057 01:05:24,837 --> 01:05:28,924 'cause it's proven or unproven, but Hoover had a gambling thing 1058 01:05:29,008 --> 01:05:33,887 and particularly with horses. 1059 01:05:33,971 --> 01:05:37,057 He loved the Del Mar track here in California. 1060 01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:41,227 But this scene is a fictional one. 1061 01:05:41,312 --> 01:05:45,440 Probably took place in different places. I don't know. But it was a point 1062 01:05:45,524 --> 01:05:48,443 that I was trying to make, which is coming up. 1063 01:05:48,527 --> 01:05:53,615 It's ironic. I wasn't thinking about Garrison and Jack Lemmon years before. 1064 01:05:53,699 --> 01:05:57,702 Perhaps it's the same track. No, it would have been in New Orleans. 1065 01:05:57,787 --> 01:06:00,622 - Bobby Kennedy. - Yeah. 1066 01:06:00,706 --> 01:06:03,249 Would you walk with me down to the paddock? 1067 01:06:04,001 --> 01:06:08,338 [Stone] that was a very malevolent thing Hoover did at that racetrack. 1068 01:06:08,422 --> 01:06:09,965 He killed a horse. 1069 01:06:10,049 --> 01:06:12,968 I'm trying to spare you an embarrassment. 1070 01:06:13,052 --> 01:06:17,389 That was Johnny Roselli you just passed. He's on his way back. 1071 01:06:19,058 --> 01:06:21,559 Roselli? Johnny Roselli? 1072 01:06:21,644 --> 01:06:26,982 Yes. You know him, Richard? No? From Cuba? 1073 01:06:27,692 --> 01:06:29,234 [mambo music playing] 1074 01:06:32,196 --> 01:06:36,032 - Hey, Johnny Roselli. How're you doin'? - Dick Nixon. 1075 01:06:36,117 --> 01:06:37,450 How are you? 1076 01:06:37,535 --> 01:06:40,829 [Stone] It's most likely that Nixon knew his share 1077 01:06:40,913 --> 01:06:45,417 of Mafioso from the Paradise Islands and the Bahamas where he went 1078 01:06:45,501 --> 01:06:49,254 and Cuba over the years. He was very oFten there. 1079 01:06:51,465 --> 01:06:52,507 OK. 1080 01:06:52,591 --> 01:06:55,802 - [bell rings] - [announcer] They're off and running! 1081 01:06:58,848 --> 01:07:01,766 [Stone] Beautiful ghost footage. God! 1082 01:07:01,851 --> 01:07:06,396 So bold a concept. In a sense, we're saying, 1083 01:07:06,480 --> 01:07:09,858 "It's all gone, it's all dream." 1084 01:07:09,942 --> 01:07:13,403 And Bobby's got the magic like a goddamn rock star. 1085 01:07:13,487 --> 01:07:19,117 [Stone] We hypostulate this scene that Nixon feels he's losing, which he did. 1086 01:07:19,201 --> 01:07:21,244 At times, he did. 1087 01:07:21,328 --> 01:07:24,539 He preferred to have taken on Humphrey. 1088 01:07:24,623 --> 01:07:27,417 He's got the anti-war vote. 1089 01:07:27,501 --> 01:07:29,002 Or he'll steal it... 1090 01:07:29,086 --> 01:07:31,880 [Stone] What Kennedy had was sudden fire and momentum. 1091 01:07:31,964 --> 01:07:34,716 Who knows if he would have won because, ultimately, 1092 01:07:34,800 --> 01:07:38,553 there could have been some trick? Momentum might have petered off. 1093 01:07:38,637 --> 01:07:42,348 But by all signs, from people who you talk to, 1094 01:07:42,433 --> 01:07:46,686 not everybody will agree, but many say Kennedy was on his way, on a roll. 1095 01:07:46,771 --> 01:07:49,105 He was going in. 1096 01:07:52,109 --> 01:07:54,652 Any information you have. 1097 01:07:54,737 --> 01:07:57,530 The son of a bitch is not gonna steal from me again. 1098 01:07:57,615 --> 01:08:01,034 Can you back me up on this? Can I count on your support? 1099 01:08:02,161 --> 01:08:07,248 I look at it from the point of view that the system can only take so much abuse. 1100 01:08:07,333 --> 01:08:09,918 - It adjusts itself eventually. - Yeah. 1101 01:08:10,002 --> 01:08:13,463 [Stone] Two English actors playing two American icons. 1102 01:08:15,049 --> 01:08:17,842 Stanley White in the background from Year of the Dragon. 1103 01:08:17,927 --> 01:08:21,763 - [whinnies] - Screwing women like a tomcat... 1104 01:08:21,847 --> 01:08:26,851 [Stone laughs] these are lines Hoover used about King. 1105 01:08:26,936 --> 01:08:30,605 "Tomcat. Degenerate tomcat." 1106 01:08:30,689 --> 01:08:33,608 the lines about cracking are our lines. 1107 01:08:33,692 --> 01:08:37,028 the riderless horse is, again, featured in JFK. 1108 01:08:37,113 --> 01:08:39,906 I don't believe we could survive another. 1109 01:08:45,204 --> 01:08:47,956 - Well, like I said, Edgar... - You ask... 1110 01:08:48,040 --> 01:08:50,583 ...if you can count on my support. 1111 01:08:52,878 --> 01:08:55,213 As long as I can count on yours. 1112 01:08:57,716 --> 01:09:01,219 [Stone] It might be melodramatic, but I love Hoskins. [laughs] 1113 01:09:01,303 --> 01:09:04,139 I'm sure Hoover was more deadpan, but that's the movies. 1114 01:09:04,223 --> 01:09:06,224 No, he wasn't protecting me. 1115 01:09:06,308 --> 01:09:10,770 - He was just putting me on notice. - [Stone] It's great. You jump ahead 1116 01:09:10,855 --> 01:09:13,481 - four years. - Hoover knew a lot of gangsters. 1117 01:09:14,150 --> 01:09:18,111 [Stone] One of the endless Watergate discussions he would have 1118 01:09:18,195 --> 01:09:22,740 with Haldeman in the executive office building. 1119 01:09:22,825 --> 01:09:25,285 Oh, well, I know all about that. 1120 01:09:25,369 --> 01:09:28,163 I don't understand it. Track Two is Chile. 1121 01:09:28,247 --> 01:09:32,834 [Nixon] Yeah, Chile, Congo, Guadalajara, Iran, Cuba. 1122 01:09:32,918 --> 01:09:37,881 Wherever there was need for an executive action capability, 1123 01:09:37,965 --> 01:09:40,091 there's Track Two. 1124 01:09:40,176 --> 01:09:43,720 [Stone] Shoot ahead to '74, where that's the same night again. 1125 01:09:43,804 --> 01:09:47,849 the same night he's listening. Always the same night, in a way. 1126 01:09:47,933 --> 01:09:51,769 [Nixon] We thought the invasion wouldn't work unless we got rid of Castro. 1127 01:09:52,771 --> 01:09:57,192 [Stone] this is important to understand that it was Eisenhower, Nixon, 1128 01:09:57,276 --> 01:10:02,572 who wanted Castro removed. the invasion was approved on their watch 1129 01:10:02,656 --> 01:10:04,532 in 1960. 1130 01:10:04,617 --> 01:10:08,203 they also approved the murder, whether they deny it or not, 1131 01:10:08,287 --> 01:10:11,122 of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo in '59. 1132 01:10:11,207 --> 01:10:13,875 He was killed, finally, in January '60, January 17th, 1133 01:10:13,959 --> 01:10:17,212 three days before Kennedy was inaugurated. 1134 01:10:19,715 --> 01:10:23,551 Don't forget that the moment Nixon became president again, he instituted 1135 01:10:23,636 --> 01:10:27,305 a major coup d'etat in Chile, killing the president, 1136 01:10:27,389 --> 01:10:31,476 the general staff of Rene Schneider, the general who was against 1137 01:10:31,560 --> 01:10:34,145 the concept of a coup. Avery important murder. 1138 01:10:34,230 --> 01:10:38,066 Shortly thereaFter, the coup occurred with full American backing. 1139 01:10:38,150 --> 01:10:43,446 And President Allende committed suicide. So Nixon was an old-time butcher. 1140 01:10:43,530 --> 01:10:45,990 He was coming up from the '50s. 1141 01:10:46,075 --> 01:10:50,245 And his coup d'etat in Chile was a ruthless, ruthless story. 1142 01:10:50,329 --> 01:10:53,748 But no... it got so much attention because the world changed 1143 01:10:53,832 --> 01:10:57,168 and Nixon hadn't. He was still dealing in the 1950s. 1144 01:11:02,508 --> 01:11:06,386 Yeah, Hunt reported to my military aide. 1145 01:11:06,470 --> 01:11:10,306 I don't know how much Hunt knows or the Cubans, but... 1146 01:11:11,725 --> 01:11:14,352 - ...you never know. - [Stone] He threatened Helms... 1147 01:11:14,436 --> 01:11:18,523 I'm not so sure he was saying to Helms, "Look, Kennedy's death will come out 1148 01:11:18,607 --> 01:11:22,443 that it was a CIA plot." Maybe he was. But that's the extreme version of it. 1149 01:11:22,528 --> 01:11:26,739 the other version is he's saying to Helms, "this shit's gonna come out 1150 01:11:26,824 --> 01:11:31,035 about the Kennedys and us. Nixon and Eisenhower 1151 01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:33,121 trying to get the Cubans. 1152 01:11:33,205 --> 01:11:36,291 that'll lead to Lumumba, and it's gonna be a mess for everybody 1153 01:11:36,375 --> 01:11:39,043 and the CIA, who's gonna take a major hit here." 1154 01:11:39,128 --> 01:11:42,714 Because Helms was counterintelligence. He was covert operations. 1155 01:11:42,798 --> 01:11:45,425 Sorry, by this time, Helms was head of the CIA. 1156 01:11:45,509 --> 01:11:48,636 But back then, he was head of covert ops. 1157 01:11:48,721 --> 01:11:50,722 'Cause he didn't even know about it. 1158 01:11:52,641 --> 01:11:56,561 The CIA, uh, never told him. Theyjust kept it going. 1159 01:11:57,396 --> 01:11:59,731 It had a life of its own like it was some... 1160 01:11:59,815 --> 01:12:01,983 [Stone] this is what I think is new and key. 1161 01:12:02,067 --> 01:12:06,529 Some people agree on this or not, but "a life of its own" is important. 1162 01:12:06,613 --> 01:12:10,491 Itjust eats people when it doesn't need 'em anymore. 1163 01:12:10,576 --> 01:12:14,120 [Nixon] Two days after the Bay of Pigs, 1164 01:12:14,204 --> 01:12:18,499 Kennedy called me and he reamed me out. 1165 01:12:18,584 --> 01:12:22,503 - He just found out about Track Two. - [Haldeman] You never told him? 1166 01:12:22,588 --> 01:12:25,423 I didn't want him to get the credit. 1167 01:12:26,550 --> 01:12:28,384 He said I'd stabbed him in the back 1168 01:12:28,469 --> 01:12:31,637 and called me a two-bit grocery clerk from Whittier. 1169 01:12:31,722 --> 01:12:33,681 [ Peggy Lee: Fever] 1170 01:12:40,856 --> 01:12:43,232 That's the last time I ever saw him. 1171 01:12:47,613 --> 01:12:52,825 See, when I saw Bobby lying there on the floor, 1172 01:12:52,910 --> 01:12:56,662 arms stretched out like that, his eyes staring... 1173 01:12:59,458 --> 01:13:02,043 ...I knew then I'd be president. 1174 01:13:03,212 --> 01:13:05,421 His death paved the way, didn't it? 1175 01:13:05,506 --> 01:13:09,384 [Stone] this scene, uh, we invented out of whole cloth 1176 01:13:09,468 --> 01:13:14,305 because it was important to me to get across the idea of... 1177 01:13:15,474 --> 01:13:21,479 ...Nixon, in a way, saw himself as a Lincoln ruling over a divided country. 1178 01:13:21,563 --> 01:13:24,899 the question was what was the means necessary, 1179 01:13:24,983 --> 01:13:26,818 how many bodies could be spared? 1180 01:13:26,902 --> 01:13:31,781 Lincoln underwent the greatest sacrifice of any U.S. president. 1181 01:13:32,908 --> 01:13:36,452 And must have had many a horrible night. 1182 01:13:36,537 --> 01:13:38,121 Four. 1183 01:13:39,706 --> 01:13:44,377 [Stone] As a survivor, Nixon, of course, is ridden with guilt. 1184 01:13:44,461 --> 01:13:49,257 the need to do it at all costs, to lie in order to succeed 1185 01:13:49,341 --> 01:13:52,927 and survivor guilt drives that. 1186 01:13:53,011 --> 01:13:55,430 Hundreds of thousands? 1187 01:13:55,514 --> 01:13:58,599 [Stone] All of a sudden, he's alone, drinking the same drink. 1188 01:13:58,684 --> 01:14:00,977 It's not another drink, by the way. 1189 01:14:02,062 --> 01:14:05,690 Spent more time alone in the Lincoln Room than ever before 1190 01:14:05,774 --> 01:14:08,776 during these last few months, according to witnesses. 1191 01:14:11,864 --> 01:14:14,282 Who's helping us? 1192 01:14:14,366 --> 01:14:16,451 [Stone] "What's helping us?" 1193 01:14:16,535 --> 01:14:19,328 - God, or is it... - [Stone] "Is it God... 1194 01:14:19,413 --> 01:14:21,414 - ...death? - [Stone] ...or is it death?" 1195 01:14:25,752 --> 01:14:28,921 He had to wonder because death had helped him all the way. 1196 01:14:34,052 --> 01:14:37,722 And the microbe that killed his brother. 1197 01:14:44,897 --> 01:14:46,856 [coughing and retching] 1198 01:14:51,695 --> 01:14:56,240 And this is based on Nixon's time 1199 01:14:56,325 --> 01:14:59,494 spent with his brother, the last few months 1200 01:14:59,578 --> 01:15:01,913 at the recuperation home in Arizona. 1201 01:15:07,878 --> 01:15:11,839 Tony Goldwyn, who is now directing some very nice films, 1202 01:15:11,924 --> 01:15:14,884 is a wonderful actor. I enjoyed working with him enormously. 1203 01:15:14,968 --> 01:15:16,385 Harold. 1204 01:15:17,763 --> 01:15:19,805 Harold, why don't you sit down, huh? 1205 01:15:19,890 --> 01:15:22,558 [wheezing] 1206 01:15:22,643 --> 01:15:24,018 Here. 1207 01:15:25,771 --> 01:15:29,607 [Stone] He lost a lot of weight to play this role. He was dedicated. 1208 01:15:30,400 --> 01:15:32,777 God, couldn't recognize him. 1209 01:15:36,031 --> 01:15:38,157 You'll be able to do it now. 1210 01:15:39,535 --> 01:15:42,370 - What? - Go to law school. 1211 01:15:42,454 --> 01:15:45,623 - Mom and Dad'll be able to afford it. - Harold. 1212 01:15:46,708 --> 01:15:49,126 Mama expects great things from you. 1213 01:15:50,254 --> 01:15:53,130 Can I... Can I get you anything? 1214 01:15:56,260 --> 01:15:57,843 Relax, Dick. 1215 01:15:59,054 --> 01:16:01,138 It's just me, all right? 1216 01:16:02,140 --> 01:16:05,142 [Stone] Show how hard it was for Nixon to relax. 1217 01:16:07,104 --> 01:16:09,063 The desert's so beautiful... 1218 01:16:09,147 --> 01:16:12,733 [Stone] Nixon had a hard time just being who he was. 1219 01:16:14,570 --> 01:16:17,488 David Barry Gray played Nixon. 1220 01:16:18,782 --> 01:16:23,411 And I thought did a very good job conveying the anguish in his face 1221 01:16:23,495 --> 01:16:25,705 and the discomfort with himself. 1222 01:16:30,711 --> 01:16:35,256 Harold was the magnetic older brother, much like Joe Kennedy might have been 1223 01:16:35,340 --> 01:16:39,927 to John, really the flamboyant one, as we saw earlier at the dinner table 1224 01:16:40,012 --> 01:16:43,055 when his death really rocked the family. 1225 01:16:43,140 --> 01:16:47,184 Rocked Nixon. He lost his youngest brother and his oldest. 1226 01:16:47,269 --> 01:16:50,354 Only Donald survived, the middle one. 1227 01:16:52,190 --> 01:16:54,025 Tom Bower. 1228 01:16:55,944 --> 01:16:58,863 [singing The Itsy-Bitsy Spider] 1229 01:16:58,947 --> 01:17:00,823 that's my other son, Mikey. 1230 01:17:00,907 --> 01:17:04,952 A great moment, succeeded beyond my wildest dreams to convey 1231 01:17:05,037 --> 01:17:08,372 the kind of halfway point I wanted in his life, 1232 01:17:08,457 --> 01:17:11,208 from the very lows of his life, his brother's death, 1233 01:17:11,293 --> 01:17:15,504 to the highs coming up, to me, symbolize Nixon highs and lows. 1234 01:17:15,589 --> 01:17:19,634 It's like a mad junkie who needs that intensity of lows and highs. 1235 01:17:19,718 --> 01:17:23,804 Who cannot live quite in the middle. He needs the drama to recreate himself, 1236 01:17:23,889 --> 01:17:29,185 reenergize himself. Watch this scene. It's one of my favorite scenes. 1237 01:17:29,269 --> 01:17:32,438 And the way it dissolves into the convention. 1238 01:17:34,066 --> 01:17:36,817 Something has to come of this. 1239 01:17:38,362 --> 01:17:40,321 It's meant to make us stronger. 1240 01:17:40,405 --> 01:17:46,077 [Stone] His mom said something like this at that time. 1241 01:17:46,161 --> 01:17:48,412 But I can't vouch for these words. 1242 01:17:49,206 --> 01:17:53,459 - What about happiness, Mother? - [Stone] that was a line. 1243 01:17:53,543 --> 01:17:57,505 Thee will find thy peace at the center, Richard. 1244 01:17:57,589 --> 01:18:01,258 Strength in this life, happiness in the next. 1245 01:18:01,343 --> 01:18:05,096 [Stone] "Happiness, mother" is a line that actually I read. 1246 01:18:05,180 --> 01:18:09,350 It was a dialogue line, but I don't know if it was in this context. 1247 01:18:09,434 --> 01:18:12,186 Now, watch this. 1248 01:18:12,270 --> 01:18:14,355 "Strength in this life. 1249 01:18:14,439 --> 01:18:18,109 Happiness in the next." I keep thinking of that moment when I see that face. 1250 01:18:18,193 --> 01:18:21,570 I wanted that pause before it all kicked in. 1251 01:18:21,655 --> 01:18:24,281 It was great, like with Kovic at The Fourth of July. 1252 01:18:24,366 --> 01:18:26,367 Now he sort of knows where he is. 1253 01:18:26,451 --> 01:18:29,245 And look at that. the transformation is great. 1254 01:18:29,329 --> 01:18:33,833 One of those moments where you just remember the past. 1255 01:18:33,917 --> 01:18:36,252 And it's another past. 1256 01:18:36,336 --> 01:18:39,797 We're mixing digital shots here, obviously, with the real man. 1257 01:18:41,216 --> 01:18:44,677 Ironically, this is the convention where Ron Kovic was thrown out of 1258 01:18:44,761 --> 01:18:47,054 in Born on the Fourth of July. 1259 01:18:47,139 --> 01:18:49,181 Removed from. 1260 01:18:49,266 --> 01:18:52,101 So there's a slight overlap in all these films. 1261 01:18:53,937 --> 01:18:57,648 this is a great moment for them. "Don't tell me you didn't want this." 1262 01:18:58,525 --> 01:19:01,527 I don't know if he said that, but God, it was great. 1263 01:19:01,611 --> 01:19:04,321 that was their moment. '68, they got it. 1264 01:19:06,074 --> 01:19:11,537 Nixon's long quest, since 1946, '48 1265 01:19:11,621 --> 01:19:14,582 had come true 20 years later. 1266 01:19:14,666 --> 01:19:16,959 It goes fast when it goes. 1267 01:19:18,879 --> 01:19:22,381 Within seven years, he had destroyed himself again. 1268 01:19:22,466 --> 01:19:25,926 When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down 1269 01:19:26,011 --> 01:19:30,347 for four years in a war in Vietnam with no end in sight... 1270 01:19:31,308 --> 01:19:36,604 [Stone] I believe these are remarks from his exact speech, condensed. 1271 01:19:37,773 --> 01:19:41,609 Also, I believe we took from other speeches and combined. 1272 01:19:41,693 --> 01:19:45,821 ...when a nation that has been known for a century for equality of opportunity 1273 01:19:45,906 --> 01:19:49,408 is torn by unprecedented racial violence, 1274 01:19:49,493 --> 01:19:53,037 when the president of the United States cannot travel abroad 1275 01:19:53,121 --> 01:19:57,583 or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration, 1276 01:19:57,667 --> 01:20:02,713 then it is time for new leadership for the United States ofAmerica. 1277 01:20:02,798 --> 01:20:04,715 [cheering] 1278 01:20:05,550 --> 01:20:09,637 As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame, 1279 01:20:09,721 --> 01:20:12,264 millions ofAmericans crying out in anguish, 1280 01:20:12,349 --> 01:20:17,770 "Did we come all the way for this? Did American boys die in Normandy 1281 01:20:17,854 --> 01:20:21,148 - and Valley Forge for this?" - [Stone] Clark Clifford, McNamara. 1282 01:20:21,233 --> 01:20:24,109 I pledge to you that the current wave ofviolence 1283 01:20:24,194 --> 01:20:26,278 will not be the wave of the future. 1284 01:20:28,907 --> 01:20:31,408 Now let us begin by committing ourselves... 1285 01:20:31,493 --> 01:20:35,496 [Stone] the speech was ambivalent. He had many fine things, many concepts. 1286 01:20:35,580 --> 01:20:38,207 He was a brilliant man, domestically. 1287 01:20:38,291 --> 01:20:40,376 In some ways, he was brilliant. 1288 01:20:40,460 --> 01:20:43,212 It is not the voice of the protesters or the shouters. 1289 01:20:43,296 --> 01:20:47,007 It is the quiet voice of the majority ofAmericans who've been forgotten... 1290 01:20:47,092 --> 01:20:51,428 [Stone] Some people say without George Wallace, Humphrey would've beat him. 1291 01:20:51,513 --> 01:20:56,058 They're the good people. They work hard and they save and they pay their taxes. 1292 01:20:56,142 --> 01:20:58,561 Now, who are they? Let me tell you who they are. 1293 01:20:58,645 --> 01:21:00,855 They're in this audience by the thousands. 1294 01:21:00,939 --> 01:21:03,482 They're the white Americans and black Americans, 1295 01:21:03,567 --> 01:21:06,193 Mexican Americans and Italian Americans. 1296 01:21:06,278 --> 01:21:09,363 - The great silent majority... - [Stone] these are actual words 1297 01:21:09,447 --> 01:21:12,116 - from the Silent Majority speech. - Angry, not with hate, 1298 01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:14,577 but angry, my friends, because they love America 1299 01:21:14,661 --> 01:21:17,496 and don't like what's happened to America these last four years. 1300 01:21:17,581 --> 01:21:20,291 [Stone] A form of polarization Nixon was famous for. 1301 01:21:20,375 --> 01:21:22,668 Us against they. We, them. 1302 01:21:22,752 --> 01:21:26,630 He was the first one to say the Republicans had a Southern strategy. 1303 01:21:26,715 --> 01:21:29,800 In other words, they could divide countries, classes, people. 1304 01:21:29,885 --> 01:21:33,929 Southerners were real Americans as opposed to ninnies in college 1305 01:21:34,014 --> 01:21:37,349 who protested. It was an ugly rhetoric, frankly. 1306 01:21:37,434 --> 01:21:41,437 qar worse, in many ways, than anything Johnson said about these people. 1307 01:21:41,521 --> 01:21:45,482 Johnson may have expressed disgust for these people in private, 1308 01:21:45,567 --> 01:21:48,986 by my God, he never went publicly as far as Nixon 1309 01:21:49,070 --> 01:21:53,741 in condemning and describing these people, polarization at its worst. 1310 01:21:53,825 --> 01:21:58,078 this is hate speech. At the same time, it's filled with idealism. 1311 01:21:58,163 --> 01:22:01,332 We can improve health care, make it more available to all people. 1312 01:22:01,416 --> 01:22:04,919 And yes, we can have a complete reform of this government. 1313 01:22:05,003 --> 01:22:08,255 We can have a new American revolution! 1314 01:22:08,340 --> 01:22:10,716 [cheering] 1315 01:22:15,430 --> 01:22:19,058 [Stone] Always the lurking inner image there. 1316 01:22:21,645 --> 01:22:24,897 - Here comes the opposition. - [chant] The whole world is watching! 1317 01:22:24,981 --> 01:22:27,316 the secret air bombings got worse and worse. 1318 01:22:27,400 --> 01:22:30,861 the most devastating bombings ofAmerican history. 1319 01:22:30,946 --> 01:22:32,613 It was just a disaster. 1320 01:22:32,697 --> 01:22:37,534 Doing this Cambodian bombing decision scene was very difficult for me. 1321 01:22:37,619 --> 01:22:39,995 I was going around for days on it, how to shoot it. 1322 01:22:40,080 --> 01:22:44,458 I couldn't find the right angle because the meeting is highly dramatized, 1323 01:22:44,542 --> 01:22:49,213 where a huge amount of information and time is condensed among phone calls, 1324 01:22:49,297 --> 01:22:54,218 many meetings. And United States interests in Cambodia preceded this. 1325 01:22:54,302 --> 01:22:58,263 It wasn't like it came up as one decision. We deposed King Sihanouk 1326 01:22:58,348 --> 01:23:03,352 in favor of the corrupt general working for us, Lon Nol, 1327 01:23:03,436 --> 01:23:07,398 who lost Cambodia within a few years to the Khmer Rouge. 1328 01:23:07,482 --> 01:23:11,860 What aggravated the situation even further than disrupting leadership 1329 01:23:11,945 --> 01:23:15,823 was bombing and invading Cambodia. Especially bombing it 1330 01:23:15,907 --> 01:23:20,244 for many, many... for several years. We bombed it ferociously. 1331 01:23:20,328 --> 01:23:22,287 As bad as Laos, if not worse. 1332 01:23:22,372 --> 01:23:26,834 the eastern borders, trying to get at the Vietnamese on the Ho Chi Minh tyrail. 1333 01:23:26,918 --> 01:23:29,920 So we invaded and bombed and were at war with another country. 1334 01:23:30,005 --> 01:23:34,466 Devastated Cambodia. And it is from the east that the Cambodian... 1335 01:23:34,551 --> 01:23:39,388 the Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge, got its initial burst of strength 1336 01:23:39,472 --> 01:23:42,182 and confidence, then united with the west. 1337 01:23:42,267 --> 01:23:45,602 Cambodia would never be the same because Pol Pot turned out to be 1338 01:23:45,687 --> 01:23:48,772 the strangest human being, like Hitler, and slaughtered... 1339 01:23:48,857 --> 01:23:52,609 A genocide occurred in Cambodia. 1340 01:23:52,694 --> 01:23:57,698 And it was really Pol Pot's responsibility as well as his leaders'. 1341 01:23:57,782 --> 01:24:02,036 But there's no question that the situation was heavily licensed 1342 01:24:02,120 --> 01:24:06,749 and encouraged by Nixon's bombing of Cambodia 1343 01:24:06,833 --> 01:24:10,461 and destruction of King Sihanouk's rule. 1344 01:24:10,545 --> 01:24:13,881 So that's Kissinger's war politics. Paul Sorvino plays Kissinger. 1345 01:24:13,965 --> 01:24:16,550 that's his politics of balance of power. 1346 01:24:16,634 --> 01:24:19,845 It's a dirty game. Someone wins, someone loses. 1347 01:24:19,929 --> 01:24:21,722 I call it the win-lose theory. 1348 01:24:21,806 --> 01:24:25,350 You can't have two winners. You can only have a winner and a loser. 1349 01:24:25,435 --> 01:24:28,854 But the point is that Cambodia didn't go away. 1350 01:24:28,938 --> 01:24:33,233 You must remember this, just to show you how corrupt our policy was, 1351 01:24:33,318 --> 01:24:38,572 even aFter we... aFter the Vietnamese ended the genocide in Cambodia 1352 01:24:38,656 --> 01:24:41,575 and occupied the country for ten years, 1353 01:24:41,659 --> 01:24:45,370 the U.S. continued to support the Khmer Rouge against Vietnamese. 1354 01:24:45,455 --> 01:24:49,875 So dedicated were we to the... So much was our anger to Vietnam 1355 01:24:49,959 --> 01:24:53,879 that we ignored the genocides caused by Pol Pot 1356 01:24:53,963 --> 01:24:58,467 in favor of being against the Vietnamese. that's how... 1357 01:24:58,551 --> 01:25:02,262 ...miserable and hypocritical a policy we had. It's like saying 1358 01:25:02,347 --> 01:25:07,434 we're allies with Hitler now against qrance or England, basically. 1359 01:25:07,519 --> 01:25:10,771 Or Russia. It's really like... 1360 01:25:10,855 --> 01:25:14,983 What ifAmerica had suddenly allied with Germany in 1943 1361 01:25:15,068 --> 01:25:17,236 and said, "Let's attack Russia together." 1362 01:25:17,320 --> 01:25:21,698 How would you feel about it? Half the population would say, "Yeah." 1363 01:25:21,783 --> 01:25:26,745 But anyway, I came up with a solution at the last second. 1364 01:25:26,830 --> 01:25:31,416 We shot this in half a day. It followed something very energy-exhausting. 1365 01:25:31,501 --> 01:25:37,297 We shot it fast and it worked out very nicely because 1366 01:25:37,382 --> 01:25:41,718 we decided to cant the camera as much as we could through the scene 1367 01:25:41,803 --> 01:25:45,639 and shoot low angle. Portraits of men in power. 1368 01:25:45,723 --> 01:25:48,142 Eisensteinian. By canting it, 1369 01:25:48,226 --> 01:25:53,021 we got a sense of the distortion ofjudgment going on in Nixon. 1370 01:25:55,733 --> 01:26:00,529 that judgment was clouded by the fact that he had seen Patton 11 times, 1371 01:26:00,613 --> 01:26:05,325 the movie. the movie is a very jingoistic portrayal 1372 01:26:05,410 --> 01:26:08,453 by George C. Scott, won Academy Awards and all that. 1373 01:26:08,538 --> 01:26:10,289 One of the most damaging movies 1374 01:26:10,373 --> 01:26:13,417 in the sense that it was probably inspired by that movie. 1375 01:26:13,501 --> 01:26:18,255 Nixon was very inspired by it, as by the Washington Redskins' George Allen. 1376 01:26:18,339 --> 01:26:23,343 He went to war in Cambodia with the resolve of General Patton. 1377 01:26:23,428 --> 01:26:27,598 And it was the stupidest war, and he hurt many people. 1378 01:26:28,558 --> 01:26:31,268 But that's what he says in the scene. the big event. 1379 01:26:31,352 --> 01:26:36,190 Go for the big, big play. that's how you get the... 1380 01:26:36,274 --> 01:26:40,319 that's how you get the attention, how presidents get famous. 1381 01:26:40,403 --> 01:26:43,488 Bold moves. T.R. Lincoln. 1382 01:26:43,573 --> 01:26:46,366 this is the way he talked. "Bold moves." 1383 01:26:46,451 --> 01:26:49,494 the madman theory always interested him. 1384 01:26:49,579 --> 01:26:51,246 He believed in the madman theory. 1385 01:26:51,331 --> 01:26:55,709 Kissinger would be his, uh... 1386 01:26:55,793 --> 01:26:57,419 His diplomat, 1387 01:26:57,503 --> 01:27:00,797 and say, "Nixon, you don't know what that guy's gonna do. 1388 01:27:00,882 --> 01:27:04,635 He may just blow your country away. He just... 1389 01:27:04,719 --> 01:27:08,180 Dick Nixon is not necessarily Dwight Eisenhower." 1390 01:27:08,264 --> 01:27:13,143 Whatever the talk, the idea was Nixon liked the idea of being a madman. 1391 01:27:13,228 --> 01:27:16,939 And I think that brinksmanship contributed to Watergate, 1392 01:27:17,023 --> 01:27:22,069 in terms of bold moves. His Pentagon Papers, seeing his anger 1393 01:27:22,153 --> 01:27:26,907 at Ellsberg, leading to the break-in, was part of that brinksmanship. 1394 01:27:26,991 --> 01:27:31,745 But I think that self of skating close to the edge, as I said earlier, 1395 01:27:31,829 --> 01:27:36,124 creating crises, perhaps some artificially, that might destroy you. 1396 01:27:36,209 --> 01:27:39,419 It's a sort of suicidal kind of nature, I'd say. 1397 01:27:39,504 --> 01:27:44,424 By the way, uh, big events, big, bold move was China. 1398 01:27:44,509 --> 01:27:48,095 that is his boldest move, for which he's given much credit. 1399 01:27:48,179 --> 01:27:50,389 At the same time, the other side of the coin 1400 01:27:50,473 --> 01:27:53,725 is, in order to engage China, he destroyed Cambodia. 1401 01:27:53,810 --> 01:27:57,771 And that is a very important idea that mustn't be lost on historians. 1402 01:27:57,855 --> 01:28:00,399 the genocide that went on in Cambodia is almost 1403 01:28:00,483 --> 01:28:03,819 the flip side of our open-to-China approach. 1404 01:28:03,903 --> 01:28:07,739 So we supported China in the post-war years 1405 01:28:07,824 --> 01:28:10,784 in the '70s and the '80s. 1406 01:28:10,868 --> 01:28:13,120 Until the Vietnamese leFt in '89. 1407 01:28:13,204 --> 01:28:16,623 We supported China in Cambodia. We were allies. 1408 01:28:16,708 --> 01:28:19,293 We were both rooting for Pol Pot to come back. 1409 01:28:19,377 --> 01:28:23,046 It's an amazing piece of diplomacy. You could look to Nixon for that. 1410 01:28:23,131 --> 01:28:25,382 But that's what he meant by "bold moves." 1411 01:28:27,510 --> 01:28:30,429 Henry's getting strong signals from the Chinese. 1412 01:28:30,513 --> 01:28:33,098 They fear the Vietnamese more than the Russians, 1413 01:28:33,182 --> 01:28:36,101 and they're worried about a united Vietnam. 1414 01:28:36,185 --> 01:28:39,354 Now, ifwe stick it out, we'll end up negotiating separately 1415 01:28:39,439 --> 01:28:42,149 with both the Chinese and the Soviets. 1416 01:28:42,233 --> 01:28:45,485 And we'll get better deals than we ever dreamed offrom both. 1417 01:28:45,570 --> 01:28:49,114 That is triangular diplomacy. 1418 01:28:49,198 --> 01:28:52,701 [Stone] We must know that the Cambodian decision came about as a result 1419 01:28:52,785 --> 01:28:57,164 of dozens of phone calls, several meetings. this was not a decision made 1420 01:28:57,248 --> 01:29:00,751 like in the scene you just saw. that is the nature of this kind of movie. 1421 01:29:00,835 --> 01:29:04,379 You have to condense a huge amount of material. So this is typical. 1422 01:29:04,464 --> 01:29:07,507 It's dramatic. If you're gonna go that way, as I said earlier, 1423 01:29:07,592 --> 01:29:11,136 you go for it. You don't wimp it out and make it phony 1424 01:29:11,220 --> 01:29:14,348 and flat and boring. You go for it and make it exciting 1425 01:29:14,432 --> 01:29:18,810 because people wanna see exciting movies. Same time, you make it real. 1426 01:29:18,895 --> 01:29:22,272 the essence of those 40 meetings have to be in that meeting. 1427 01:29:22,357 --> 01:29:25,359 that's where you have to know your stuff, know what happened 1428 01:29:25,443 --> 01:29:27,069 to tell where it went. 1429 01:29:27,153 --> 01:29:30,197 Something always pops up. there's always some odd little bit. 1430 01:29:30,281 --> 01:29:32,240 Why don't we wait until the second term? 1431 01:29:32,325 --> 01:29:35,535 - This will get us a second term. - This will get me a second term. 1432 01:29:35,620 --> 01:29:39,414 Damn it, without risk, there's no heroism, there's no history. 1433 01:29:39,499 --> 01:29:42,209 Nixon was born to do this. Give history a nudge. 1434 01:29:42,293 --> 01:29:43,835 - Come on! - Hear, hear. 1435 01:29:43,920 --> 01:29:48,131 If Cambodia doesn't work, we'll bomb Hanoi ifwe have to. 1436 01:29:48,216 --> 01:29:51,718 - That's right. And if necessary... - [Stone] Drop the big one. 1437 01:29:51,803 --> 01:29:55,514 that's a very heavy statement. It was said by Nixon. 1438 01:29:55,598 --> 01:29:58,141 And the same thing was said by Kissinger. 1439 01:29:58,226 --> 01:30:00,185 "We must entertain that thought." 1440 01:30:00,269 --> 01:30:05,232 the context is not here on the Sequoia, but it was a quote I found 1441 01:30:05,316 --> 01:30:08,485 that I put in the movie for that reason. 1442 01:30:09,362 --> 01:30:10,987 I'm sorry, sir. 1443 01:30:23,876 --> 01:30:25,544 You all right? 1444 01:30:26,671 --> 01:30:28,171 Yeah. 1445 01:30:29,549 --> 01:30:33,552 My brother, Harold, was the same age as those kids, John. 1446 01:30:33,636 --> 01:30:38,098 - Tuberculosis got him. - It wasn't your fault. 1447 01:30:38,182 --> 01:30:42,102 The soldiers were kids too. Theyjust panicked. 1448 01:30:42,186 --> 01:30:43,353 Yeah. 1449 01:30:44,772 --> 01:30:48,108 They were throwing rocks, John, just rocks. 1450 01:30:51,028 --> 01:30:53,029 They don't think I feel, 1451 01:30:53,114 --> 01:30:56,116 but I feel too much sometimes. 1452 01:30:57,118 --> 01:31:01,163 I just can't let a whole policy be dominated by our sentimentality. 1453 01:31:01,247 --> 01:31:05,125 You're doing the right thing. Don't let 'em shake you. 1454 01:31:07,211 --> 01:31:10,380 You know, it broke my heart when Harold died. 1455 01:31:10,465 --> 01:31:13,258 That was a long time ago. 1456 01:31:14,552 --> 01:31:16,261 Yeah. 1457 01:31:16,345 --> 01:31:19,473 I think that's when it starts, when you're a kid. 1458 01:31:19,557 --> 01:31:23,393 The laughs and snubs and slights you get 1459 01:31:23,478 --> 01:31:26,813 because you're poor or Irish 1460 01:31:26,898 --> 01:31:29,900 or Jewish orjust ugly. 1461 01:31:29,984 --> 01:31:32,194 [Stone] It's great in a scene with Mitchell 1462 01:31:32,278 --> 01:31:34,863 that Nixon is able to show a more tender side. 1463 01:31:34,947 --> 01:31:37,866 I love the way we cut through because men like my father 1464 01:31:37,950 --> 01:31:40,243 would do that too. He was an intelligent man 1465 01:31:40,328 --> 01:31:43,663 and was certainly ambivalent and understood the other feeling 1466 01:31:43,748 --> 01:31:47,709 of the kids. It wasn't that Nixon was out of touch, necessarily, 1467 01:31:47,793 --> 01:31:50,712 with all his feelings. He could feel and perhaps empathize. 1468 01:31:50,796 --> 01:31:55,342 But he had learned, also, the ability to cut those feelings off, 1469 01:31:55,426 --> 01:31:56,927 to restrain them. 1470 01:31:57,011 --> 01:31:59,262 that was a very important part of his makeup. 1471 01:32:04,936 --> 01:32:08,021 You're going back to the daytime, this very funny limo scene 1472 01:32:08,105 --> 01:32:11,900 where very strong reminders of the protest that continued for two years 1473 01:32:11,984 --> 01:32:15,820 - against Nixon. this thing was serious. - [man] ...until the Vietnam War ends. 1474 01:32:15,905 --> 01:32:18,490 [Nixon] This is nothing compared to Venezuela. 1475 01:32:18,574 --> 01:32:22,452 When I was vice president, Ike sent me down there like a blocking tackle. 1476 01:32:22,537 --> 01:32:24,871 They threw rocks, broke out windows. 1477 01:32:24,956 --> 01:32:27,541 [Stone] When I look at this montage aFter many years, 1478 01:32:27,625 --> 01:32:30,502 I love it. It goes back from Nixon to the kids to the grain 1479 01:32:30,586 --> 01:32:33,713 to the different looks. It's tied together by this music. 1480 01:32:33,798 --> 01:32:36,216 Very Kubrickian to me. It has a symmetry, 1481 01:32:36,300 --> 01:32:38,718 which I just realized, watching it. 1482 01:32:38,803 --> 01:32:42,264 there's a lot of montage work in this film. You saw it at the convention. 1483 01:32:42,348 --> 01:32:45,559 Now you're seeing it again. Montage work is a way for me 1484 01:32:45,643 --> 01:32:49,854 to put more material in less time as possible. March of Time effect 1485 01:32:49,939 --> 01:32:53,233 is a montage. there's probably more montages in this movie 1486 01:32:53,317 --> 01:32:56,820 - than any single movie I've done. - Reminds me of my days at Whittier. 1487 01:32:56,904 --> 01:32:59,573 - These kids are useless. - Probably flunking. 1488 01:32:59,657 --> 01:33:02,367 Nothing to do except come here and chase girls. 1489 01:33:03,160 --> 01:33:06,913 Their parents' fault. They're poisoning the upper class, Bob. 1490 01:33:06,998 --> 01:33:10,083 - Too soft, too many cars, color TVs. - [Stone] Nixon was quoted 1491 01:33:10,167 --> 01:33:12,752 as talking of the protestors as spoiled rotten. 1492 01:33:12,837 --> 01:33:16,423 Dialogue you'll see in the limousine was based on observations he made. 1493 01:33:16,507 --> 01:33:20,385 Maybe not in that setting, but made about protestors at this time. 1494 01:33:20,469 --> 01:33:23,305 I put the limousine scene back in to texture it, 1495 01:33:23,389 --> 01:33:26,683 but I believe there was a time when protestors got close to his car. 1496 01:33:26,767 --> 01:33:30,520 there was a Nixon mask thrown up in front of him, which I thought was funny. 1497 01:33:32,565 --> 01:33:35,609 - Mr. President. - [Stone] He meets General Cushman, 1498 01:33:35,693 --> 01:33:37,652 an important figure in Nixon's life. 1499 01:33:37,737 --> 01:33:41,031 Soon as we learned from the Secret Service that you were en route, 1500 01:33:41,115 --> 01:33:43,533 the director was notified. He should be here. 1501 01:33:43,618 --> 01:33:47,912 - So where the hell is he? - Rushing back from his tennis game. 1502 01:33:49,040 --> 01:33:50,874 - So let's go. - Told me to take you 1503 01:33:50,958 --> 01:33:53,168 - to his conference room. - No, his office. 1504 01:33:53,252 --> 01:33:56,546 I want a private conversation with him. I don't wanna be bugged. 1505 01:33:56,631 --> 01:33:58,423 - Then his office will be fine. - OK. 1506 01:33:59,216 --> 01:34:01,718 [Stone] Walking down the corridor. We pre-cut to flowers 1507 01:34:01,802 --> 01:34:06,014 being sprayed. It's an interesting forewarning of what's going to happen 1508 01:34:06,098 --> 01:34:08,475 in this scene. A bit of tension. 1509 01:34:10,561 --> 01:34:14,230 - How's the job going, Bob? - Frankly, it stinks, sir. 1510 01:34:14,315 --> 01:34:16,608 I have no access. 1511 01:34:16,692 --> 01:34:19,861 [Stone] Helms thought that Nixon was horning in on his territory, 1512 01:34:19,945 --> 01:34:23,406 that Nixon was gonna be very dangerous to the CIA. It does lead to 1513 01:34:23,491 --> 01:34:27,369 the corroborating theory that the CIA had a lot to do with removing Nixon 1514 01:34:27,453 --> 01:34:30,664 - from office. - He's the epitome of sang-froid. 1515 01:34:30,748 --> 01:34:32,666 A world-class poker player. 1516 01:34:32,750 --> 01:34:35,460 Yeah? Well, I own the fucking casino. 1517 01:34:35,544 --> 01:34:40,090 [Stone] My favorite line is Nixon's gruff "I own the fucking casino." 1518 01:34:42,218 --> 01:34:46,388 I'm honored, Dick, that you've come all the way out here 1519 01:34:46,472 --> 01:34:49,099 to Virginia to visit us at last. 1520 01:34:51,394 --> 01:34:54,187 - My friends call me Mr. President. - Then so shall I. 1521 01:34:54,271 --> 01:34:57,732 [Stone] Sam Waterston, who plays Helms, head of CIA at that time, 1522 01:34:57,817 --> 01:35:01,903 appointed and fired by Nixon, or promoted, however you choose... 1523 01:35:01,987 --> 01:35:04,489 All the action with Helms, to me, are ambiguous. 1524 01:35:04,573 --> 01:35:07,992 It goes to the heart of Nixon. Nixon-Helms, Nixon-Hoover, 1525 01:35:08,077 --> 01:35:11,955 Nixon-Kissinger. there's this incredible duality in every situation. 1526 01:35:12,039 --> 01:35:14,791 It could mean one thing. there was no scene like this 1527 01:35:14,875 --> 01:35:17,544 where Nixon, to my knowledge, went to Helms' office, 1528 01:35:17,628 --> 01:35:21,381 which was not something normally done. But I did it because it was important 1529 01:35:21,465 --> 01:35:25,552 that it be the flower place, where he cultivated his flowers 1530 01:35:25,636 --> 01:35:27,971 like treacherous spiders. 1531 01:35:28,055 --> 01:35:31,558 I understand why you keep your budgets classified. 1532 01:35:32,852 --> 01:35:35,729 I suppose you're unhappy... 1533 01:35:37,189 --> 01:35:41,651 ...because I haven't implemented your domestic intelligence plan. 1534 01:35:41,736 --> 01:35:43,319 Yeah, you're correct. 1535 01:35:44,363 --> 01:35:48,867 [Stone] Waterston's a true aristocrat, as an actor, also as a man too. 1536 01:35:48,951 --> 01:35:52,412 And a wonderful man. Very nice man. It broke my heart to cut this scene 1537 01:35:52,496 --> 01:35:55,999 from the movie. I put it back in this DVD because I love it, 1538 01:35:56,083 --> 01:36:00,086 and it belongs in the movie. Judging it like a theatrical seat in the theater 1539 01:36:00,171 --> 01:36:03,173 where you have to spend so many minutes, you can turn off the DVD 1540 01:36:03,257 --> 01:36:06,593 and go back. It's important because it shows obstacles surrounding 1541 01:36:06,677 --> 01:36:10,096 the man, the sense of increasingly being crushed. 1542 01:36:10,181 --> 01:36:14,058 - ...Congressional oversight committee. - Screw congressional oversight. 1543 01:36:14,143 --> 01:36:17,896 [Stone] When Nixon says, "Screw congressional oversight," he means it. 1544 01:36:17,980 --> 01:36:19,439 I mean, they're jokes. 1545 01:36:19,523 --> 01:36:23,318 A lot of them are jokes. they just are rubber-stamp committees 1546 01:36:23,402 --> 01:36:27,655 that pass these insane budgets. Nobody knows the budget of the CIA 1547 01:36:27,740 --> 01:36:30,241 or the National Security Agency. 1548 01:36:30,326 --> 01:36:33,036 And the Pentagon's budget swallows everything. 1549 01:36:33,120 --> 01:36:36,122 It's astounding what goes on and I don't know, 1550 01:36:36,207 --> 01:36:39,667 the congressmen make this occasional effort to say there are oversight 1551 01:36:39,752 --> 01:36:44,130 committees, but they don't work. As Nixon finds out, it's out of control. 1552 01:36:44,715 --> 01:36:47,300 His relationship to Helms, difficult to pin down. 1553 01:36:47,384 --> 01:36:51,304 Starts, for the purposes of this movie, with the Watergate incident. 1554 01:36:51,388 --> 01:36:54,557 He tells Haldeman, as you know earlier, to tell Helms 1555 01:36:54,642 --> 01:36:58,645 to call off the qBI, saying it's a national domestic matter. 1556 01:36:58,729 --> 01:37:02,357 By the way, a national domestic matter for the CIA is illegal 1557 01:37:02,441 --> 01:37:06,319 because the CIA is not really supposed to be operating here domestically, 1558 01:37:06,403 --> 01:37:10,114 which is what Waterston raises as a key point. 1559 01:37:10,199 --> 01:37:13,993 I'm clarifying this for the audience because these guys probably didn't talk. 1560 01:37:14,078 --> 01:37:17,831 If so, they didn't clarify it. I had to because I'm writing it 1561 01:37:17,915 --> 01:37:21,292 with my partners for an audience that doesn't understand this lingo. 1562 01:37:21,377 --> 01:37:23,795 So it's a hard mix between the two. 1563 01:37:24,421 --> 01:37:27,090 [gunfire] 1564 01:37:27,174 --> 01:37:30,343 [Stone] this scene was, for the record, the hardest to write. 1565 01:37:30,427 --> 01:37:33,596 We labored and labored over it. I'm very pleased with the amount 1566 01:37:33,681 --> 01:37:37,100 of information. When you really know what we had to deal with 1567 01:37:37,184 --> 01:37:40,186 and the tons of research and all these relationships 1568 01:37:40,271 --> 01:37:42,939 were very thick and deep, Cushman, Helms, Nixon, 1569 01:37:43,023 --> 01:37:45,775 you're not gonna be able to capture it in a quick movie. 1570 01:37:47,152 --> 01:37:50,572 It's a shame you didn't take similar precautions, Dick. 1571 01:37:50,656 --> 01:37:54,033 [Stone] Cat and mouse, corkscrews. they walk around and around 1572 01:37:54,118 --> 01:37:57,912 each other, as you can see. Nixon tries to stand firm and fades. 1573 01:37:57,997 --> 01:38:01,374 I like the way Waterston fights in this scene, in the staging. 1574 01:38:01,458 --> 01:38:03,793 He comes at him and keeps him off-balance. 1575 01:38:03,878 --> 01:38:06,629 Nixon keeps him off-balance too. 1576 01:38:06,714 --> 01:38:09,382 the dialogue is corkscrewing to another subject. 1577 01:38:09,466 --> 01:38:14,053 qinally, Russia, China. It's revealed that Waterston 1578 01:38:14,138 --> 01:38:17,056 knows that Kissinger and Nixon are working a China deal 1579 01:38:17,141 --> 01:38:20,226 because when they did it Nixon and Kissinger were so paranoid 1580 01:38:20,311 --> 01:38:24,063 they didn't want anybody in the State Department or anywhere to know. 1581 01:38:24,148 --> 01:38:27,066 they kept the lowest level contacts they could. 1582 01:38:27,151 --> 01:38:30,987 And Kissinger did it privately wherever he was traveling. 1583 01:38:31,071 --> 01:38:33,489 So it was a very secret negotiation 1584 01:38:33,574 --> 01:38:37,660 being carried on by Nixon and Kissinger. Nixon wanted to make the bold move, 1585 01:38:37,745 --> 01:38:43,583 to spring it on the world. But I'm predicating Helms did know 1586 01:38:43,667 --> 01:38:45,293 and were against it. 1587 01:38:45,377 --> 01:38:49,297 Helms was a firm anti-communist, old-school, a true believer 1588 01:38:49,381 --> 01:38:52,884 and very patrician man. What he knows about the Kennedy murder, 1589 01:38:52,968 --> 01:38:54,677 about the history of this country, 1590 01:38:54,762 --> 01:38:58,056 he is the true keeper of the secrets. If there were one man, 1591 01:38:58,140 --> 01:39:02,060 a political philosopher, I would love to interview in depth, 1592 01:39:02,144 --> 01:39:05,855 and I could have torture techniques standing by so he would talk 1593 01:39:05,940 --> 01:39:08,232 and tell the truth, it would be Richard Helms, 1594 01:39:08,317 --> 01:39:09,984 who is still alive. 1595 01:39:10,069 --> 01:39:15,198 And I want you to know that I serve only one president at a time. 1596 01:39:15,282 --> 01:39:20,370 Yes. And you'll give General Cushman full access. 1597 01:39:20,454 --> 01:39:25,208 [Stone] General Robert Cushman is a key shadow player in this whole affair. 1598 01:39:25,292 --> 01:39:28,544 Cushman was very tight with Nixon back in the '50s, 1599 01:39:28,629 --> 01:39:31,714 one of his military liaisons in the vice presidents office 1600 01:39:31,799 --> 01:39:34,300 to the CIA and various places. 1601 01:39:34,385 --> 01:39:38,304 And would've known about the gamblers, about Maheu, 1602 01:39:38,389 --> 01:39:44,268 about the Mafia contracts we took out to kill Castro. 1603 01:39:44,353 --> 01:39:48,648 Nixon did too. Cushman was his military cum fixer, enforcer. 1604 01:39:48,732 --> 01:39:50,817 He was his guy. 1605 01:39:50,901 --> 01:39:54,946 What's interesting is, aFter Kennedy is killed, Cushman shows up again 1606 01:39:55,030 --> 01:39:57,991 in LBJ's White House as one of his guys, 1607 01:39:58,075 --> 01:39:59,909 doing the liaison with the war. 1608 01:39:59,994 --> 01:40:04,914 then he shows up again with Nixon. AFter Johnson gets kicked out, 1609 01:40:04,999 --> 01:40:07,250 Nixon comes in and uses the same guy! 1610 01:40:07,334 --> 01:40:10,253 So who is Robert Cushman? that's another guy, aFter Helms, 1611 01:40:10,337 --> 01:40:14,215 I'd like to put in a sodium pentothal mode, hypnosis, 1612 01:40:14,299 --> 01:40:18,469 and maybe I'd have to do a major groin torture. 1613 01:40:18,554 --> 01:40:20,304 But it would take it. He deserves it. 1614 01:40:20,389 --> 01:40:24,308 the guy knows too much, and he really fucked overAmerica. 1615 01:40:24,393 --> 01:40:27,603 And he calls himself a patriot. this guy's a scoundrel. 1616 01:40:27,688 --> 01:40:31,733 Cushman was a longtime Nixon crony, military advisor, 1617 01:40:31,817 --> 01:40:35,987 and Nixon paid him off by appointing him what? Deputy chief of the CIA. 1618 01:40:36,071 --> 01:40:39,991 that's the number-two spot. CIA deputy director. 1619 01:40:40,075 --> 01:40:42,035 It's one of the top spots. 1620 01:40:42,119 --> 01:40:45,747 What happened was Helms completely stonewalled Cushman 1621 01:40:45,831 --> 01:40:47,331 for a long period of time. 1622 01:40:47,416 --> 01:40:53,379 And Haldeman's trying to get the papers and the Bay of Pigs out from Helms. 1623 01:40:53,464 --> 01:40:58,051 Nothing's coming. Helms is not doing anything. He's not cooperating. 1624 01:40:58,135 --> 01:41:02,013 Helms is sitting doing nothing. that's always the best reaction when you don't 1625 01:41:02,097 --> 01:41:04,557 know what to do, do nothing. I try that myself. 1626 01:41:04,641 --> 01:41:07,852 When in doubt, hesitate. I tried to build a scene around the idea 1627 01:41:07,936 --> 01:41:10,855 that Nixon is hungry and going over there to get something. 1628 01:41:10,939 --> 01:41:13,816 Cushman is one of the guys who will tell you Howard Hunt 1629 01:41:13,901 --> 01:41:18,321 was involved in the Cuba operation and later in the Bay of Pigs. 1630 01:41:18,405 --> 01:41:21,324 Knows about people like Maheu who worked for Howard Hughes. 1631 01:41:21,408 --> 01:41:25,453 Cushman knows a lot. But there's definitely the concept that 1632 01:41:25,537 --> 01:41:28,915 Bay of Pigs is a Cushman thing because Nixon can never deny 1633 01:41:28,999 --> 01:41:31,959 not knowing about Cuba when Cushman is his military advisor 1634 01:41:32,044 --> 01:41:33,586 and knows everything. 1635 01:41:33,670 --> 01:41:38,049 When Nixon wins the presidency in '68, he goes back to work on Cuba. 1636 01:41:38,133 --> 01:41:42,804 People forget, renewed attempts to destabilize the island occur. 1637 01:41:42,888 --> 01:41:45,598 In 1970, in that area, 1638 01:41:45,682 --> 01:41:50,019 the Americans inject swine flu biological warfare into Cuba, 1639 01:41:50,104 --> 01:41:53,439 into the pigs. We killed the entire population of pigs in Cuba, 1640 01:41:53,524 --> 01:41:55,399 which is a very big industry. 1641 01:41:55,484 --> 01:41:59,278 Who knows what else? Swine flu, for all I know, could've become AIDS in Africa. 1642 01:41:59,363 --> 01:42:02,782 Play with biological warfare, you're unloosing a Pandora's box 1643 01:42:02,866 --> 01:42:07,036 on the world. We did it in Cuba, and we're still paying for it in some way. 1644 01:42:07,121 --> 01:42:09,705 that's what my karma says. I could be dead wrong. 1645 01:42:09,790 --> 01:42:11,541 I think it was a huge mistake. 1646 01:42:11,625 --> 01:42:14,794 Here's Nixon trying to kill Castro again. 1647 01:42:14,878 --> 01:42:20,341 And not getting his rocks off on Castro in 1972 and 3, he goes aFter Chile. 1648 01:42:20,425 --> 01:42:23,511 this is a really bald attempt by Nixon. 1649 01:42:23,595 --> 01:42:26,931 He's acting like a buccaneer from the '50s again. 1650 01:42:27,015 --> 01:42:32,270 In the '70s, in Vietnam, he's ignoring the truth of what he said 1651 01:42:32,354 --> 01:42:35,731 and going for more war, destabilizing Cambodia, 1652 01:42:35,816 --> 01:42:40,653 bring a genocide. then on top of it, he's going aFterAllende in Chile. 1653 01:42:40,737 --> 01:42:44,782 And the CIA's very involved with the murder of Rene Schneider, 1654 01:42:44,867 --> 01:42:47,201 the chief of staff of Chilean military, 1655 01:42:47,286 --> 01:42:51,080 who was very much against the concept of the military coup. 1656 01:42:51,165 --> 01:42:53,416 He was a democrat. And Allende was elected. 1657 01:42:53,500 --> 01:42:57,461 that is what happened. they killed the general, replaced him with a Pinochet, 1658 01:42:57,546 --> 01:43:02,550 one of his type, and the junta went in and killed Allende. 1659 01:43:02,634 --> 01:43:05,344 they said he suicided himself with a machine gun, 1660 01:43:05,429 --> 01:43:09,140 which I loved. [laughs] 1661 01:43:09,224 --> 01:43:13,519 they disappeared several Americans and who knows how many Chileans. 1662 01:43:13,604 --> 01:43:16,856 the Chileans went through horror, as did Argentina, as did Brazil 1663 01:43:16,940 --> 01:43:19,025 prior to that, as did Guatemala, 1664 01:43:19,109 --> 01:43:21,611 as did Salvador in the '80s. 1665 01:43:21,695 --> 01:43:26,991 the record of torture in the South Americas and Central Americas 1666 01:43:27,075 --> 01:43:29,327 is depressing. tyruly depressing. 1667 01:43:29,411 --> 01:43:33,372 Particularly when you understand the degree of cooperation between 1668 01:43:33,457 --> 01:43:38,544 American military and CIA forces with death squads and torturers. 1669 01:43:38,629 --> 01:43:42,048 It was really one of the saddest episodes. 1670 01:43:44,343 --> 01:43:47,220 What rough beast 1671 01:43:47,304 --> 01:43:51,265 Its hour come round at last 1672 01:43:51,350 --> 01:43:56,354 Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? 1673 01:43:58,690 --> 01:44:00,233 Yes. 1674 01:44:01,485 --> 01:44:05,112 This country stands at such a juncture. 1675 01:44:10,577 --> 01:44:12,161 Manolo? 1676 01:44:16,166 --> 01:44:17,583 Mano? 1677 01:44:17,668 --> 01:44:20,378 - [Manolo] Mr. President. - Yeah. 1678 01:44:20,462 --> 01:44:22,380 I'm sorry. 1679 01:44:22,464 --> 01:44:25,466 [Stone] I'm trying to follow the emotional levels of Nixon. 1680 01:44:25,550 --> 01:44:29,303 Here's Nixon coming out of the CIA meeting. Kids are ringing the gates. 1681 01:44:29,388 --> 01:44:32,265 If anything, he's aware of his limited power now. 1682 01:44:32,349 --> 01:44:34,684 It's gonna build through the Manolo scene, 1683 01:44:34,768 --> 01:44:39,272 where he realizes Manolo really emotionally connects to Kennedy. 1684 01:44:39,356 --> 01:44:42,441 But Richard Nixon can never emotionally connect to a Manolo. 1685 01:44:42,526 --> 01:44:46,862 Or to, for that matter, the students he's going to visit now. 1686 01:44:46,947 --> 01:44:50,157 this is very important, that he's looking for that Kennedy thing, 1687 01:44:50,242 --> 01:44:52,118 that magnetism, leadership quality 1688 01:44:52,202 --> 01:44:56,455 that De Gaulle and his heroes, Churchill especially, had. 1689 01:44:56,540 --> 01:45:00,960 We let you down, didn't we? Your people. 1690 01:45:01,044 --> 01:45:04,088 That was Mr. Kennedy, sir. 1691 01:45:05,549 --> 01:45:09,135 [Stone] I love this scene, particularly the humanity of it coming off 1692 01:45:09,219 --> 01:45:12,221 that tough scene with Sam Waterston, that cold scene, 1693 01:45:12,306 --> 01:45:15,808 which is unfortunately cut out of the film in the original. 1694 01:45:15,892 --> 01:45:20,062 You get to an end of a film, this huge cutting process, it's so big, 1695 01:45:20,147 --> 01:45:22,023 and you have to make decisions. 1696 01:45:22,107 --> 01:45:25,901 Sometimes the way you structured it will push you into a corner 1697 01:45:25,986 --> 01:45:27,903 where you cut your best scene. 1698 01:45:27,988 --> 01:45:30,197 Did you cry when he died? 1699 01:45:34,453 --> 01:45:35,953 Yes, sir. 1700 01:45:37,539 --> 01:45:38,914 Why? 1701 01:45:40,334 --> 01:45:42,668 I don't know. 1702 01:45:44,004 --> 01:45:47,590 He made me... 1703 01:45:47,674 --> 01:45:50,259 ...see the stars. 1704 01:45:57,142 --> 01:45:59,435 How did he do that? 1705 01:46:01,772 --> 01:46:03,481 Those kids. 1706 01:46:05,484 --> 01:46:09,028 Why do they hate me so much? 1707 01:46:10,238 --> 01:46:13,908 [Stone] At the time, we did some very interesting time-lapse photography. 1708 01:46:13,992 --> 01:46:16,744 We'd been doing it for a while. We started in The Doors. 1709 01:46:16,828 --> 01:46:19,288 de did itin Natural Born Killers and we did it here. 1710 01:46:19,373 --> 01:46:22,833 It shows you Washington in a subjective way. 1711 01:46:22,918 --> 01:46:25,961 It's changing. Everything is going fast. 1712 01:46:40,185 --> 01:46:44,480 A beautiful shot of Tony at the actual memorial in Washington, D.C. 1713 01:46:49,319 --> 01:46:51,821 this is a set we built in L.A. 1714 01:46:51,905 --> 01:46:55,950 Amazing set. Almost the same size as the real Lincoln. 1715 01:46:56,034 --> 01:46:59,245 We put back there the matte of the Washington Memorial. 1716 01:47:08,672 --> 01:47:12,341 Here, we have another matte of the Vietnam War, which, 1717 01:47:12,426 --> 01:47:15,052 when I saw it five years later, really struck me, 1718 01:47:15,137 --> 01:47:19,265 out of the blue. I forgot a lot about these cuts I'd been doing. 1719 01:47:23,061 --> 01:47:26,188 I love this shot, the relationship of Nixon to Lincoln. 1720 01:47:26,273 --> 01:47:29,191 The Battle Hymn of the Republic, one of my favorites. 1721 01:47:29,276 --> 01:47:31,235 Whenever I hear that, I'm a sap. 1722 01:47:32,529 --> 01:47:35,614 [students murmuring] 1723 01:47:39,202 --> 01:47:42,288 Kids were hanging out at the Lincoln Memorial, inside and out. 1724 01:47:42,372 --> 01:47:45,708 All overWashington. they were sleeping inside in the corners. 1725 01:47:47,461 --> 01:47:50,463 Hi, I'm Dick Nixon. 1726 01:47:50,547 --> 01:47:52,256 Hi, there. 1727 01:47:54,009 --> 01:47:55,968 - Where you from? - Syracuse. 1728 01:47:56,052 --> 01:47:59,430 Oh, yeah, the, uh, Orangemen. 1729 01:47:59,514 --> 01:48:02,099 Now, there's a football program. 1730 01:48:02,184 --> 01:48:06,395 Jim Brown and that other tailback... 1731 01:48:06,480 --> 01:48:10,983 [Stone] I got to work with Jim Brown aFter this in Any Given Sunday. 1732 01:48:11,067 --> 01:48:13,861 A lot of my characters bounce from real life into my life. 1733 01:48:13,945 --> 01:48:18,991 Even had Richard Nixon once on TV. He referred to me as a liar. [laughs] 1734 01:48:19,075 --> 01:48:22,495 He was on with Larry King or David qrost 1735 01:48:22,579 --> 01:48:26,582 and he's saying, "that producer, Oliver Stone, he's making up that stuff..." 1736 01:48:26,666 --> 01:48:29,835 I'd gone to his buttons. I pushed his button about Vietnam. 1737 01:48:29,920 --> 01:48:32,588 About Kennedy and Vietnam. that was the one thing 1738 01:48:32,672 --> 01:48:36,800 that drove him nuts. He always wanted to prove Kennedy brought us to Vietnam 1739 01:48:36,885 --> 01:48:39,303 to destroy his reputation. He couldn't prove it. 1740 01:48:39,387 --> 01:48:42,681 As you know, from our other commentary on JFK he can't. 1741 01:48:42,766 --> 01:48:46,894 It just isn't true. But here I am saying that JqK wanted to get us 1742 01:48:46,978 --> 01:48:49,688 out of Vietnam, and he went nuts on David qrost 1743 01:48:49,773 --> 01:48:52,858 and called me a complete Hollywood nincompoop and liar. 1744 01:48:52,943 --> 01:48:55,444 It was funny to be insulted by Richard Nixon. 1745 01:48:55,529 --> 01:48:58,447 In a way, I did make a belated enemies list. 1746 01:48:58,615 --> 01:49:01,367 Tell that to the GIs who are gonna die tomorrow in Vietnam. 1747 01:49:01,451 --> 01:49:05,037 - What lets you kill women and children? - What you have to understand 1748 01:49:05,121 --> 01:49:08,040 is we're willing to die for what we believe in. 1749 01:49:08,124 --> 01:49:10,125 - That's the truth. - Yeah. 1750 01:49:10,210 --> 01:49:11,627 Yeah. 1751 01:49:14,381 --> 01:49:17,550 [Stone] this is the real Nixon, the log cabin Nixon in California. 1752 01:49:17,634 --> 01:49:21,971 Lincoln was a very important Republican, the first Republican. 1753 01:49:22,055 --> 01:49:26,392 - [man] This is all bullshit. - Sometimes I go to the Lincoln Room 1754 01:49:26,476 --> 01:49:30,729 at the White House and just pray. But, you know, liberals... 1755 01:49:30,814 --> 01:49:34,233 [Stone] this is an interesting intercut of the man, the reflection, 1756 01:49:34,317 --> 01:49:36,735 the respect he pays. 1757 01:49:36,820 --> 01:49:41,699 My family went Republican because Lincoln freed the slaves. 1758 01:49:41,783 --> 01:49:44,910 [Stone] Many people in America, of course, 1759 01:49:44,995 --> 01:49:48,080 were very moved by Lincoln and went Republican, 1760 01:49:48,164 --> 01:49:52,084 why the Republicans did so well. He was one of the great Republican presidents. 1761 01:49:52,168 --> 01:49:55,254 They were, you know, conservative Bible folk, 1762 01:49:55,338 --> 01:49:57,631 but they had a powerful sense of right and wrong. 1763 01:49:57,716 --> 01:50:01,594 [Stone] that's true. Nixon's ancestors had been involved in abolitionism. 1764 01:50:01,678 --> 01:50:02,761 ...I was like you. 1765 01:50:02,846 --> 01:50:07,433 - Looking for answers. See? - Come on. 1766 01:50:07,517 --> 01:50:09,602 [man 2] Tricky Dick himself. 1767 01:50:09,686 --> 01:50:14,481 [Stone] Which makes the descent from his ethical roots more disappointing 1768 01:50:14,566 --> 01:50:17,526 and tragic. the beast catches up to him. 1769 01:50:17,611 --> 01:50:21,572 His entire entourage of Secret Service 1770 01:50:21,656 --> 01:50:24,575 and Woods, Haldeman, Ehrlichman 1771 01:50:24,659 --> 01:50:27,453 coming to get their master like Dobermans 1772 01:50:27,537 --> 01:50:29,830 to pull him back into the White House. 1773 01:50:32,500 --> 01:50:35,294 Chuck Pfeiffer, my friend, looks like a Nazi there. 1774 01:50:35,378 --> 01:50:37,463 I pulled out more than half the troops. 1775 01:50:37,547 --> 01:50:41,091 I'm trying to cut the military budget for the first time in 30 years. 1776 01:50:41,176 --> 01:50:43,135 I want a volunteer army. 1777 01:50:43,219 --> 01:50:46,096 But it's also a question ofAmerican credibility. 1778 01:50:46,181 --> 01:50:48,932 - Our position in the world. - Come on, Mr. Nixon. 1779 01:50:49,017 --> 01:50:53,228 - It's a civil war between Vietnamese. - [Stone] Woods'd like to strangle 1780 01:50:53,313 --> 01:50:55,439 the guy. [laughs] 1781 01:50:57,400 --> 01:50:59,401 So why does it go on? 1782 01:51:01,488 --> 01:51:03,656 [Stone] Another intercut. 1783 01:51:04,908 --> 01:51:09,453 And there's great mystery for me in the silence. 1784 01:51:09,537 --> 01:51:10,996 Hear the radio. 1785 01:51:12,248 --> 01:51:14,500 You can't stop it, can you? 1786 01:51:15,460 --> 01:51:17,127 Even if you wanted to. 1787 01:51:18,713 --> 01:51:20,964 [Stone] Can't stop fate. 1788 01:51:21,049 --> 01:51:23,342 The system won't let you stop it. 1789 01:51:23,426 --> 01:51:28,764 [Stone] It's almost the powerlessness he felt when his younger brothers died. 1790 01:51:28,848 --> 01:51:31,642 that same powerlessness is now invading him. 1791 01:51:31,726 --> 01:51:36,689 that's something that's very difficult for him as a survivor of those deaths. 1792 01:51:36,773 --> 01:51:37,981 You're powerless! 1793 01:51:38,066 --> 01:51:41,652 [Stone] To be a victim, you see, you have to overcome being the victim. 1794 01:51:41,736 --> 01:51:45,781 that was a crisis. Victim, overcome, 1795 01:51:45,865 --> 01:51:48,617 and become a victimizer until you become a victim again. 1796 01:51:48,702 --> 01:51:52,287 Victim, victimizer. Victim, victimizer. 1797 01:51:52,372 --> 01:51:55,040 Sounds like you're talking about a wild animal. 1798 01:51:58,378 --> 01:52:00,504 Yeah, maybe I am. 1799 01:52:00,588 --> 01:52:03,173 We really must go, Mr. President. Please. 1800 01:52:03,258 --> 01:52:07,302 - [woman] Hey, what about the war, man? - [man] When you gonna get us out? 1801 01:52:07,387 --> 01:52:10,389 - The old man's moving. - Move it. Get away. 1802 01:52:10,473 --> 01:52:13,142 She got it, Bob. Nineteen-year-old college kid. 1803 01:52:13,226 --> 01:52:15,561 [Stone] that was shot in interior set. 1804 01:52:15,645 --> 01:52:18,564 ...that's taken me 25 years in politics to understand. 1805 01:52:18,648 --> 01:52:20,733 The CIA, the Mafia... 1806 01:52:20,817 --> 01:52:24,486 [Stone] I don't know why. I think at the time we were doing this, 1807 01:52:24,571 --> 01:52:28,699 Washington, D.C., the Memorial, was closed for refurbishing. 1808 01:52:31,995 --> 01:52:36,165 I had shot at the Memorial prior to that with Donald Sutherland, 1809 01:52:36,249 --> 01:52:38,584 Kevin Costner scene in JFK. 1810 01:52:40,420 --> 01:52:44,089 Here's The Battle Hymn of the Republic montage, beautifully cut. 1811 01:52:50,513 --> 01:52:53,932 Passage of time. When you see montages with passage of time like that, 1812 01:52:54,017 --> 01:52:56,560 they don't make those montages anymore. 1813 01:52:58,021 --> 01:52:59,480 Here he is still. 1814 01:53:00,774 --> 01:53:02,858 the unending war. 1815 01:53:04,527 --> 01:53:08,363 They've been at it for a whole year. Young kids just like Tricia. 1816 01:53:09,115 --> 01:53:13,243 [Stone] there's the marriage, the day of the rain. Real footage, I think. 1817 01:53:13,328 --> 01:53:18,415 - This whole damn system of government. - Remember what Lenin said in 1917. 1818 01:53:18,500 --> 01:53:23,629 [Stone] We mixed home-movie style, 16... No, eight-millimeter color, 1819 01:53:23,713 --> 01:53:28,801 with golf-ball grain, with some nice 35. Here's documentary footage. 1820 01:53:28,885 --> 01:53:33,388 there, you saw one of the guards. Nixon changed over the White House guards 1821 01:53:33,473 --> 01:53:36,642 to make them wear uniforms like... It was ridiculous because 1822 01:53:36,726 --> 01:53:39,978 it was typical Nixon in that it was so awkward the way he did it. 1823 01:53:40,063 --> 01:53:43,774 the uniforms were terrible. Like tin-pot Prussian policemen 1824 01:53:43,858 --> 01:53:46,568 from the 1840s. they didn't look like Americans at all. 1825 01:53:46,653 --> 01:53:48,821 Americans were turned off. He gave it up. 1826 01:53:48,905 --> 01:53:50,280 Where are they now? 1827 01:53:52,367 --> 01:53:55,869 How the hell The Times got a hold of this Ellsberg stuff is a disgrace. 1828 01:53:56,704 --> 01:54:00,165 Yeah. We can't keep a damn secret in this government. 1829 01:54:00,250 --> 01:54:03,335 They're stealing papers right out of this office. 1830 01:54:03,419 --> 01:54:05,546 Johnson had the same damn problem 1831 01:54:05,630 --> 01:54:08,549 - until he bugged his own office. - We took that system out. 1832 01:54:08,633 --> 01:54:11,218 That was a mistake. 1833 01:54:11,302 --> 01:54:14,429 The White House was full of Kennedy people then. 1834 01:54:14,514 --> 01:54:17,474 - It still is. - Who's behind this? 1835 01:54:17,559 --> 01:54:21,895 Well, you have CIA people all over this place. 1836 01:54:21,980 --> 01:54:26,358 Helms has seen to that. Then there's Kissinger's staff. 1837 01:54:26,442 --> 01:54:30,529 Kissinger himself, I believe, may be the leaker. 1838 01:54:30,613 --> 01:54:32,197 Kissinger? 1839 01:54:32,282 --> 01:54:35,033 He's obsessed with his own image. 1840 01:54:35,118 --> 01:54:38,370 He wants his Nobel Peace Prize a little too much. 1841 01:54:38,454 --> 01:54:41,206 And as the late Dr. King proved, 1842 01:54:41,291 --> 01:54:44,585 even an ape can win a prize with good press. 1843 01:54:44,669 --> 01:54:47,713 Jesus, I'd like to book him into a psychiatrist's office. 1844 01:54:47,797 --> 01:54:51,550 He comes in here ranting and raving, dumping his crap all over the place. 1845 01:54:53,428 --> 01:54:56,889 - Could you prove it, Edgar? - Mr. President, 1846 01:54:56,973 --> 01:54:58,974 I always get my man. 1847 01:55:00,351 --> 01:55:01,894 Yeah, you do. 1848 01:55:01,978 --> 01:55:05,272 This damn tie. Could you help me? 1849 01:55:05,356 --> 01:55:06,773 Yeah. 1850 01:55:10,486 --> 01:55:13,655 - See, I'd be bugging myself. - Look. 1851 01:55:15,325 --> 01:55:19,578 - Who'd get the tapes? - No one. Your property. 1852 01:55:20,663 --> 01:55:22,247 And it would prove your case. 1853 01:55:22,832 --> 01:55:26,627 Why do you think Kissinger is taping all your calls? 1854 01:55:27,795 --> 01:55:29,630 For history. 1855 01:55:30,715 --> 01:55:32,758 His word against yours. 1856 01:55:32,842 --> 01:55:36,261 And right now, he's got the records. 1857 01:55:40,516 --> 01:55:43,018 I'll get Manolo to do this. 1858 01:55:43,603 --> 01:55:45,729 Thanks. 1859 01:55:45,813 --> 01:55:47,940 You know, Churchill once said to me, 1860 01:55:48,024 --> 01:55:50,442 "If you want your own history written properly, 1861 01:55:50,526 --> 01:55:52,527 you better write it yourself." 1862 01:55:52,612 --> 01:55:54,738 The only thing is, Edgar, 1863 01:55:54,822 --> 01:55:57,199 I don't want this to come back and haunt me. 1864 01:55:57,283 --> 01:56:00,160 It won't, as long as I'm here. 1865 01:56:00,828 --> 01:56:02,329 Good. 1866 01:56:03,790 --> 01:56:06,208 [big band jazz playing] 1867 01:56:09,045 --> 01:56:10,629 This way. 1868 01:56:16,052 --> 01:56:17,761 What's wrong? 1869 01:56:18,763 --> 01:56:21,223 We'rejust not going to buckle to these people. 1870 01:56:21,307 --> 01:56:23,392 [chanting] No more war! 1871 01:56:26,312 --> 01:56:28,021 [chuckles] 1872 01:56:30,233 --> 01:56:32,401 - It's beautiful. - OK. 1873 01:56:37,240 --> 01:56:38,490 [man] Yes, thank you. 1874 01:56:43,579 --> 01:56:47,666 [Stone] And J. Edgar's checking out the guards. He likes the uniform. 1875 01:56:48,084 --> 01:56:50,919 Princess, may I? 1876 01:56:52,255 --> 01:56:53,755 Thank you. 1877 01:57:06,519 --> 01:57:10,355 I'm very proud of you today, Princess. Very. 1878 01:57:10,440 --> 01:57:11,773 Thank you, Daddy. 1879 01:57:16,446 --> 01:57:18,989 [applause] 1880 01:57:27,915 --> 01:57:29,291 Yeah? 1881 01:57:29,375 --> 01:57:33,378 Some secret essays on Vietnam have been leaked to The New York Times. 1882 01:57:33,463 --> 01:57:36,381 I know, I know. Not now, Chuck. 1883 01:57:36,466 --> 01:57:39,217 [Stone] I love the scene where he treats Kevin Dunn like, 1884 01:57:39,302 --> 01:57:42,888 "Don't wreck my wedding day." What Dunn is coming and telling him 1885 01:57:42,972 --> 01:57:45,140 is the Pentagon Papers have hit. 1886 01:57:45,892 --> 01:57:48,226 Of course, he's there watching everything. 1887 01:57:48,311 --> 01:57:50,353 He's a character, Hoover. 1888 01:57:54,233 --> 01:57:57,069 the Pentagon Papers is the big issue that's coming up. 1889 01:57:57,153 --> 01:58:01,406 the same weekend his daughter got married was the weekend, June 13th, 1890 01:58:01,491 --> 01:58:07,412 that Daniel Ellsberg apparently leaked papers on Vietnam for decades 1891 01:58:07,497 --> 01:58:11,458 to Neil Sheehan, who later wrote the book Bright Shining Lie. 1892 01:58:11,542 --> 01:58:15,087 Sheehan, at The Times. they went with it. Nixon sued them, 1893 01:58:15,171 --> 01:58:19,800 but they were overruled. A significant press first was established 1894 01:58:19,884 --> 01:58:22,010 by the publication of supposed secrets. 1895 01:58:22,095 --> 01:58:25,222 The State Department under Rogers is leaking like a sieve. 1896 01:58:25,306 --> 01:58:28,767 And now this little, insignificant little shit, Ellsberg, 1897 01:58:28,851 --> 01:58:31,686 publishing all the diplomatic secrets of this country 1898 01:58:31,771 --> 01:58:34,731 is destroying our ability to conduct foreign policy. 1899 01:58:34,816 --> 01:58:37,567 I wonder if people here wouldn't think ten years in prison 1900 01:58:37,652 --> 01:58:40,195 was cheap if they could contribute to ending this war. 1901 01:58:40,279 --> 01:58:44,449 [Stone] I think Nixon makes it clear it's not the Pentagon Papers he cares... 1902 01:58:44,534 --> 01:58:46,618 He's gonna explain what he cares about. 1903 01:58:46,702 --> 01:58:49,538 Nixon, if you look at it, is not upset. He's cool. 1904 01:58:49,622 --> 01:58:51,873 It's Kissinger who's upset. 1905 01:58:51,958 --> 01:58:55,377 Kissinger is upset because he looks bad, 1906 01:58:55,461 --> 01:58:59,422 and everyone in the room knows Kissinger cares a lot about his public image. 1907 01:58:59,507 --> 01:59:03,051 Ironically, because of the new cut, you will know in this scene, 1908 01:59:03,136 --> 01:59:06,805 that Nixon now knows, through Hoover, that Kissinger 1909 01:59:06,889 --> 01:59:10,142 is tapping him, spying on Nixon. 1910 01:59:10,226 --> 01:59:12,060 Which is amazing. 1911 01:59:12,145 --> 01:59:15,355 But there's another surprise coming later on Kissinger, 1912 01:59:15,439 --> 01:59:18,775 which will be the one-two punch that knocks Nixon out on Kissinger. 1913 01:59:18,860 --> 01:59:20,652 Kissinger turns on him, in a sense. 1914 01:59:20,736 --> 01:59:23,321 - He's photogenic. Try new biscuits. - Fuck it. 1915 01:59:23,406 --> 01:59:25,949 He doesn't like me, John. It's your fault, Henry. 1916 01:59:26,033 --> 01:59:27,909 - I beg your pardon? - [Stone] Great scene. 1917 01:59:27,994 --> 01:59:31,538 I love the black and white and the grain. We decided to go bold with this. 1918 01:59:31,622 --> 01:59:35,208 It's a very interestingly cut scene. It goes from different styles 1919 01:59:35,293 --> 01:59:38,003 and doesn't seem to conflict. It feels right. 1920 01:59:38,087 --> 01:59:42,382 I love the change from grain within a shot. 1921 01:59:42,466 --> 01:59:45,343 It doesn't bother me. To me, it's fractured. 1922 01:59:45,428 --> 01:59:47,679 All conversations like this are fractured. 1923 01:59:47,763 --> 01:59:51,099 Yeah, but it's not, bottom line, gonna change a goddamn thing, John. 1924 01:59:51,184 --> 01:59:54,895 The... question is how do we screw Ellsberg so bad, 1925 01:59:54,979 --> 01:59:57,063 it puts the fear of God into all leakers? 1926 01:59:57,148 --> 02:00:00,609 [Stone] People talk from a time and place. Say something in a meeting, 1927 02:00:00,693 --> 02:00:04,279 you're representing yourself in 1962. that's when you had the thought. 1928 02:00:04,363 --> 02:00:06,323 But it's really 1971. 1929 02:00:06,407 --> 02:00:09,284 Some people in the present, some in the past, some future. 1930 02:00:09,368 --> 02:00:12,746 We're all kind of from different places, coming at this thing. 1931 02:00:12,955 --> 02:00:15,457 The CIA and the FBI aren't doing thejob. 1932 02:00:15,541 --> 02:00:20,045 Now, we can create our own intelligence unit right here inside the White House. 1933 02:00:20,129 --> 02:00:24,132 [Stone] Kevin Dunn plays Charles Colson, one of the toughest guys on staff, 1934 02:00:24,217 --> 02:00:26,760 and went to jail, became a born-again Christian. 1935 02:00:26,844 --> 02:00:29,471 Blasted the film when it came out in The New York Times. 1936 02:00:29,555 --> 02:00:32,390 Don't know why they gave space and wouldn't give me space. 1937 02:00:32,475 --> 02:00:34,726 He was an ex-convict, I wasn't. 1938 02:00:34,810 --> 02:00:37,145 I like it. I like the idea. 1939 02:00:38,147 --> 02:00:41,441 Yeah, but is it legal? Has it ever been done before? 1940 02:00:42,443 --> 02:00:44,152 Oh, sure. 1941 02:00:44,237 --> 02:00:47,781 Lyndon, JFK, FDR. 1942 02:00:49,033 --> 02:00:53,495 I mean, Truman cut the shit out of my investigation of the Hiss case in '48. 1943 02:00:53,579 --> 02:00:56,414 - What he did was illegal. - With this kind of thing, 1944 02:00:56,499 --> 02:01:00,293 you got to be brutal. A leak happens, the whole damn place should be fired. 1945 02:01:00,378 --> 02:01:04,756 Really, I mean, you do it like the Germans in World War II. 1946 02:01:04,840 --> 02:01:08,176 [Stone] this is actual dialogue from Nixon in a speech to his aides. 1947 02:01:08,261 --> 02:01:11,680 I cut to Kissinger 'cause he was Jewish and German. 1948 02:01:11,764 --> 02:01:15,517 He was talking about the German ways of extinction. 1949 02:01:15,601 --> 02:01:18,186 Talking about a means to an end, which is what he did. 1950 02:01:18,271 --> 02:01:20,146 Took any means to the end. 1951 02:01:20,231 --> 02:01:24,943 - We're not Germans. - Yeah. Ellsberg's not the issue. 1952 02:01:25,027 --> 02:01:28,280 The Pentagon Papers aren't the issue. 1953 02:01:28,364 --> 02:01:31,324 It's the lie. 1954 02:01:31,409 --> 02:01:34,619 - Mr. Hiss is lying. - Yeah. 1955 02:01:35,746 --> 02:01:37,539 Remember, John, back in '48? 1956 02:01:37,623 --> 02:01:40,458 Nobody believed Alger Hiss was a communist except me. 1957 02:01:40,543 --> 02:01:43,712 [Stone] Not true. He got his information from the CIA and qBI. 1958 02:01:43,796 --> 02:01:46,548 He was their kind: Ivy League establishment. 1959 02:01:46,632 --> 02:01:50,385 - I am not, and never have been... - Mr. Hiss is lying. 1960 02:01:50,469 --> 02:01:53,638 - Mr. Hiss? - I was dirt to them, nothing. 1961 02:01:53,723 --> 02:01:57,559 - And Dick kicked the shit out of 'em. - I wouldn't have if Hiss hadn't lied 1962 02:01:57,643 --> 02:01:58,852 about knowing Chambers. 1963 02:01:58,936 --> 02:02:01,604 [Stone] the way Nixon got famous, taking Hiss apart 1964 02:02:01,689 --> 02:02:03,732 with planted information. 1965 02:02:03,816 --> 02:02:06,985 The key thing we proved was that Hiss was a liar. 1966 02:02:07,069 --> 02:02:09,821 Then people bought that he was a spy. 1967 02:02:09,905 --> 02:02:11,698 It's the lie that gets you. 1968 02:02:13,242 --> 02:02:15,827 All right, Henry, we're gonna go your way. 1969 02:02:15,911 --> 02:02:18,163 Crush this Ellsberg same way we did Hiss. 1970 02:02:18,247 --> 02:02:20,081 There is no other choice, Mr. President. 1971 02:02:20,166 --> 02:02:23,710 We'll hit him so hard, he'll look like everything that's sick and evil 1972 02:02:23,794 --> 02:02:26,713 about the eastern establishment. You and your plumbers, 1973 02:02:26,797 --> 02:02:28,381 you get all the dirt on this guy. 1974 02:02:28,466 --> 02:02:31,176 See him going to the bathroom in front of the public. 1975 02:02:31,260 --> 02:02:33,762 And when we finish with him, they'll crucify him. 1976 02:02:33,846 --> 02:02:36,639 Then we'll get our second term. 1977 02:02:36,724 --> 02:02:40,685 [Stone] Seems Nixon is more concerned with the second term here. 1978 02:02:40,770 --> 02:02:43,938 - [rooster crows] - [mambo music playing] 1979 02:02:44,023 --> 02:02:45,940 [yelling in Spanish] 1980 02:02:51,197 --> 02:02:53,281 The claws are out, Frank. 1981 02:02:54,825 --> 02:02:57,702 - You seen the guys? - They're around. 1982 02:02:57,787 --> 02:02:59,788 Why? You got a customer? 1983 02:03:02,249 --> 02:03:05,960 - The White House. - You're fuckin' me. 1984 02:03:06,045 --> 02:03:09,255 We're gonna be plumbers, Frank. We're gonna plug leaks. 1985 02:03:10,257 --> 02:03:13,426 - Who are we workin' for? - A guy named Gordon Liddy. 1986 02:03:13,511 --> 02:03:16,721 He thinks he's Martin Bormann. He wants to meet you. 1987 02:03:18,474 --> 02:03:21,726 [Stone] I think the real characters, qrank Sturgis, Howard Hunt 1988 02:03:21,811 --> 02:03:26,648 and Gordon Liddy here should be very flattered to be played 1989 02:03:26,732 --> 02:03:31,403 by three so attractive actors. they were not as attractive in real life. 1990 02:03:31,487 --> 02:03:35,824 Robert Beltran, on the leFt, is Sturgis and John Diehl, who I love, 1991 02:03:35,908 --> 02:03:40,245 from many movies looks mad. He has that mad quality Liddy had in his eyes. 1992 02:03:40,329 --> 02:03:43,248 Hunt was a more difficult character to create 1993 02:03:43,332 --> 02:03:47,001 'cause he looks more like Doonesbury character. He's a bit weaker-chinned 1994 02:03:47,086 --> 02:03:50,088 than Ed Harris. Ed Harris is a strong-looking man. 1995 02:03:51,173 --> 02:03:56,136 Bob, tell Trini I'll be in Key Biscayne at 4:00. 1996 02:03:56,220 --> 02:03:58,680 - With Pat? - No, alone. 1997 02:03:58,764 --> 02:04:00,432 Pat's staying here with Mrs. Eisenhower. 1998 02:04:00,516 --> 02:04:03,768 [Stone] Nixon and Pat at this time had separate bedrooms. 1999 02:04:03,853 --> 02:04:07,313 this is really a sad scene for me. It's about Pat realizing 2000 02:04:07,398 --> 02:04:10,316 - how leFt out she is of his life. - I missed you. 2001 02:04:11,944 --> 02:04:14,612 [Stone] this is one of my favorite lines in the movie. 2002 02:04:14,697 --> 02:04:18,950 - Because I have to relax. - [Stone] "I have to relax." [laughs] 2003 02:04:19,034 --> 02:04:21,953 He has to relax. He can't be with his wife. 2004 02:04:22,037 --> 02:04:25,248 they've reached this calcification where he says that. I love it. 2005 02:04:25,332 --> 02:04:27,750 there's an honesty between them. 2006 02:04:30,171 --> 02:04:34,257 Joan got an Academy-Award nomination for Pat. It looks like her, 2007 02:04:34,341 --> 02:04:36,718 and she's such a great actress. 2008 02:04:36,802 --> 02:04:38,720 Very, very dignified. 2009 02:04:40,556 --> 02:04:42,557 It was a long time ago. 2010 02:04:44,894 --> 02:04:47,812 [Stone] I think she was an equal match for Tony. 2011 02:04:47,897 --> 02:04:51,274 She had a great theater background. She could handle her own with him 2012 02:04:51,358 --> 02:04:53,610 without being intimidated. 2013 02:04:53,694 --> 02:04:55,904 they were good equals. 2014 02:04:57,031 --> 02:04:59,115 I don't need that. 2015 02:04:59,200 --> 02:05:02,952 [Stone] God, she looks like Pat Nixon... at times. 2016 02:05:04,955 --> 02:05:07,290 I'm not Jack Kennedy. 2017 02:05:10,961 --> 02:05:13,838 No, you're not. 2018 02:05:13,923 --> 02:05:18,927 So stop comparing yourself to him. You have no reason to. 2019 02:05:19,929 --> 02:05:22,680 [Stone] Scene goes from Nixon triumphant on the phone 2020 02:05:22,765 --> 02:05:24,641 to being in retreat. 2021 02:05:24,725 --> 02:05:28,019 Watch the staging around the room. It's sort of bizarre staging. 2022 02:05:28,103 --> 02:05:31,898 I tried to encourage them to do the opposite of what we thought 2023 02:05:31,982 --> 02:05:34,359 to keep the scene moving. 2024 02:05:34,443 --> 02:05:38,279 In flight. He's in flight from her. Almost like being cornered all the time. 2025 02:05:40,741 --> 02:05:42,283 You don't understand. 2026 02:05:45,454 --> 02:05:48,456 They're playing for keeps, Buddy. 2027 02:05:48,541 --> 02:05:51,918 You know, the press, the kids, the liberals out there. 2028 02:05:52,002 --> 02:05:54,963 They're out there trying to figure out how to tear me down. 2029 02:05:55,047 --> 02:05:58,967 - They're all your enemies? - [Stone] they are to him, 2030 02:05:59,051 --> 02:06:04,681 aFter Helms, the kids and the Pentagon Papers. 2031 02:06:04,765 --> 02:06:08,351 And the media, I have to say, we all know, they kept up a steady 2032 02:06:08,435 --> 02:06:13,398 attack on Nixon's character and doubt about it, but the reality is 2033 02:06:13,482 --> 02:06:16,901 in the years of '68, '69 and '70, '71 even, 2034 02:06:16,986 --> 02:06:19,862 he got breaks from the press. A lot of breaks. 2035 02:06:19,947 --> 02:06:24,284 But because of the old habit encrusted in his head of being hated by them, 2036 02:06:24,368 --> 02:06:28,496 it was hard for him to accept that. He saw it as a negative conspiracy. 2037 02:06:28,581 --> 02:06:31,374 You want to see that, Buddy? It's not pretty! 2038 02:06:32,918 --> 02:06:35,545 Sometimes I think that's what you want, Dick. 2039 02:06:36,213 --> 02:06:38,006 What the hell are you saying? 2040 02:06:39,466 --> 02:06:41,092 Are you drunk? 2041 02:06:43,429 --> 02:06:47,098 [Stone] Even his wife he feels is not there for him. She's too soFt. 2042 02:06:47,182 --> 02:06:49,642 I gotta keep fighting, Buddy, for the country. 2043 02:06:49,727 --> 02:06:53,104 These people running things, the elite! 2044 02:06:53,188 --> 02:06:55,690 They're just soft, chicken-shit faggots. 2045 02:06:55,774 --> 02:06:57,609 [Stone] Martha and George. [laughs] 2046 02:06:57,693 --> 02:07:00,069 They don't have the long-term vision anymore. 2047 02:07:00,154 --> 02:07:03,990 [Stone] these are actual quotes from Nixon. 2048 02:07:04,074 --> 02:07:07,452 Oh, God, this country's in deep, deep, deep trouble, Buddy. 2049 02:07:07,536 --> 02:07:10,455 - [Stone] Cover their asses. - I have to see this through, you know. 2050 02:07:10,539 --> 02:07:13,875 [Stone] "Mother would expect no less of me." these are actual quotes. 2051 02:07:16,170 --> 02:07:18,087 I'm sorry, Buddy. 2052 02:07:20,841 --> 02:07:23,968 I just wish you knew how much I love you, that's all. 2053 02:07:24,053 --> 02:07:29,223 It took me a long time to fall in love with you, Dick, but I did. 2054 02:07:30,100 --> 02:07:32,810 And it doesn't make you happy. 2055 02:07:32,895 --> 02:07:35,563 - You want them to love you. - No, I don't. 2056 02:07:35,648 --> 02:07:38,483 - I'm not Jack Kennedy. - They never will, Dick. 2057 02:07:38,567 --> 02:07:43,321 No matter how many elections you win, they never will. 2058 02:07:58,796 --> 02:08:01,839 [Stone] A lot of the portraits we did are dutched or canted. 2059 02:08:01,924 --> 02:08:05,968 they're from a low angle like Eisenstein and Russian revolutionaries did. 2060 02:08:06,053 --> 02:08:09,597 We wanted to create that sense of power and size these people had. 2061 02:08:09,682 --> 02:08:12,517 When he walks in the room, trick effects. Slams the door, 2062 02:08:12,601 --> 02:08:15,728 we rack the camera up so it looks ridiculous, but it's funny. 2063 02:08:20,818 --> 02:08:24,529 Gentlemen, this is our last damn leak. 2064 02:08:24,613 --> 02:08:27,198 It's no way to run a goddamn government. 2065 02:08:28,117 --> 02:08:32,036 We're gonna prosecute Ellsberg and anyone else who wants to leak 2066 02:08:32,121 --> 02:08:36,708 - and that means anyone here... - [Stone] I love that Eisenstein shot 2067 02:08:36,792 --> 02:08:40,169 - of Jimmy Woods. - Permissiveness of this year is over. 2068 02:08:40,254 --> 02:08:43,715 The belts are coming off and people are gonna go to the woodshed. 2069 02:08:43,799 --> 02:08:48,052 'Cause the government cannot survive with a counter-government inside it. 2070 02:08:48,137 --> 02:08:50,930 [Stone] Not one cabinet member says a word the whole time. 2071 02:08:51,014 --> 02:08:53,266 Nixon is the king, the mad King George. 2072 02:08:53,350 --> 02:08:56,894 He's Macbeth, Eisenstein's creation of Ivan the Terrible. 2073 02:08:56,979 --> 02:08:58,396 Nixon the Terrible. 2074 02:09:00,149 --> 02:09:05,069 The Harvard Hebrew boys who leak. 2075 02:09:05,154 --> 02:09:09,782 I hear people say, "But Ellsberg did it for the good of the country. 2076 02:09:09,867 --> 02:09:12,326 People's right to know." 2077 02:09:13,328 --> 02:09:17,832 Well, that's in every case. Alger Hiss said the same thing. 2078 02:09:17,916 --> 02:09:20,418 So did the Rosenbergs. Look what happened to them. 2079 02:09:20,502 --> 02:09:23,171 [mimics electrical crackling] Old Sparky got 'em. 2080 02:09:23,255 --> 02:09:25,548 They always underestimated old Nixon, see. 2081 02:09:25,632 --> 02:09:29,135 We're gonna fightjust as dirty. This is sudden death, gentlemen. 2082 02:09:29,219 --> 02:09:31,137 We're gonna get 'em on the ground, 2083 02:09:31,221 --> 02:09:34,474 stick in our spikes and twist and show them no mercy. 2084 02:09:34,558 --> 02:09:39,228 So, uh, starting today, no one in this room talks to the press 2085 02:09:39,313 --> 02:09:43,107 without checking with Mr. Haldeman here. 2086 02:09:43,192 --> 02:09:45,943 [Stone] Words he said about Haldeman. "Go to Haldeman 2087 02:09:46,028 --> 02:09:49,947 about everything." He isolated himself more and more, angrier and angrier. 2088 02:09:50,032 --> 02:09:51,866 ...and The Washington Post. 2089 02:09:51,950 --> 02:09:55,703 Um, Mr. Haldeman is the chief high executioner from now on. 2090 02:09:57,664 --> 02:10:01,375 [Stone] He looks like the chief executioner from that angle. 2091 02:10:03,670 --> 02:10:07,381 Anyone who screws with us, his fucking head comes off. 2092 02:10:07,466 --> 02:10:09,717 - You got that? - [Stone] "You got that?" 2093 02:10:12,805 --> 02:10:15,264 Well, thank you very much, gentlemen. 2094 02:10:15,349 --> 02:10:17,350 Good day to you. 2095 02:10:24,107 --> 02:10:26,317 [Nixon] History will never be the same. 2096 02:10:26,401 --> 02:10:30,404 [Stone] that was John Diehl wearing a wig for the break-in. 2097 02:10:31,740 --> 02:10:33,616 [Nixon] We have changed the world. 2098 02:10:33,700 --> 02:10:36,869 - Five, ten. - What else you got? 2099 02:10:46,964 --> 02:10:49,924 [Stone] this is one of my favorite montages we did. 2100 02:10:50,008 --> 02:10:53,094 Took a while to cut. We kept going back and forth on pacing, 2101 02:10:53,178 --> 02:10:55,805 but it's so rich and dense in meaning to me. 2102 02:10:55,889 --> 02:10:58,975 You can't simulate Mao. It's very hard. 2103 02:10:59,059 --> 02:11:02,353 Who knows what they actually said? But we have a few clues. 2104 02:11:02,437 --> 02:11:05,690 Two fractured men coming together. But they're very united. 2105 02:11:05,774 --> 02:11:09,777 Both from poor families, both egoistic rulers 2106 02:11:09,862 --> 02:11:11,487 with strong sense of self. 2107 02:11:11,572 --> 02:11:15,533 Mao is hilarious in the scene. I don't know that he said that, 2108 02:11:15,617 --> 02:11:19,203 but this is a key point. Do you go with a protocol of what they might have said 2109 02:11:19,288 --> 02:11:23,833 which is boring, or was Mao, reportedly on heavy doses of opium, 2110 02:11:23,917 --> 02:11:27,628 living quite a degenerate life at this time, maybe he spoke bluntly. 2111 02:11:27,713 --> 02:11:31,048 Why not? Even if he didn't, let him speak what he feels. 2112 02:11:31,133 --> 02:11:34,594 And do it in a way that was clipped and fractured enough so it wouldn't 2113 02:11:34,678 --> 02:11:37,972 be pretentious and hang there. that's why the cutting is what it is. 2114 02:11:38,056 --> 02:11:40,766 We get glimpses of conversation as if it's hard to see. 2115 02:11:40,851 --> 02:11:43,686 Hard to get behind doors. Don't wanna make it too easy. 2116 02:11:43,770 --> 02:11:46,522 The enemy of my enemy is my friend. 2117 02:11:46,607 --> 02:11:48,065 [speaking in Mandarin] 2118 02:11:48,150 --> 02:11:51,569 [interpreter] That has the added virtue of being true. 2119 02:11:51,653 --> 02:11:54,864 [Kissinger] Your writings have changed the world, Mr. Chairman. 2120 02:11:54,948 --> 02:11:57,199 [interpreter speaking Mandarin] 2121 02:11:57,284 --> 02:11:58,492 [speaks in Mandarin] 2122 02:11:58,577 --> 02:12:01,913 [interpreter] Bullshit. My writings mean... 2123 02:12:01,997 --> 02:12:04,582 [Stone] that's Bai Ling, the Chinese actress there. 2124 02:12:04,666 --> 02:12:07,668 Did a nice job as the interpreter. 2125 02:12:07,753 --> 02:12:10,379 Supposed to be Zhou Enlai, which I kind of like. 2126 02:12:11,381 --> 02:12:15,509 [speaking in Mandarin] 2127 02:12:15,594 --> 02:12:17,803 [Stone] I love this line about fat men. 2128 02:12:17,888 --> 02:12:20,640 How a fat man gets so many girls. 2129 02:12:24,478 --> 02:12:29,273 Power, Mr. Chairman, is the ultimate aphrodisiac. 2130 02:12:30,025 --> 02:12:32,443 [Stone] And that is a Kissinger line, 2131 02:12:32,527 --> 02:12:36,572 which was not in this context. But it was a very funny line. 2132 02:12:36,657 --> 02:12:40,826 Kissinger was one of the most attractive men, single bachelors of that era. 2133 02:12:42,496 --> 02:12:46,332 this is a young actor playing Mao. We found him out of Toronto. 2134 02:12:46,416 --> 02:12:49,377 It was a similarity we worked on with prosthetics. 2135 02:12:49,461 --> 02:12:53,005 But we had to age him down. He had to learn Mandarin, which is difficult. 2136 02:12:53,090 --> 02:12:54,966 His name was Ric Young. 2137 02:12:55,050 --> 02:13:00,221 I'm glad to see Marty Scorsese used him years later in Kundun. 2138 02:13:01,640 --> 02:13:04,642 In my case, millions of reactionaries. 2139 02:13:04,726 --> 02:13:08,562 In your case, millions of Vietnamese. 2140 02:13:08,647 --> 02:13:11,482 Civil war is always the cruelest kind ofwar, 2141 02:13:11,566 --> 02:13:14,318 but our two nations were forged by revolution. 2142 02:13:14,403 --> 02:13:16,237 The United States, China. 2143 02:13:16,321 --> 02:13:19,991 [Stone] Like Mao's inside man is laughing because he died soon aFter. 2144 02:13:20,075 --> 02:13:23,411 But he knows Nixon's dark soul, dark heart. 2145 02:13:23,495 --> 02:13:28,249 [speaking in Mandarin] 2146 02:13:28,333 --> 02:13:32,086 History is a symptom of our disease. 2147 02:13:34,756 --> 02:13:39,176 [Stone] the music and flowering, the Helms montage, if you think about it. 2148 02:13:39,261 --> 02:13:41,512 Except instead of flowers, we're using bombs. 2149 02:13:41,596 --> 02:13:44,682 As if Mao was saying to Nixon, "qace up to who you are. 2150 02:13:44,766 --> 02:13:47,685 You're nuts. You're evil. 2151 02:13:47,769 --> 02:13:49,645 You have to kill in order to achieve." 2152 02:13:49,730 --> 02:13:53,190 [man] Newspapers are calling it a Stone Age tactic 2153 02:13:53,275 --> 02:13:56,944 and Nixon a maddened tyrant. Nixon's response: 2154 02:13:57,029 --> 02:14:01,907 "When the Vietnamese take the Paris peace talks seriously, I'll stop." 2155 02:14:16,840 --> 02:14:18,841 A penny for your thoughts. 2156 02:14:21,803 --> 02:14:23,971 Just think of the... 2157 02:14:24,056 --> 02:14:25,806 Think of the life Mao's led. 2158 02:14:27,225 --> 02:14:30,603 In '52, I... I called him a monster. 2159 02:14:31,646 --> 02:14:35,441 Now he could be our most important ally. 2160 02:14:35,525 --> 02:14:37,276 Only Nixon could've done that. 2161 02:14:37,360 --> 02:14:41,155 [Stone] Nixon referred to himself several times in the third person. 2162 02:14:42,074 --> 02:14:44,075 [Nixon] Yep. 2163 02:14:44,159 --> 02:14:47,787 [Stone] Again, the schism between the public and the private. 2164 02:14:47,871 --> 02:14:49,914 Congratulations, Dick. 2165 02:14:49,998 --> 02:14:51,999 - Mr. Ziegler. - Mr. President, 2166 02:14:52,084 --> 02:14:54,585 the press guys asked if you could come back. 2167 02:14:54,669 --> 02:14:57,588 - The hell with them. - [Stone] I love, "To hell with them." 2168 02:14:57,672 --> 02:15:02,343 A knee-jerk reaction from Nixon to the press because he had been shaFted. 2169 02:15:02,427 --> 02:15:04,345 But he personalized it. 2170 02:15:06,848 --> 02:15:08,724 He was thin-skinned. 2171 02:15:09,351 --> 02:15:11,227 OK. 2172 02:15:11,895 --> 02:15:15,856 [Stone] He was thin-skinned because he was bright and sensitive too. 2173 02:15:15,941 --> 02:15:17,942 People that way tend to be thin-skinned. 2174 02:15:19,569 --> 02:15:22,530 And hurt. 2175 02:15:22,614 --> 02:15:25,074 Ron Ziegler, David Paymer. 2176 02:15:25,158 --> 02:15:29,829 Always a wonderful supporting actor, willing to just bring an energy 2177 02:15:29,913 --> 02:15:33,958 that's correct to the role of the supporting man. 2178 02:15:34,835 --> 02:15:37,878 I love this scene, 'cause he's shocked. Look at Tony's eye. 2179 02:15:37,963 --> 02:15:42,591 You can see that he's just amazed. He resorts to a characteristic... 2180 02:15:44,427 --> 02:15:48,472 ...gesture that really is a hollow, rigid gesture. 2181 02:15:48,557 --> 02:15:50,850 He can't respond emotionally to compliments. 2182 02:15:50,934 --> 02:15:54,728 But it's a great moment. It did happen. the press gave him that reception 2183 02:15:54,813 --> 02:15:56,939 in the plane on the way back. 2184 02:15:57,357 --> 02:16:00,609 Well, it looks to me 2185 02:16:00,694 --> 02:16:04,947 like we're gonna lose a war for the first goddamn time. 2186 02:16:05,031 --> 02:16:08,409 - Yep. - You're goin' right along with it, 2187 02:16:08,493 --> 02:16:11,287 buyin' into this Kissinger bullshit, 2188 02:16:11,371 --> 02:16:15,708 this... detente with Communists. 2189 02:16:15,792 --> 02:16:18,919 Detente. Sounds like a couple of fags dancin'. 2190 02:16:23,842 --> 02:16:27,553 Jack, we're not living in the same country you and I knew in '46. 2191 02:16:27,637 --> 02:16:31,098 Our people are just not gonna sacrifice in major numbers for war. 2192 02:16:31,183 --> 02:16:34,059 Can't even get 'em to accept cuts in their gas tax. 2193 02:16:34,144 --> 02:16:37,479 Now, the Arabs and the Japanese are draining the gold reserves... 2194 02:16:37,564 --> 02:16:39,231 Whose fault is that? 2195 02:16:39,316 --> 02:16:42,568 Ifwe'd won in Vietnam, we wouldn't be having this conversation. 2196 02:16:42,652 --> 02:16:46,447 Nobody's fault, Jack. It's change. It's a fact of history. 2197 02:16:46,531 --> 02:16:49,408 Even that old cocksucker J. Edgar Hoover's dead. 2198 02:16:49,492 --> 02:16:51,577 Now who'd have thought that possible? 2199 02:16:51,661 --> 02:16:53,704 [Stone] Where we find out Hoover's gone. 2200 02:16:53,788 --> 02:16:57,166 We see the way Nixon refers to him, "that old cocksucker." 2201 02:16:57,250 --> 02:16:58,792 So much for friendship. 2202 02:16:59,836 --> 02:17:04,548 Actually, Hoover protected Nixon, I think, a lot more than people know. 2203 02:17:04,633 --> 02:17:06,842 I think Hoover liked Nixon, but knew Nixon. 2204 02:17:06,927 --> 02:17:11,013 As he said at the pool, he could recite the speech about his father. 2205 02:17:11,097 --> 02:17:13,891 He knew Nixon to be a manipulator and a liar, 2206 02:17:13,975 --> 02:17:18,270 which is why he liked him. He could get along with that kind of guy. 2207 02:17:18,355 --> 02:17:20,189 Now, Kissinger's misunderstood. 2208 02:17:20,273 --> 02:17:22,983 He acts like a liberal for his establishment friends, 2209 02:17:23,068 --> 02:17:26,570 - but he's even tougher than I am. - [man] So Kissinger stays. 2210 02:17:26,655 --> 02:17:29,240 Just like Castro, Mr. Nixon. 2211 02:17:30,825 --> 02:17:33,452 Yeah. He stays. 2212 02:17:34,913 --> 02:17:37,748 And you are comfortable with that decision? 2213 02:17:40,877 --> 02:17:42,336 [Jack] Desi's got a point. 2214 02:17:42,420 --> 02:17:47,591 What the hell are we gonna do about the Communists in our own backyard? 2215 02:17:47,676 --> 02:17:49,843 What do you really mean, Jack? 2216 02:17:49,928 --> 02:17:53,264 I mean, I got federal price controls on my oil. 2217 02:17:53,348 --> 02:17:57,268 And the rag heads are beatin' the shit out of me, Dick. 2218 02:17:57,352 --> 02:18:01,188 And your EPA environmental agency has got its thumb so far up my ass, 2219 02:18:01,273 --> 02:18:04,316 - it's scratchin' my ear! - I think it's time for us to be... 2220 02:18:04,401 --> 02:18:07,403 - Let him finish, Bob. - I got a federal judge orderin' me 2221 02:18:07,487 --> 02:18:12,199 to bus my grandkids halfway across this town to go to school with nigger kids. 2222 02:18:13,535 --> 02:18:17,329 Now, Dick, Mr. President, 2223 02:18:17,414 --> 02:18:20,249 aren't you forgetting who put you where you are? 2224 02:18:21,501 --> 02:18:25,421 The American people put me where I am, Jack. 2225 02:18:25,505 --> 02:18:27,548 - Really? - [Stone laughs] 2226 02:18:27,632 --> 02:18:31,760 - Well, that can be changed. - In a heartbeat. 2227 02:18:33,513 --> 02:18:37,224 [Stone] Lighting here is superb from Richardson. 2228 02:18:37,309 --> 02:18:41,103 Especially against this stone wall. He's a man in hell. 2229 02:18:41,187 --> 02:18:46,734 In which Nixon emerges as the hero. 2230 02:18:46,818 --> 02:18:48,485 Another ironic twist. 2231 02:18:48,570 --> 02:18:50,446 Well, let me tell you this, Jack. 2232 02:18:50,530 --> 02:18:53,240 If you don't like it, there's an election in November 2233 02:18:53,325 --> 02:18:56,910 and you can take your money out in the open and give it to Wallace. 2234 02:18:56,995 --> 02:19:00,873 How about it, Jack? Willing to do that? 2235 02:19:00,957 --> 02:19:06,211 Hand this country over to some pansy poet socialist like George McGovern? 2236 02:19:08,089 --> 02:19:11,592 'Cause if you're not happy with the EPA up your ass, 2237 02:19:11,676 --> 02:19:14,219 try the IRS. 2238 02:19:15,555 --> 02:19:17,848 Goddamn, Dick. 2239 02:19:17,932 --> 02:19:23,354 - You're not threatening me, are ya? - Presidents don't threaten, Jack. 2240 02:19:23,438 --> 02:19:25,481 They don't have to. 2241 02:19:28,276 --> 02:19:30,444 Good day to you, gentlemen. Thank you. 2242 02:19:31,696 --> 02:19:33,655 [Stone laughs] 2243 02:19:55,720 --> 02:19:58,847 [man] With third party candidate George Wallace out of the race, 2244 02:19:58,932 --> 02:20:00,808 paralyzed by an assassin's bullet, 2245 02:20:00,892 --> 02:20:03,519 Richard Nixon has crushed George McGovern 2246 02:20:03,603 --> 02:20:06,647 in the 1972 presidential election. 2247 02:20:06,731 --> 02:20:11,527 It is the second-biggest landslide in American history. 2248 02:20:11,611 --> 02:20:13,237 As the new term begins, 2249 02:20:13,321 --> 02:20:16,740 it does not seem the Watergate investigations have damaged Nixon 2250 02:20:16,825 --> 02:20:20,077 politically in any significant way. 2251 02:20:20,161 --> 02:20:22,955 [Stone] Again, the time-lapse. this is well done 2252 02:20:23,039 --> 02:20:26,333 'cause it shows you the danger coming up over the White House. 2253 02:20:28,002 --> 02:20:31,672 It's pulling out of Vietnam without a right-wing revolt. 2254 02:20:31,756 --> 02:20:36,218 - I believe you're right. - The presidency isn't enough anymore. 2255 02:20:37,220 --> 02:20:41,723 [Stone] It's like Nixon understands that he's just a cog in the wheel. 2256 02:20:41,808 --> 02:20:44,601 He's the frontman for what the real power structure 2257 02:20:44,686 --> 02:20:47,604 of the United States is, which is way beyond the control 2258 02:20:47,689 --> 02:20:50,441 of one man or the command of one man. 2259 02:20:50,525 --> 02:20:55,404 the emperor is the ghost in the machine. And if his public relations don't fit, 2260 02:20:55,488 --> 02:20:57,781 he's out. His decisions are minor decisions, 2261 02:20:57,866 --> 02:21:03,078 not international trade decisions as much as issues of social reform. 2262 02:21:04,038 --> 02:21:08,167 That mad bomber theory wasn't so crazy after all. 2263 02:21:08,251 --> 02:21:09,960 Henry is coming back tojoin us. 2264 02:21:10,044 --> 02:21:13,130 He wants to be included in the photographs, of course. 2265 02:21:13,214 --> 02:21:15,841 - [Haldeman] There's a surprise. - This could be it. 2266 02:21:15,925 --> 02:21:18,802 This could be it. Four long years. Jeez. 2267 02:21:18,887 --> 02:21:22,764 Incidentally, I don't know if this is the right time, but you should know. 2268 02:21:22,849 --> 02:21:27,019 Bill Sullivan at the FBI got back to us with his report on Kissinger. 2269 02:21:28,730 --> 02:21:31,690 - I didn't wanna bring it up because... - Go on. 2270 02:21:32,692 --> 02:21:37,571 Well, Sullivan thinks he's the one. Henry's the leaker. 2271 02:21:37,655 --> 02:21:40,449 [Stone] the double whammy because coming aFter Hoover 2272 02:21:40,533 --> 02:21:43,035 telling him Kissinger was taping Nixon, 2273 02:21:43,119 --> 02:21:48,165 now this is pretty solid evidence that Kissinger was the talker. 2274 02:21:48,249 --> 02:21:51,168 And that's what we believe. there's reasons to believe it. 2275 02:21:51,252 --> 02:21:53,587 they're stated in the anthology. 2276 02:21:53,671 --> 02:21:57,257 Of course, it will be denied by many people. 2277 02:21:59,260 --> 02:22:01,762 Claims that he was dead set against the bombing, 2278 02:22:01,846 --> 02:22:05,849 that you were unstable and that he has to handle you with kid gloves. 2279 02:22:05,934 --> 02:22:09,228 [Stone] It's interesting that Nixon doesn't fire him at this point 2280 02:22:09,312 --> 02:22:12,898 for this betrayal, because Nixon's too smart. He's always thinking. 2281 02:22:12,982 --> 02:22:15,651 - Never deciding quickly. - ...The New York Times? 2282 02:22:15,735 --> 02:22:16,985 [Ehrlichman] Yes, he did. 2283 02:22:17,070 --> 02:22:20,113 [Haldeman] We ought a fire his whining ass right now, when he's on top. 2284 02:22:20,198 --> 02:22:22,282 You know what? It'd set the right example... 2285 02:22:22,367 --> 02:22:25,702 [Stone] Nixon took to wearing an American flag in his lapel. 2286 02:22:25,787 --> 02:22:29,623 It was one of his corny gestures. Got a lot of attention. 2287 02:22:29,707 --> 02:22:32,793 He was the first one. I think they all wear them now. 2288 02:22:34,295 --> 02:22:36,964 No. No. 2289 02:22:37,048 --> 02:22:40,801 He's our only star right now. He'd go crying to the press. 2290 02:22:40,885 --> 02:22:43,804 - He'd crucify us. - [Stone laughs] 2291 02:22:43,888 --> 02:22:46,014 Son of a bitch. 2292 02:22:46,099 --> 02:22:47,933 Get someone on our staff on his ass. 2293 02:22:48,017 --> 02:22:50,561 Tap his phones. I wanna know everyone he talks to. 2294 02:22:50,645 --> 02:22:53,605 Let's see how long the Kissinger mystique lasts. 2295 02:22:53,690 --> 02:22:56,900 So, John, what about these Watergate clowns? 2296 02:22:56,985 --> 02:23:00,737 This Sirica's crazy. Thirty-five year sentence. 2297 02:23:00,822 --> 02:23:04,533 No weapons, right? No injuries. 2298 02:23:04,617 --> 02:23:06,910 There's no success. It's just ridiculous. 2299 02:23:06,995 --> 02:23:10,581 Sirica's just trying to force someone to testify, but they're solid. 2300 02:23:10,665 --> 02:23:14,918 What about this Washington Post crap? Woodwind and Fernstein. 2301 02:23:15,003 --> 02:23:17,254 - Bernstein, sir. - Who the fuck are they, anyway? 2302 02:23:17,338 --> 02:23:20,841 [Stone] I love that. He gets right to the point. Power. 2303 02:23:20,925 --> 02:23:22,301 - Yes, sir, I am. - Good. 2304 02:23:22,385 --> 02:23:25,762 Well, they're trying to connect Bob and John with the secret fund. 2305 02:23:25,847 --> 02:23:29,433 [Stone] We sense for the first time that Haldeman and Ehrlichman know 2306 02:23:29,517 --> 02:23:32,644 - they're going down. - The FBI's feeding me their reports. 2307 02:23:32,729 --> 02:23:35,564 [Stone] David Hyde Pierce is wonderful in the role of Dean. 2308 02:23:35,648 --> 02:23:39,693 He's got an innocence to him which I found to be true in the man I met. 2309 02:23:43,448 --> 02:23:47,075 the timing on that was interesting because it falls nicely. 2310 02:23:47,160 --> 02:23:49,620 the hydraulic pressed the plane down so we drop. 2311 02:23:49,704 --> 02:23:53,123 they're all worried, on the edge, but reassuring each other, 2312 02:23:53,207 --> 02:23:55,751 but there is no reassurance as the airplane shows us. 2313 02:23:55,835 --> 02:23:59,129 It's a real gangster movie. [laughs] Like gang members 2314 02:23:59,213 --> 02:24:02,633 who sell each other out gradually until the last one leFt. 2315 02:24:04,844 --> 02:24:08,472 ...and our prisoners ofwar are coming back home. 2316 02:24:08,556 --> 02:24:13,894 South Vietnam has the right to determine its own future. 2317 02:24:13,978 --> 02:24:17,105 So, we have peace with honor. 2318 02:24:22,737 --> 02:24:25,322 The president will take some of your questions now. 2319 02:24:25,406 --> 02:24:27,407 - [man] Mr. President! - Dan. 2320 02:24:27,492 --> 02:24:29,451 Isn't it true little has been achieved 2321 02:24:29,535 --> 02:24:32,329 that the Communists have not been offering since 1969, 2322 02:24:32,413 --> 02:24:35,916 that in fact your administration has needlessly prolonged the war 2323 02:24:36,000 --> 02:24:38,251 and escalated it to new levels ofviolence? 2324 02:24:38,336 --> 02:24:43,674 I will, uh... try to answer that question in some detail. 2325 02:24:43,758 --> 02:24:45,258 [woman] Mr. President! 2326 02:24:45,343 --> 02:24:47,928 What is your reaction to James McCord's statement 2327 02:24:48,012 --> 02:24:50,097 that high-level White House officials 2328 02:24:50,181 --> 02:24:52,349 were involved in the Watergate break-in? 2329 02:24:52,433 --> 02:24:55,602 That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. 2330 02:24:55,687 --> 02:24:59,106 The Washington Post is reporting that Mr. Haldeman and Ehrlichman 2331 02:24:59,190 --> 02:25:01,942 secretly dispersed up to $900,000 in campaign funds. 2332 02:25:02,026 --> 02:25:03,527 Is there any truth to that? 2333 02:25:03,611 --> 02:25:05,779 Now, let me make this perfectly clear. 2334 02:25:05,863 --> 02:25:09,282 I will not respond to the charges of The Washington Post. 2335 02:25:09,367 --> 02:25:12,452 Nor will I comment on a matter that is currently before the courts. 2336 02:25:12,537 --> 02:25:16,540 [Stone] Nixon was upset that the press conference was not well received 2337 02:25:16,624 --> 02:25:21,128 where he announced the peace agreement in Vietnam. He was thinking 2338 02:25:21,212 --> 02:25:24,047 he would be applauded as a hero. It was four years later. 2339 02:25:24,132 --> 02:25:28,260 I don't think the press was excited as it was about Watergate, which is what 2340 02:25:28,344 --> 02:25:32,180 they asked him about until he fled the news conference. 2341 02:25:32,265 --> 02:25:34,683 [reporters clamoring] 2342 02:25:36,394 --> 02:25:38,186 Mr. President, sir... 2343 02:25:38,271 --> 02:25:40,480 Ron, get in there and do something! 2344 02:25:41,941 --> 02:25:45,694 [Stone] At one news conference I saw a picture file of Nixon actually pushing 2345 02:25:45,778 --> 02:25:49,364 Ron Ziegler back... It was outside the White House. 2346 02:25:49,449 --> 02:25:51,742 Pushing Ron back to deal with the press. 2347 02:25:51,826 --> 02:25:53,660 God! 2348 02:25:56,205 --> 02:25:58,999 You know who's behind this, don't you? Teddy Kennedy. 2349 02:25:59,083 --> 02:26:03,378 Yeah, he drowns a broad in his car, and he can't run for president. 2350 02:26:03,463 --> 02:26:05,338 [Stone] One of my favorite scenes. 2351 02:26:05,423 --> 02:26:09,760 I love the magnetism of Hopkins' anger 2352 02:26:09,844 --> 02:26:11,511 that floods into Jimmy Woods, 2353 02:26:11,596 --> 02:26:14,514 who takes it up another notch. 2354 02:26:14,599 --> 02:26:17,893 Pleasing his boss with his Doberman-like anger. 2355 02:26:17,977 --> 02:26:20,645 We gave Ehrlichman too much of the benefit of the doubt. 2356 02:26:20,730 --> 02:26:23,857 But J.T. wanted to go more in that direction. J.T. Walsh, 2357 02:26:23,941 --> 02:26:26,943 who's unfortunately passed away. I also pushed him in that way 2358 02:26:27,028 --> 02:26:31,865 because I felt we needed some kind of conscience, something to reflect 2359 02:26:31,949 --> 02:26:35,911 what honesty was. We lose sight of it with all these crooks. 2360 02:26:35,995 --> 02:26:38,163 But that might have been a mistake. 2361 02:26:38,247 --> 02:26:41,166 Ehrlichman was a tough guy too. But there was some evidence 2362 02:26:41,250 --> 02:26:43,710 that he had some sense of compassion at times. 2363 02:26:43,795 --> 02:26:46,171 So did Haldeman. Haldeman was a human being, 2364 02:26:46,255 --> 02:26:48,340 as his son attested. 2365 02:26:48,424 --> 02:26:51,968 But he served his master oFten without thought. 2366 02:26:52,053 --> 02:26:55,806 OFten without questioning his orders like a good German. 2367 02:26:55,890 --> 02:26:59,267 You know what? You should be proud, because they'll never trust you, sir. 2368 02:26:59,352 --> 02:27:02,062 Because we speak for the average American. 2369 02:27:02,146 --> 02:27:04,731 You know why they're turning on me? 2370 02:27:04,816 --> 02:27:08,401 It's because they're not serious about power, that's why. 2371 02:27:08,486 --> 02:27:10,654 They're playing with power. 2372 02:27:10,738 --> 02:27:13,281 They're forgetting the national interest. 2373 02:27:13,366 --> 02:27:17,202 In the old days people knew how to hold power, how to set limits. 2374 02:27:17,286 --> 02:27:20,997 They wouldn't have torn this country apart over a third-rate burglary. 2375 02:27:21,082 --> 02:27:24,668 For Christ's sake, now all they care about are their egos, 2376 02:27:24,752 --> 02:27:26,670 looking good at cocktail parties. 2377 02:27:26,754 --> 02:27:29,005 Beating out other papers and chasing girls. 2378 02:27:29,090 --> 02:27:32,175 Wondering whether someone said something nice about them. 2379 02:27:32,260 --> 02:27:34,094 Short-term, frivolous bullshit. 2380 02:27:34,178 --> 02:27:37,556 Ben Bradlee worrying about Teddy Kennedy liking him. 2381 02:27:37,640 --> 02:27:42,602 [Stone laughs] Some of those are actual Nixon lines about the parties. 2382 02:27:42,687 --> 02:27:45,647 We are playing a totally reactive game. 2383 02:27:45,731 --> 02:27:51,111 We have to get ahead of the ball. Now, we all know that you are clean. 2384 02:27:51,195 --> 02:27:53,196 Right? 2385 02:27:53,281 --> 02:27:57,701 Then let's take off the gloves. Let's do a housecleaning. 2386 02:27:57,785 --> 02:27:59,995 Housecleaning? 2387 02:28:07,461 --> 02:28:09,880 No, it could be ugly, Henry, really ugly. 2388 02:28:09,964 --> 02:28:12,549 It must be done, sir. Your government is paralyzed. 2389 02:28:12,633 --> 02:28:15,343 All kinds of shit could come out. The Ellsberg thing. 2390 02:28:15,428 --> 02:28:17,429 You knew about that, didn't you, Henry? 2391 02:28:17,513 --> 02:28:19,890 Well, I heard something. It sounded idiotic. 2392 02:28:19,974 --> 02:28:21,600 Idiotic. Yeah, I suppose it was. 2393 02:28:21,684 --> 02:28:24,811 I thought it was your idea to expose Ellsberg as a sex fiend. 2394 02:28:24,896 --> 02:28:27,230 I guess somebodyjust took you too literally. 2395 02:28:27,315 --> 02:28:31,526 I never suggested a bunch of imbeciles break into a psychiatrist's office. 2396 02:28:31,611 --> 02:28:33,570 It doesn't matter. 2397 02:28:33,654 --> 02:28:35,697 [Stone] I love the editing here. 2398 02:28:35,781 --> 02:28:39,784 All these interior psychological thoughts are passing in the air, 2399 02:28:39,869 --> 02:28:43,538 canted angles. Again, the Russian concept of... 2400 02:28:43,623 --> 02:28:45,999 Look at the four men going towards closure. 2401 02:28:46,083 --> 02:28:50,420 I like the staging of this. I asked all four actors to stand up. 2402 02:28:50,504 --> 02:28:53,548 I didn't want anybody sitting down. I wanted to keep it moving. 2403 02:28:53,633 --> 02:28:55,425 As I did the bedroom scene. 2404 02:28:55,509 --> 02:28:59,012 I was in that mood for that bedroom scene with Pat and Dick 2405 02:28:59,096 --> 02:29:02,974 just to keep it moving. I asked both actors to stop as little as possible 2406 02:29:03,059 --> 02:29:05,602 when we rehearsed it. Keeping on the move. 2407 02:29:05,686 --> 02:29:08,813 Out of that grew the idea of her circling, him circling, 2408 02:29:08,898 --> 02:29:11,399 which I saw the scene as sort of a circling scene. 2409 02:29:11,484 --> 02:29:14,277 - Sir. - Yeah? 2410 02:29:14,362 --> 02:29:19,532 There are times when even the president can go too far. 2411 02:29:23,412 --> 02:29:26,623 You played it perfectly, sir. That cocksucker'll think twice 2412 02:29:26,707 --> 02:29:28,667 - before he leaks again. - [Stone] qurther on the scene. 2413 02:29:28,751 --> 02:29:30,961 You think that would be the end of the scene, 2414 02:29:31,045 --> 02:29:34,673 but I encouraged them to go one extra step. 2415 02:29:34,757 --> 02:29:36,216 Hunt wants more money. 2416 02:29:36,300 --> 02:29:38,677 - Another 122,000. - Fuck. 2417 02:29:38,761 --> 02:29:42,305 If he doesn't get it right away, he's going to blow us out of the water. 2418 02:29:42,390 --> 02:29:45,308 He means it. Since his wife died in the plane crash, he's over the edge. 2419 02:29:45,393 --> 02:29:46,977 Pay him. Pay him what he wants. 2420 02:29:47,061 --> 02:29:50,480 [Stone] Here's another Oval Office scene. We did them back to back. 2421 02:29:50,564 --> 02:29:53,733 It was originally one scene that we put the fade-out and fade-in 2422 02:29:53,818 --> 02:29:57,988 between the two. But this has been lengthened since the original. 2423 02:29:58,072 --> 02:30:01,616 And I think it's important because it re-echoes the circle with Helms. 2424 02:30:01,701 --> 02:30:04,119 Why we took it out. Helms had not been in the movie. 2425 02:30:04,203 --> 02:30:06,746 We took Helms out and then put him back in. 2426 02:30:07,999 --> 02:30:10,333 This has nothing to do with the Bay of Pigs! 2427 02:30:11,752 --> 02:30:14,004 I have no concern about the Bay of Pigs! 2428 02:30:14,088 --> 02:30:16,339 [Haldeman] I couldn't believe it. 2429 02:30:16,424 --> 02:30:19,801 This is what the president told me to relay to you, Dick. 2430 02:30:19,885 --> 02:30:22,345 I had to remind him who he was talking to. 2431 02:30:22,430 --> 02:30:26,141 So I was wondering? What's such dynamite in this Bay of Pigs thing? 2432 02:30:26,225 --> 02:30:27,934 Sir. 2433 02:30:31,355 --> 02:30:34,858 It was clearly effective because all of a sudden it was no problem 2434 02:30:34,942 --> 02:30:38,611 for Helms to go to the FBI and try to put a lid on Watergate. 2435 02:30:39,488 --> 02:30:43,074 - What about the documents promised? - He'll give us the documents. 2436 02:30:43,159 --> 02:30:46,703 But I think ifwe offer him an ambassadorship, 2437 02:30:46,787 --> 02:30:49,998 the ambassadorship to Iran, we can get rid of him. He'll go... 2438 02:30:50,082 --> 02:30:54,711 - No, I promised Iran to Townsend. - Townsend in Belgium. It's available. 2439 02:30:54,795 --> 02:30:59,382 He gave us 300 grand. Belgium's not worth more than 100, 150. 2440 02:30:59,467 --> 02:31:01,134 What about England? 2441 02:31:01,218 --> 02:31:04,054 Forget it. Annenberg's paid three times that much. 2442 02:31:04,138 --> 02:31:07,307 Helms wants Iran, or there might be a problem. 2443 02:31:07,391 --> 02:31:10,185 All his old buddies are over there making a fortune... 2444 02:31:10,269 --> 02:31:11,728 When does this end, Bob? 2445 02:31:11,812 --> 02:31:13,313 - Executive clemency. - What? 2446 02:31:13,397 --> 02:31:16,900 Hunt and the Cubans have nothing to lose now. Pardon them all. 2447 02:31:16,984 --> 02:31:20,320 [Stone] qrom a transcript in which Nixon sells ambassadorships, 2448 02:31:20,404 --> 02:31:24,741 which makes you wonder what the Iran deal was with Helms, the CIA. 2449 02:31:24,825 --> 02:31:27,410 Was it to enrich Helms in Iran or not? 2450 02:31:27,495 --> 02:31:30,997 Was it to pay Helms off? Hide him? 2451 02:31:31,082 --> 02:31:33,208 Lyndon bugged, so did Kennedy. 2452 02:31:33,292 --> 02:31:37,921 FDR cut a deal with Lucky Luciano. Christ, even Eisenhower had a mistress. 2453 02:31:38,005 --> 02:31:41,424 What's so special about me? Huh? 2454 02:31:41,509 --> 02:31:45,970 What about Lyndon? He could make a couple calls to the... Hell, and... 2455 02:31:46,055 --> 02:31:48,556 ...shut this whole damn thing down. 2456 02:31:48,641 --> 02:31:50,266 - Anyone talk to him? - I have. 2457 02:31:50,351 --> 02:31:52,602 - What'd he say? - No dice, he hit the roof. 2458 02:31:52,686 --> 02:31:54,062 Why? 2459 02:31:54,146 --> 02:31:57,607 He said if you go out with a story about how he bugged your plane, 2460 02:31:57,691 --> 02:31:59,567 he's gonna reveal... 2461 02:32:07,993 --> 02:32:10,453 He's gonna reveal... [muttering] 2462 02:32:10,538 --> 02:32:12,789 - ...Vietnamese peace talks... - All right. 2463 02:32:12,873 --> 02:32:14,791 All right! Stop! 2464 02:32:14,875 --> 02:32:16,543 What's the matter with you? 2465 02:32:18,003 --> 02:32:22,632 I know. I just know we've made too many enemies. 2466 02:32:23,384 --> 02:32:27,303 There's another thing. Bob and I have to testify before the urban committee. 2467 02:32:27,388 --> 02:32:30,598 No, you're not. You're gonna claim executive privilege. 2468 02:32:30,683 --> 02:32:32,976 You're gonna stonewall it all the way. 2469 02:32:33,060 --> 02:32:35,395 Plead the 5th Amendment. I don't give a shit. 2470 02:32:35,479 --> 02:32:38,148 They can't force the president's people to testify. 2471 02:32:38,232 --> 02:32:40,775 Executive privilege looks like we're covering. 2472 02:32:40,860 --> 02:32:43,278 We are covering up for God's sake. 2473 02:32:43,362 --> 02:32:45,405 Some petty, stupid shit. 2474 02:32:46,490 --> 02:32:50,410 There are things I can say what other people said, and they'd be lies. 2475 02:32:50,494 --> 02:32:54,455 When I say them, nobody believes me anyway. 2476 02:32:54,540 --> 02:32:57,625 [Stone] We built the Oval Office to exact specifications. 2477 02:32:57,710 --> 02:33:00,879 We rented it from American President, but we built it higher 2478 02:33:00,963 --> 02:33:03,756 to the exact specifications of the White House. 2479 02:33:06,969 --> 02:33:08,678 John's right, boss. 2480 02:33:08,762 --> 02:33:12,849 [Stone] I love this scene because it's truly a circling of the wagons. 2481 02:33:13,767 --> 02:33:16,102 Sometimes you gotta punt. 2482 02:33:18,355 --> 02:33:21,900 [Stone] David Hyde Pierce did a wonderful job of interpreting John Dean, 2483 02:33:21,984 --> 02:33:25,111 who was on the set quite a bit. But as oFten the case, 2484 02:33:25,196 --> 02:33:28,114 David didn't want to do it in front of John. I don't blame him. 2485 02:33:28,199 --> 02:33:32,702 But John was a supporter of the film and helped us a lot in detail. 2486 02:33:32,786 --> 02:33:35,663 As did Alexander Butterfield. Howard Hunt stopped by. 2487 02:33:35,748 --> 02:33:40,251 Quite a few people. John Sears. Bob Scheer was there as consultant. 2488 02:33:40,336 --> 02:33:44,964 We had many different consultants on the film who were very helpful. 2489 02:33:47,009 --> 02:33:49,594 About Kennedy and LBJ and Truman. 2490 02:33:49,678 --> 02:33:50,720 How so? 2491 02:33:50,804 --> 02:33:54,349 [Stone] this is a one-shot scene. It's shot as a one-shot. It's cut up. 2492 02:33:54,433 --> 02:33:56,893 But watch the flow of the Steadicam. 2493 02:33:56,977 --> 02:33:59,771 And the actors, the way they hit their marks. Nice. 2494 02:33:59,855 --> 02:34:03,274 these are two pros here. 2495 02:34:03,359 --> 02:34:08,029 this is tough dialogue, too, because it's got little shadings. 2496 02:34:09,031 --> 02:34:12,575 I wanted to keep the hallway jumping too. I put a friend of mine 2497 02:34:12,660 --> 02:34:16,079 as a tour guide leading these Nigerians around. 2498 02:34:16,163 --> 02:34:20,500 And they kind of come in the other room. You'll see. 2499 02:34:22,336 --> 02:34:25,672 this is the actual layout of that area of the White House. 2500 02:34:27,174 --> 02:34:29,384 20 years, you ever shake hands with him? 2501 02:34:29,468 --> 02:34:31,803 Ever have a real conversation with him? 2502 02:34:34,265 --> 02:34:37,600 No, this... This is about Richard Nixon. 2503 02:34:37,685 --> 02:34:41,354 You got people dying because he didn't make varsity football. 2504 02:34:41,438 --> 02:34:45,233 [Stone] Ehrlichman is playing off of Haldeman's sense of conscience. 2505 02:34:45,317 --> 02:34:49,570 this is a scene that also allows Haldeman to have a bit of a conscience. 2506 02:34:50,030 --> 02:34:52,198 Goes white every time you mention it. 2507 02:34:54,076 --> 02:34:57,745 - It's a code or something. - Well, shit, even I figured that out. 2508 02:34:59,164 --> 02:35:01,040 I think he means... 2509 02:35:02,960 --> 02:35:05,670 - The Kennedy assassination... - Yeah? 2510 02:35:05,754 --> 02:35:10,133 They went after Castro and in some crazy way it got turned back on Kennedy. 2511 02:35:10,217 --> 02:35:14,345 I don't think the old man knows what happened. But he's afraid to find out. 2512 02:35:14,430 --> 02:35:17,640 He's shitting peach pits every time he thinks about it. 2513 02:35:17,725 --> 02:35:20,435 Created a Frankenstein with those damn Cubans. 2514 02:35:20,519 --> 02:35:23,354 Eight words back in '72: 2515 02:35:23,439 --> 02:35:29,110 "I covered up." "I was wrong." "I'm sorry." 2516 02:35:29,194 --> 02:35:31,904 And the American public would've forgiven him. 2517 02:35:31,989 --> 02:35:35,116 But we never opened our mouths, John. 2518 02:35:36,076 --> 02:35:37,994 We failed him. 2519 02:35:38,078 --> 02:35:41,789 Dick Nixon saying "I'm sorry"? [laughs] That'll be the day. 2520 02:35:41,874 --> 02:35:45,335 [Stone] Nerve-wracking for actors, especially Jimmy, nervous type. 2521 02:35:45,419 --> 02:35:48,671 He has to walk and talk. All those lines. He gets to the end. 2522 02:35:48,756 --> 02:35:50,757 Afraid he's gonna blow a line at the end. 2523 02:35:50,841 --> 02:35:53,217 You do know that we're next, don't you? 2524 02:35:57,598 --> 02:36:00,099 [Stone] this was a scene I was much criticized for. 2525 02:36:00,184 --> 02:36:03,353 Hunt meets Dean on the bridge. 2526 02:36:03,437 --> 02:36:06,647 Dean has asked for the meeting on the basis of how much more 2527 02:36:06,732 --> 02:36:08,983 will it take? they're being blackmailed. 2528 02:36:09,068 --> 02:36:10,568 You're early, John. 2529 02:36:12,905 --> 02:36:16,032 If you'd been that stealthy at the Watergate, we wouldn't be in this mess. 2530 02:36:16,116 --> 02:36:18,534 [Stone] A little zinger in there. And it was true. 2531 02:36:18,619 --> 02:36:22,163 - I was sorry to hear about your wife. - Yes. 2532 02:36:23,832 --> 02:36:25,500 Take out the money. 2533 02:36:25,584 --> 02:36:28,711 The president would like to know if that was the last payment. 2534 02:36:28,796 --> 02:36:31,464 - I'll bet he would. - Is it? 2535 02:36:32,925 --> 02:36:35,885 In Richard Nixon's long history of underhanded dealings 2536 02:36:35,969 --> 02:36:39,764 he's never had better value for his money. If I were to open my mouth, 2537 02:36:39,848 --> 02:36:42,392 all the dominoes would fall. 2538 02:36:43,811 --> 02:36:45,895 Can I ask you a question? 2539 02:36:45,979 --> 02:36:47,897 How the hell do you have the temerity 2540 02:36:47,981 --> 02:36:50,858 to blackmail the president of the United States? 2541 02:36:50,943 --> 02:36:55,154 That's not the question, John. The question is, why is he paying? 2542 02:36:55,239 --> 02:36:59,075 - To protect his people. - I'm one of his people. 2543 02:36:59,159 --> 02:37:02,537 The Cubans are his people. And we're going to jail for him. 2544 02:37:02,621 --> 02:37:06,499 Howard, you will serve no more than two years, then he'll pardon you. 2545 02:37:06,583 --> 02:37:09,710 Maybe. Maybe not. 2546 02:37:10,838 --> 02:37:13,798 But you don't leave your men on the beach, John. 2547 02:37:13,882 --> 02:37:16,592 You don't make them beg for their money like thieves. 2548 02:37:16,677 --> 02:37:20,012 You don't dump men with families who've served their country. 2549 02:37:20,097 --> 02:37:23,099 He didn't know. This thing has gotten out of hand. 2550 02:37:23,183 --> 02:37:27,019 You think a man as controlled as Richard Nixon would've allowed a break-in 2551 02:37:27,104 --> 02:37:30,523 at the Democratic National Headquarters without knowing it? 2552 02:37:30,607 --> 02:37:35,236 You think Mitchell or Haldeman wouldn't have run it by him at least once? 2553 02:37:35,320 --> 02:37:37,905 The president's men did nothing, 2554 02:37:37,990 --> 02:37:41,701 nothing without Richard Nixon's permission. 2555 02:37:45,330 --> 02:37:47,498 John, sooner or later... 2556 02:37:47,583 --> 02:37:52,128 Sooner, I think, you're going to learn the lesson that's been learned 2557 02:37:52,212 --> 02:37:55,715 by everyone who's ever gotten close to Richard Nixon. 2558 02:37:55,799 --> 02:38:00,887 That he's the darkness reaching out for the darkness. 2559 02:38:02,473 --> 02:38:06,267 And eventually it's either you or him. 2560 02:38:08,812 --> 02:38:11,522 Your grave's already been dug, John. 2561 02:38:25,037 --> 02:38:28,331 [man] FBI director-designate L. Patrick Gray 2562 02:38:28,415 --> 02:38:31,125 shocked the Senate by revealing that John Dean 2563 02:38:31,210 --> 02:38:34,629 has been secretly receiving FBI reports on Watergate. 2564 02:38:34,713 --> 02:38:38,841 [Stone] Distorting wide-angle low lens. Moving, trying to get into the mind, 2565 02:38:38,926 --> 02:38:43,179 unbalancing mind of John Dean who has now felt the pressure from Hunt. 2566 02:38:43,263 --> 02:38:45,723 Dean has to know that he's next. 2567 02:38:45,807 --> 02:38:48,809 this is a wonderful scene. I enjoyed it. this scene we let play 2568 02:38:48,894 --> 02:38:52,355 at the length we shot it. You had to understand all the nuances 2569 02:38:52,439 --> 02:38:56,442 of Dick Nixon's shifty behavior. I love the way Nixon starts the scene 2570 02:38:56,527 --> 02:39:00,488 with, "How much you need?" Like a Mafia statement instead of the president. 2571 02:39:00,572 --> 02:39:04,116 You just hear him. "How much you need?" Like a gangster. 2572 02:39:06,411 --> 02:39:09,205 You don't see him till here. You see a sweaty lip. 2573 02:39:10,707 --> 02:39:13,918 this is dialogue directly from the transcripts of the telephone. 2574 02:39:14,002 --> 02:39:17,004 "How much cash?" [laughs] Dean going through legal stuff. 2575 02:39:17,089 --> 02:39:20,716 "How much do you need?" Get to the point, lawyer. 2576 02:39:20,801 --> 02:39:22,760 Hunt's not the only problem. 2577 02:39:22,844 --> 02:39:27,557 [Stone] And this is actually the taping system as reconstructed by Butterfield 2578 02:39:27,641 --> 02:39:30,434 for us of that time. Very cheap taping system. 2579 02:39:30,519 --> 02:39:33,813 Small, you know, very common tape recorders. 2580 02:39:33,897 --> 02:39:38,442 those tapes, of course, take forever to wind and rewind. 2581 02:39:38,527 --> 02:39:42,029 You can break them down with razors. But there's reasons to believe, 2582 02:39:42,114 --> 02:39:46,033 honestly, that these tapes were re-duplicated by some agency. 2583 02:39:46,118 --> 02:39:49,870 that's what makes this bizarre about181/2 minutes of missing tape. 2584 02:39:49,955 --> 02:39:54,083 I believe what Haig at the end of the movie says, "Always another copy," 2585 02:39:54,167 --> 02:39:58,504 means we have some evidence in that 181/2 minutes that could bury us. 2586 02:39:58,589 --> 02:40:01,090 "Bury you, Nixon, and bury us, the country." 2587 02:40:01,174 --> 02:40:04,927 I think that's very important to realize. What happens to those tapes. 2588 02:40:05,012 --> 02:40:10,182 they go out of there and put... they're stored by the Secret Service. 2589 02:40:10,267 --> 02:40:12,310 qrom there on, we don't know what happens. 2590 02:40:12,394 --> 02:40:16,314 Everything's a crisis among the upper intellectual types, the softheads. 2591 02:40:16,398 --> 02:40:19,442 The average people don't think it's much of a crisis. 2592 02:40:19,526 --> 02:40:22,903 For Christ's sake, this is not Vietnam. No one's dying here. 2593 02:40:22,988 --> 02:40:28,200 [Stone] All these are actual texts of Nixon. Sometimes conjoined. 2594 02:40:28,285 --> 02:40:30,077 Goldwater was right when he said 2595 02:40:30,162 --> 02:40:34,582 "For Christ's sakes, everybody bugs everybody else." We know that. 2596 02:40:34,666 --> 02:40:36,959 [Stone] Actual wording from the last scene. 2597 02:40:37,044 --> 02:40:39,629 Last scene played out at a longer length than this. 2598 02:40:39,713 --> 02:40:43,007 Sometimes I'd take dialogue from other places and other people 2599 02:40:43,091 --> 02:40:46,677 and put it in a scene. I love that richness of that dialogue. 2600 02:40:46,762 --> 02:40:51,057 I wanted to use it. If I could get the proper context, it made sense. 2601 02:40:51,141 --> 02:40:54,810 I wouldn't use it in the wrong context, in my opinion. I was very careful. 2602 02:40:54,895 --> 02:40:58,731 Mitchell's gonna get it anyway, so it's time he assumed responsibility. 2603 02:40:58,815 --> 02:41:00,733 You're not paying attention. 2604 02:41:00,817 --> 02:41:04,236 He won't. He's told Ehrlichman he won't. 2605 02:41:04,321 --> 02:41:07,823 You tell my good friend Dick I got suckered into this thing... 2606 02:41:07,908 --> 02:41:10,951 [Stone] Which is what Mitchell said, actually. 2607 02:41:11,036 --> 02:41:13,996 Mitchell didn't help Nixon in this. He just let him hang out. 2608 02:41:14,081 --> 02:41:17,333 Mitchell didn't want to take the fall. But he did take the fall. 2609 02:41:17,417 --> 02:41:20,336 He did take one of the falls. So did Nixon. 2610 02:41:20,420 --> 02:41:23,673 Everybody took a fall. [laughs] they were all doomed, these guys. 2611 02:41:23,757 --> 02:41:25,883 this is like, I guess... 2612 02:41:27,844 --> 02:41:31,013 If you ever saw that play, Glengarry Glen Ross, Mametwrote, 2613 02:41:31,098 --> 02:41:34,850 with all these loser salesmen, you think of these guys as... 2614 02:41:34,935 --> 02:41:37,520 that's why I started the movie with used car salesmen. 2615 02:41:37,604 --> 02:41:40,690 these are all salesmen but all doomed in their circle. 2616 02:41:40,774 --> 02:41:43,651 the noose keeps tightening the whole movie. 2617 02:41:43,735 --> 02:41:45,820 they all sell each other out in the end. 2618 02:41:45,904 --> 02:41:47,780 this is a very Mamet-like structure 2619 02:41:47,864 --> 02:41:52,284 but it's actually closer to Scarface. [laughs] 2620 02:41:53,745 --> 02:41:56,497 - People would never understand. - No. 2621 02:41:58,792 --> 02:42:02,461 [Stone] I love Anthony and David's performances in this movie. 2622 02:42:02,546 --> 02:42:05,047 I just watched over and over, enjoyed it. 2623 02:42:05,132 --> 02:42:06,716 Write up a report. 2624 02:42:06,800 --> 02:42:10,094 Put everything you know about Watergate in there and say, 2625 02:42:10,178 --> 02:42:12,972 "Mr. President, here it all is." OK? 2626 02:42:13,056 --> 02:42:15,933 You want me to put it all in writing over my signature? 2627 02:42:17,144 --> 02:42:21,772 Well, nobody knows more about this thing than you do, John. 2628 02:42:21,857 --> 02:42:26,026 [Stone] All this is exact quote from Nixon. [laughs] 2629 02:42:26,111 --> 02:42:30,489 But that is Anthony Hopkins doing a little mannerism with his tongue. 2630 02:42:31,783 --> 02:42:33,868 I'm not going to be the scapegoat for this. 2631 02:42:33,952 --> 02:42:38,831 [Stone] I love this talk too. Another dialogue he gave John. 2632 02:42:41,001 --> 02:42:44,628 the irony is that Nixon, too, was a man who was... 2633 02:42:44,713 --> 02:42:46,881 ...who received informant information 2634 02:42:46,965 --> 02:42:51,010 from Dewey and perhaps from Chambers. 2635 02:42:52,179 --> 02:42:56,599 Now, it's beyond you, or even me, John. 2636 02:42:56,683 --> 02:43:00,102 [Stone] Nixon tried to set up Dean to write the memo. 2637 02:43:00,187 --> 02:43:04,106 the idea, I think, behind it was Dean would implicate himself in some way 2638 02:43:04,191 --> 02:43:07,568 and take the burden off Nixon. then he could let Dean hang out to dry 2639 02:43:07,652 --> 02:43:10,446 before he had to sacrifice Haldeman and Ehrlichman. 2640 02:43:10,530 --> 02:43:14,784 But Dean was smart enough to sense what was coming and that's why Dean turned. 2641 02:43:14,868 --> 02:43:19,497 I think Dean did not get a fair shake in history. 2642 02:43:19,581 --> 02:43:22,124 I love the door knob coming off here. 2643 02:43:22,209 --> 02:43:25,961 Nixon always has a problem getting in and out of rooms. He was awkward. 2644 02:43:26,046 --> 02:43:29,632 He dropped the pills in the first scene and very typical 2645 02:43:29,716 --> 02:43:31,842 of somebody who was awkward. 2646 02:43:35,722 --> 02:43:38,474 [Stone] As you see, Haldeman and Ehrlichman took it bad. 2647 02:43:38,558 --> 02:43:42,853 Haldeman took a large hit. Went to jail, as did Ehrlichman. 2648 02:43:42,938 --> 02:43:46,899 And Haldeman wrote a book with co-author Joe DiMona, 2649 02:43:46,983 --> 02:43:50,945 called The Ends ofPower in which he confessed 2650 02:43:51,029 --> 02:43:54,156 to many interesting things, including Bay of Pigs code, 2651 02:43:54,241 --> 02:43:57,493 what he thought was the code for the JqK assassination. 2652 02:43:57,577 --> 02:44:00,579 It is said he denied it aFter he got out ofjail, but the truth was 2653 02:44:00,664 --> 02:44:02,706 right before he died, he reaffirmed it. 2654 02:44:02,791 --> 02:44:07,795 Beside the point is when he got out of jail, Nixon cozied up to him again. 2655 02:44:07,879 --> 02:44:11,173 So right away, Haldeman was compromised. 2656 02:44:11,258 --> 02:44:14,510 Nixon had a very strong influence over Haldeman. 2657 02:44:14,594 --> 02:44:18,931 Magnetism. Called him up aFterjail and said, "Hey, Bob, how are you? 2658 02:44:19,015 --> 02:44:22,852 Horrible thing happened. Horrible thing." 2659 02:44:24,104 --> 02:44:26,021 Nixon stayed out ofjail, as you know. 2660 02:44:26,106 --> 02:44:29,149 Of course, not the jail of his own mind, 2661 02:44:29,234 --> 02:44:31,861 but the jail that we all call jail. 2662 02:44:31,945 --> 02:44:34,864 It's a burn basket. that's Sam Waterston. I'm suggesting 2663 02:44:34,948 --> 02:44:38,868 he's burning documents because he knows the ship is sinking. 2664 02:44:38,952 --> 02:44:41,787 There can be no whitewash at the White House. 2665 02:44:41,872 --> 02:44:44,707 Two wrongs do not make a right. 2666 02:44:44,791 --> 02:44:47,001 Now, I love America. 2667 02:44:47,085 --> 02:44:51,547 God bless America, and God bless each and every one of you. 2668 02:44:51,631 --> 02:44:54,466 [Stone] It became pathetic at the end. Many of us remember 2669 02:44:54,551 --> 02:44:57,636 TV telecasts that came intermittently from the White House. 2670 02:44:57,721 --> 02:45:01,891 Each time Nixon was groping, like the Checkers speech, at straws, 2671 02:45:01,975 --> 02:45:04,810 insisting on his innocence and insisting this... 2672 02:45:04,895 --> 02:45:08,230 An audience refined to the television world 2673 02:45:08,315 --> 02:45:12,818 of acting thought him... Many of us thought him hollow 2674 02:45:12,903 --> 02:45:16,071 and clearly lying. 2675 02:45:16,156 --> 02:45:19,283 People said this was based on Citizen Kane. Yes, to some degree, 2676 02:45:19,367 --> 02:45:22,661 the length of the table. Nixon would have very formal dinners. 2677 02:45:22,746 --> 02:45:25,080 Towards the end, of course, he dined alone a lot. 2678 02:45:25,165 --> 02:45:28,167 this is one of the rare instances he may have dined with Pat. 2679 02:45:28,251 --> 02:45:30,669 Are you going to Key Biscayne? 2680 02:45:31,713 --> 02:45:33,505 - Yeah. - Excuse me, sir. 2681 02:45:33,590 --> 02:45:35,215 When? 2682 02:45:36,927 --> 02:45:38,469 Tomorrow. 2683 02:45:45,393 --> 02:45:49,730 Ron told me that, um... Bob Haldeman has been calling, 2684 02:45:49,814 --> 02:45:51,941 but you won't talk to him. 2685 02:45:53,401 --> 02:45:55,903 If he's convicted, will you pardon him? 2686 02:45:59,866 --> 02:46:01,158 No. 2687 02:46:07,958 --> 02:46:11,418 Why are you cutting yourself off from the rest of us? 2688 02:46:13,421 --> 02:46:15,631 Can't we discuss this? 2689 02:46:15,715 --> 02:46:20,636 - What exactly do you want to discuss? - You. What you're doing. 2690 02:46:21,888 --> 02:46:25,224 - What am I doing? - I wish I knew. You're hiding. 2691 02:46:25,308 --> 02:46:27,393 [Stone laughs] 2692 02:46:28,770 --> 02:46:32,815 - Hiding what? - Whatever it is you've been hiding. 2693 02:46:32,899 --> 02:46:35,734 You're letting it destroy you, Dick. 2694 02:46:37,404 --> 02:46:39,863 - [Stone laughs] - You won't ask for help... 2695 02:46:39,948 --> 02:46:43,075 My father did that with his hands. 2696 02:46:44,577 --> 02:46:47,037 Manolo, uh... 2697 02:46:47,122 --> 02:46:49,623 Mrs. Nixon's finished. 2698 02:46:49,708 --> 02:46:51,834 [Stone] You had to be that age to play Nixon. 2699 02:46:51,918 --> 02:46:56,839 Tony Hopkins is 56, 8, got Nixon. Got something in the inner man. 2700 02:46:56,923 --> 02:46:59,341 Nobody can actually mimic somebody else totally. 2701 02:46:59,426 --> 02:47:01,051 But, God, he came close. 2702 02:47:07,809 --> 02:47:10,728 Brezhnev's coming in three days. 2703 02:47:10,812 --> 02:47:14,815 I don't wanna deal with them and him and you. 2704 02:47:17,444 --> 02:47:20,696 How much more? How much more is it going to cost? 2705 02:47:20,780 --> 02:47:24,283 When do the rest of us stop paying off your debts? 2706 02:47:28,496 --> 02:47:32,291 I'd like to finish my dinner in peace, 2707 02:47:32,375 --> 02:47:34,334 if it's not too much to ask. 2708 02:47:34,419 --> 02:47:38,255 [Stone] Of course, there's rumors Pat Nixon was drinking more and more, 2709 02:47:38,339 --> 02:47:42,885 and had always had drinking issues, but became totally numbed out 2710 02:47:42,969 --> 02:47:46,638 during these last few months. tyrying to leave some kind of strength 2711 02:47:46,723 --> 02:47:50,017 and healthiness in this family. Maybe Joan Allen is too powerful 2712 02:47:50,101 --> 02:47:53,896 to have been Pat Nixon. Who knows? Pat, like so many women in the '50s 2713 02:47:53,980 --> 02:47:57,107 and the '40s, that Barbie doll generation, was a betrayed wife, 2714 02:47:57,192 --> 02:48:01,361 in the sense that she grew into... lived through the man. And the man, 2715 02:48:01,446 --> 02:48:04,907 at the end of the day, disappointed her, let her down. 2716 02:48:07,077 --> 02:48:11,330 [man] The committee will come to order. Counsel will call the first witness. 2717 02:48:11,414 --> 02:48:13,999 Mr. John W. Dean, III. 2718 02:48:14,084 --> 02:48:16,627 [Stone] When Dean went public, that was a disaster. 2719 02:48:16,711 --> 02:48:19,421 Everything was snowballing now. 2720 02:48:19,506 --> 02:48:22,049 You had Woodward-Bernstein articles in The Post 2721 02:48:22,133 --> 02:48:24,426 keeping it alive in the public media, 2722 02:48:24,511 --> 02:48:27,763 but there was a whole judicial machinery at work here. 2723 02:48:27,847 --> 02:48:31,809 It was a disappointment to me because it was quite clear that the cover-up, 2724 02:48:31,893 --> 02:48:35,771 as far as the White House was... was concerned, was going to continue. 2725 02:48:35,855 --> 02:48:38,524 Why is he doing this? He's our goddamn lawyer. 2726 02:48:38,608 --> 02:48:40,818 If he had a problem, why didn't he talk with us? 2727 02:48:40,902 --> 02:48:44,446 [Stone] John Stockwell on the leFt, who's now directing movies. 2728 02:48:45,532 --> 02:48:48,492 It's still an informer's word against the president's. 2729 02:48:48,576 --> 02:48:51,537 [Dean] ...were all indictable for obstruction ofjustice. 2730 02:48:54,374 --> 02:48:58,961 [Stone] Now we're bouncing into the Russian montage off the Chinese montage. 2731 02:49:00,630 --> 02:49:03,048 [speaking Russian] 2732 02:49:05,468 --> 02:49:09,763 [Stone] And of course Brezhnev is dissing Mao, Mao is dissing Russians. 2733 02:49:09,848 --> 02:49:13,058 I wanted to make the point that it was a triangle. 2734 02:49:13,143 --> 02:49:16,854 Nixon could have made some huge strides here, understand? 2735 02:49:16,938 --> 02:49:21,108 But he couldn't concentrate. that's true. At that meeting in Washington, 2736 02:49:21,192 --> 02:49:24,194 he was so distracted by the end of the Watergate affair 2737 02:49:24,279 --> 02:49:27,739 that he blew a great opportunity to further the peace 2738 02:49:27,824 --> 02:49:29,783 between the Soviet Union and America. 2739 02:49:29,868 --> 02:49:32,536 It's a shame because that's what had been his plan. 2740 02:49:32,620 --> 02:49:35,622 Actually, Nixon, you could argue, I'm not saying correctly, 2741 02:49:35,707 --> 02:49:39,835 that he sacrificed Vietnam for the larger issue of Russia and China, 2742 02:49:39,919 --> 02:49:42,838 looking for world peace, looking for the end of the Cold War, 2743 02:49:42,922 --> 02:49:46,633 the detente that would prevent those Vietnams from happening. 2744 02:49:46,718 --> 02:49:49,344 So he was saying, "Let's keep the war going." 2745 02:49:49,429 --> 02:49:52,431 that could have been in his thinking, which is geo-political 2746 02:49:52,515 --> 02:49:55,434 and Kissinger-like in terms of its grand scenario, 2747 02:49:55,518 --> 02:49:57,895 its Machiavellian principle. 2748 02:49:58,271 --> 02:50:01,815 [woman] Life is the best teacher, and therefore it must not interfere 2749 02:50:01,900 --> 02:50:04,193 with the building of the S.A.L.T. Two treaty... 2750 02:50:04,277 --> 02:50:07,529 [Stone] I love this mushroom bomb. that was what was at stake. 2751 02:50:07,614 --> 02:50:12,492 the mushroom bomb is the leading motif of this conversation 2752 02:50:12,577 --> 02:50:16,955 as the Chinese lettering was between Mao, I think the bomb 2753 02:50:17,040 --> 02:50:20,000 holds strong implications here. 2754 02:50:20,084 --> 02:50:22,669 [speaking Russian] 2755 02:50:27,383 --> 02:50:30,594 [Stone] I like how the Russians know everything in the White House 2756 02:50:30,678 --> 02:50:34,056 as much as Nixon. It was true in the last months of the administration, 2757 02:50:34,140 --> 02:50:36,391 people were talking, "Will he last?" 2758 02:50:36,476 --> 02:50:40,103 Like the Clinton impeachment, but it was perhaps more serious. 2759 02:50:40,188 --> 02:50:43,232 Not only the crime was more serious, the idea of impeachment 2760 02:50:43,316 --> 02:50:45,234 had not been around for so many years. 2761 02:50:45,318 --> 02:50:48,070 Since Andrew Johnson, aFter the Civil War. 2762 02:50:53,368 --> 02:50:54,701 Did you? 2763 02:50:55,495 --> 02:50:58,038 - Daddy? - What? 2764 02:50:58,122 --> 02:50:59,665 Did you cover it up? 2765 02:50:59,749 --> 02:51:02,584 [Stone] the concept of this scene was he lied to his family. 2766 02:51:02,669 --> 02:51:06,380 He never says yes or no. All he does is ask a rhetorical question. 2767 02:51:06,464 --> 02:51:09,174 You think I'd do something like that, honey? 2768 02:51:12,178 --> 02:51:15,764 Well, then you can't give up. You just can't. 2769 02:51:15,848 --> 02:51:18,809 You're one of the best presidents this country has ever had. 2770 02:51:18,893 --> 02:51:22,396 You've done what Lincoln did, brought this country back from civil war. 2771 02:51:22,480 --> 02:51:23,939 [Stone] All done in one move 2772 02:51:24,023 --> 02:51:26,858 from beginning to the end. I think we did it 15 times. 2773 02:51:26,943 --> 02:51:29,403 You've gotta stay and fight. 2774 02:51:29,487 --> 02:51:32,781 I'll go out there and make speeches. Nobody knows the real you, 2775 02:51:32,865 --> 02:51:36,285 how sweet you are, how nice you are to people. 2776 02:51:36,369 --> 02:51:38,620 [Stone] the two daughters really loved him 2777 02:51:38,705 --> 02:51:42,124 and said very good things about him always. No question about that. 2778 02:51:42,208 --> 02:51:45,877 there was no bad-mouthing. We read one of the books of the daughters 2779 02:51:45,962 --> 02:51:50,882 about their parents. Maybe they saw him through rose-colored glasses. 2780 02:51:50,967 --> 02:51:53,552 Theyjust don't know the real you. 2781 02:51:55,179 --> 02:51:57,723 Theyjust don't know. 2782 02:51:57,807 --> 02:52:00,892 [Stone] Margaret Mitchell was one of the... another one 2783 02:52:00,977 --> 02:52:04,062 of the obstacle courses. Everywhere, she was attacking him. 2784 02:52:04,147 --> 02:52:06,773 In the last few months when she was a loose cannon, 2785 02:52:06,858 --> 02:52:09,735 aFter the divorce or the proposed divorce of Mitchell. 2786 02:52:09,819 --> 02:52:13,488 Mitchell was a tough nut like Nixon. I loved him in that very... 2787 02:52:13,573 --> 02:52:15,824 Wouldn't give an inch. He hated him like Agnew. 2788 02:52:15,908 --> 02:52:18,368 When Mitchell would be photographed, 2789 02:52:18,453 --> 02:52:21,496 he had the most puffy cheeks and little beady eyes. 2790 02:52:21,581 --> 02:52:24,916 He was attorney general at one point. He was tough as they come. 2791 02:52:31,591 --> 02:52:35,427 Now, were the visitors that went into the White House warned 2792 02:52:35,511 --> 02:52:39,306 that their conversations with the president would be taped? 2793 02:52:39,390 --> 02:52:41,933 [man] Again, I am not aware of the technical details. 2794 02:52:42,018 --> 02:52:45,354 On Friday, we have the high school students from Ohio. 2795 02:52:45,438 --> 02:52:49,191 Saturday is the National Women's Republican Club. 2796 02:52:49,275 --> 02:52:52,235 [reporter] ...Watergate wide open, former White House aide 2797 02:52:52,320 --> 02:52:56,031 Alexander Butterfield testified before the Senate Select committee. 2798 02:52:56,115 --> 02:52:59,868 He revealed a taping system that may have recorded conversations 2799 02:52:59,952 --> 02:53:02,746 in the White House, the executive office building 2800 02:53:02,830 --> 02:53:05,123 and even members of his own family. 2801 02:53:05,208 --> 02:53:07,876 [Stone] Now it just unrolls. this scene, of course, 2802 02:53:07,960 --> 02:53:11,213 is based on the fact that Butterfield, in testimony to Congress, 2803 02:53:11,297 --> 02:53:12,589 revealed the tapes. 2804 02:53:12,673 --> 02:53:16,343 Alexander, who was one of our advisors, never thought of it as malicious. 2805 02:53:16,427 --> 02:53:19,554 He never thought of it. It was a slip, and it just came out. 2806 02:53:19,639 --> 02:53:22,557 He didn't realize the implications. He was a bit lost. 2807 02:53:22,642 --> 02:53:26,019 It was a very confusing story. It's hard to completely understand 2808 02:53:26,104 --> 02:53:28,605 the scope of it at the time because it was unrolling 2809 02:53:28,689 --> 02:53:32,067 against other world events over a long period of almost two years. 2810 02:53:32,151 --> 02:53:33,902 Of more than two years. 2811 02:53:33,986 --> 02:53:36,530 Now the secret is out. this is the key moment, 2812 02:53:36,614 --> 02:53:39,282 'cause everybody wants to keep it a secret and in a sense 2813 02:53:39,367 --> 02:53:43,537 wants to let it out. that's what she says in this scene. 2814 02:53:47,083 --> 02:53:51,086 If Hunt goes public, it'll be a fiasco for the C.I.A. 2815 02:53:51,170 --> 02:53:52,754 They're like love letters. 2816 02:53:52,839 --> 02:53:54,589 [tape rewinding] 2817 02:53:54,674 --> 02:53:56,091 You should burn 'em. 2818 02:53:56,175 --> 02:53:58,885 [Stone] this is a psychological scene in the movie 2819 02:53:58,970 --> 02:54:00,387 because she's drunk. 2820 02:54:01,514 --> 02:54:05,016 They're evidence. You can't legally destroy evidence. 2821 02:54:05,101 --> 02:54:07,936 You don't expect me to believe that... 2822 02:54:08,020 --> 02:54:10,647 [Stone] Now she's drunk a little bit. I let her go. 2823 02:54:10,731 --> 02:54:13,400 Now we let her go a little bit. She did like her drink. 2824 02:54:14,652 --> 02:54:18,488 Oliver Stone movie, you gotta have a ghost, so there's Mary Steenburgen. 2825 02:54:18,573 --> 02:54:22,200 they're both drunk in this scene. I don't see why not. [laughs] 2826 02:54:23,536 --> 02:54:26,455 - I rememberAlger Hiss. - [Stone] She's scolding him now. 2827 02:54:26,539 --> 02:54:30,333 - I know how ugly you can be. - [Stone] She knows how ugly he can be. 2828 02:54:30,418 --> 02:54:35,130 that's a scolding thing. "Where's the secret that Mary Steenburgen asked?" 2829 02:54:35,214 --> 02:54:38,675 But I think Mom and wife have a lot in common. 2830 02:54:38,759 --> 02:54:41,511 He sees her again, but then the light comes on. 2831 02:54:41,596 --> 02:54:45,307 I love this look of Tony's 'cause it's so haunting. 2832 02:54:45,391 --> 02:54:47,934 No concept of remorse. 2833 02:54:48,019 --> 02:54:52,397 You want the tapes to get out. You want them to see you at your worst. 2834 02:54:52,482 --> 02:54:53,982 - You're drunk. - Oh, yeah! 2835 02:54:54,066 --> 02:54:56,735 No one'll ever see those tapes, including you. 2836 02:54:56,819 --> 02:54:59,988 And what would I find out that I haven't known for years? 2837 02:55:01,449 --> 02:55:06,036 [Stone] See the destruction cycle. Six crises, 15 crises. 2838 02:55:06,120 --> 02:55:08,872 You destroy, rebuild. Destroy, rebuild. 2839 02:55:08,956 --> 02:55:12,501 there's a worthlessness at the center of it. A sense of worthlessness. 2840 02:55:12,585 --> 02:55:17,881 - that's what's amazing to Pat. - They're not "yours." They are you. 2841 02:55:25,097 --> 02:55:27,432 You should burn them. 2842 02:55:35,525 --> 02:55:37,776 [Stone laughs] 2843 02:55:37,860 --> 02:55:41,613 Tony is famous for having had his share of drinks in the '70s. 2844 02:55:43,616 --> 02:55:46,618 Only he could do that look. It scared me when I first saw it. 2845 02:55:46,702 --> 02:55:48,495 I jumped out of my seat. 2846 02:55:48,579 --> 02:55:51,498 But Tony has a great sense memory of being drunk 2847 02:55:51,582 --> 02:55:55,252 and drinking too much and has been in AA for many years. 2848 02:55:55,336 --> 02:55:58,380 And goes faithfully and is a very sober man. 2849 02:55:58,464 --> 02:56:01,299 Like other actors who've been there, he remembers it well 2850 02:56:01,384 --> 02:56:04,678 and does a funny but human job of it. 2851 02:56:04,762 --> 02:56:08,473 I believed him when he's looked at that ghost and jumped. 2852 02:56:14,313 --> 02:56:16,314 - What, do you think? - I never said this. 2853 02:56:16,399 --> 02:56:18,275 - Seven times, ten times. - Ten times. 2854 02:56:18,359 --> 02:56:21,903 - You think people like that gave up? - Never. 2855 02:56:21,988 --> 02:56:25,448 Castro. These guys went after Castro. 2856 02:56:26,117 --> 02:56:29,286 [Stone] Watch this, watch this. All these weird angles. 2857 02:56:30,496 --> 02:56:33,290 this is a shot I like. 2858 02:56:33,374 --> 02:56:35,667 One eye. [laughs] 2859 02:56:37,628 --> 02:56:40,755 this is an interesting montage. A reverse time montage 2860 02:56:40,840 --> 02:56:43,967 that we used, as if he could put it all back in time. 2861 02:56:44,051 --> 02:56:46,636 We've all wished that at some point in our lives. 2862 02:56:55,354 --> 02:57:00,108 Whoever killed Kennedy came from this thing we created, this beast. 2863 02:57:00,192 --> 02:57:01,776 [Stone] "this beast." 2864 02:57:01,861 --> 02:57:05,739 that's imagined dialogue that we put into this 18 1/2-minute tape. 2865 02:57:05,823 --> 02:57:08,992 [man] In the latest bombshell, the president's lawyers revealed 2866 02:57:09,076 --> 02:57:11,328 that there is an 18-and-a-half-minute gap 2867 02:57:11,412 --> 02:57:13,413 in a critical Watergate tape. 2868 02:57:13,497 --> 02:57:17,459 Reactions of disbelief and anger are being heard across the country. 2869 02:57:17,543 --> 02:57:21,338 [Stone] Around this time, Nixon had a major phlebitis attack and almost died. 2870 02:57:21,422 --> 02:57:24,132 It seemed like he was dying when he went to the hospital. 2871 02:57:24,216 --> 02:57:26,468 Had a very close call. Blood clot in the leg. 2872 02:57:26,552 --> 02:57:29,888 But it can travel up to the pulmonaries, the lungs. 2873 02:57:29,972 --> 02:57:32,641 that's why bleeding comes out of the mouth. 2874 02:57:32,725 --> 02:57:36,144 It was a real serious blood clot and lead to the medication 2875 02:57:36,228 --> 02:57:40,106 that he was taking, which people don't seem to understand that when you 2876 02:57:40,191 --> 02:57:42,942 mix some medicine with one or two drinks of Scotch, 2877 02:57:43,027 --> 02:57:45,987 you can slur without being drunk. You're just slurring. 2878 02:57:46,072 --> 02:57:48,114 It's a physical reaction. 2879 02:57:48,199 --> 02:57:51,242 People misunderstood the point. We hardly were trying to draw 2880 02:57:51,327 --> 02:57:55,497 a man who's an alcoholic. He was not. He was a man under too much stress. 2881 02:57:55,581 --> 02:57:58,583 Nixon didn't have the right outlets for stress. 2882 02:57:58,668 --> 02:58:02,128 Maybe he needed to be more of an exercise freak or something. 2883 02:58:02,213 --> 02:58:05,173 Or laugh freak, something. All he did was sit around and read 2884 02:58:05,257 --> 02:58:08,176 and talk and think. He was living too cerebrally, 2885 02:58:08,260 --> 02:58:12,681 without soma. there has to be some soma in your body. It can't all be cerebral. 2886 02:58:17,645 --> 02:58:20,689 I put him in this fantasy position, dreaming of his tapes. 2887 02:58:20,773 --> 02:58:24,025 this is one of my trips here with the tunnel. I wanted to play with it 2888 02:58:24,110 --> 02:58:27,821 this cheap tunnel we built. I wanted to try red and blue light. 2889 02:58:27,905 --> 02:58:31,366 As if, when you die, there's all this talk 2890 02:58:31,450 --> 02:58:35,203 of near-death experiences of people who die and travel down tunnels 2891 02:58:35,287 --> 02:58:38,206 and see light, weird images from their lives, 2892 02:58:38,290 --> 02:58:40,208 things you remember as you die. 2893 02:58:41,544 --> 02:58:43,420 that's my son, Mikey. [laughs] 2894 02:58:45,673 --> 02:58:48,717 that's young Nixon. Old Nixon. 2895 02:58:48,801 --> 02:58:52,637 Something brings him back, the rebirth, the Christ image. 2896 02:58:53,305 --> 02:58:57,016 [man] Vice President Agnew has resigned today pleading no contest 2897 02:58:57,101 --> 02:58:59,436 to charges of income tax evasion. 2898 02:58:59,520 --> 02:59:01,563 [Stone] He almost died, which is true. 2899 02:59:01,647 --> 02:59:05,275 But on the way back, you hear all the mundane shit coming down on him now. 2900 02:59:05,359 --> 02:59:08,778 Poor guy is coming back to this world. He got better, had to go back to it. 2901 02:59:08,863 --> 02:59:10,447 He was a tough guy, tough fight. 2902 02:59:10,531 --> 02:59:14,367 Because the media would constantly cover it. Everything was buried 2903 02:59:14,452 --> 02:59:18,830 except for... Like the Clinton scandal. It was about eating ourselves to death. 2904 02:59:18,914 --> 02:59:22,208 He's got an acute viral pneumonia and a very serious phlebitis. 2905 02:59:22,293 --> 02:59:25,462 [Stone] Bill Bolander, the doctor, a wonderful actor. 2906 02:59:25,546 --> 02:59:26,755 Oh, no. 2907 02:59:26,839 --> 02:59:29,466 [man] The president has returned to the White House. 2908 02:59:29,550 --> 02:59:32,552 But Archibald Cox has declared war by issuing a subpoena 2909 02:59:32,636 --> 02:59:36,014 - for nine of the president's tapes. - [Stone] Exposure changes 2910 02:59:36,098 --> 02:59:40,185 on the White House, which we shot with an old camera to show the lack 2911 02:59:40,269 --> 02:59:42,937 of stability, the light coming and going. 2912 02:59:43,022 --> 02:59:46,858 This could trigger the impeachment. They'll go to the Supreme Court. 2913 02:59:46,942 --> 02:59:50,487 I appointed three of those bastards. I'll never give them my tapes. 2914 02:59:50,571 --> 02:59:53,114 Can the president afford to ignore a subpoena? 2915 02:59:53,199 --> 02:59:57,118 Who the hell does Cox think he is? I've never made a dime from public office. 2916 02:59:57,203 --> 03:00:00,288 I'm honest. My dad died broke. Jesus. 2917 03:00:00,372 --> 03:00:04,542 That son of a bitch Cox, he went to the same law school as Jack Kennedy. 2918 03:00:04,627 --> 03:00:06,419 [Stone] One of my favorite scenes. 2919 03:00:06,504 --> 03:00:09,547 We constructed it from conversations with different people 2920 03:00:09,632 --> 03:00:11,883 around this time. But he did say these words 2921 03:00:11,967 --> 03:00:15,929 in various places to different people. But we cobbled it together here. 2922 03:00:16,013 --> 03:00:21,518 My God, we would've changed it so they couldn't have changed it back in years. 2923 03:00:21,602 --> 03:00:22,811 Yeah. 2924 03:00:24,563 --> 03:00:28,608 [Stone] It's interesting. He sniffs the flowers that make him feel like death. 2925 03:00:28,692 --> 03:00:30,401 Sort of a reversal there. 2926 03:00:30,486 --> 03:00:33,655 Sir, Congress is considering four articles of impeachment. 2927 03:00:33,739 --> 03:00:36,866 - Yeah. For what? - They're very serious charges, sir. 2928 03:00:36,951 --> 03:00:40,078 [Stone] this is George Plimpton, a New York character actor, 2929 03:00:40,162 --> 03:00:43,498 literary figure. Nice man. Gentleman. 2930 03:00:43,582 --> 03:00:47,836 He kept blowing his lines. [laughs] He was so nervous. 2931 03:00:47,920 --> 03:00:51,089 He had to list all these things as a lawyer, but it took a few takes. 2932 03:00:51,173 --> 03:00:53,299 But George finally got it. 2933 03:00:53,384 --> 03:00:55,468 - Fred, they sell tickets. - It's Ron, sir. 2934 03:00:55,553 --> 03:00:58,721 [Stone] Ron. He's got everybody mixed up now. 2935 03:00:58,806 --> 03:01:01,057 John Wayne at the end. He can't remember names, 2936 03:01:01,141 --> 03:01:03,351 where he is, who he's supposed to talk to. 2937 03:01:03,435 --> 03:01:06,521 It's very funny, actually. Avery dark humor 2938 03:01:06,605 --> 03:01:10,441 that Hopkins brings to this and the script does too. 2939 03:01:10,526 --> 03:01:13,194 Jeez, I got half of 'em elected. 2940 03:01:13,279 --> 03:01:18,199 OK, so I got the South and, uh, Goldwater and his boys. 2941 03:01:19,535 --> 03:01:21,494 I'll take my chances in the Senate. 2942 03:01:21,579 --> 03:01:24,873 [Stone] Nixon would alternate. Some days he'd want to fight it, 2943 03:01:24,957 --> 03:01:28,293 go all the way, others he realized the damage impeachment would do. 2944 03:01:28,377 --> 03:01:31,045 there was a concept of what he would have to reveal. 2945 03:01:31,130 --> 03:01:33,131 Would he fall on his sword or not? 2946 03:01:33,215 --> 03:01:35,884 Like ancient Romans. Or would he reveal secrets? 2947 03:01:35,968 --> 03:01:39,888 In that regard, he never did reveal anything. Could call him a good Roman. 2948 03:01:39,972 --> 03:01:42,932 What I know about this country, I could rip it apart. 2949 03:01:43,017 --> 03:01:46,811 If they want a public humiliation, that's what they'll get. 2950 03:01:46,896 --> 03:01:49,439 - Yes, they will. - I'll never resign this office. 2951 03:01:49,523 --> 03:01:52,734 [Stone] You heard. "the secrets I know could bury this country." 2952 03:01:52,818 --> 03:01:56,070 I really believe that next to Richard Helms, he was a great keeper 2953 03:01:56,155 --> 03:01:58,239 of the secrets of this country. 2954 03:01:58,324 --> 03:02:01,075 qrom the Dewey association all the way through 2955 03:02:01,160 --> 03:02:06,372 the Lanskys, '50s, '60s, '70s, and then he was out. 2956 03:02:06,457 --> 03:02:08,416 But he had an effect on the '80s too, 2957 03:02:08,500 --> 03:02:11,502 - when he had an influence on Reagan. - May I echo my concern? 2958 03:02:11,587 --> 03:02:16,090 - Then tell Richardson to fire him! - Well, Richardson won't do that, sir. 2959 03:02:16,175 --> 03:02:18,843 - He'll resign. - The hell he will. Then fire him too. 2960 03:02:18,928 --> 03:02:22,096 If you have to go down to the janitor at thejustice department 2961 03:02:22,181 --> 03:02:23,765 fire that son of a bitch. 2962 03:02:23,849 --> 03:02:27,393 Mr. President, may I just say something, sir? 2963 03:02:29,021 --> 03:02:31,522 I think that you should welcome this subpoena. 2964 03:02:31,607 --> 03:02:33,524 - Why? - Well, sir, 2965 03:02:33,609 --> 03:02:37,028 the tapes can only prove that Dean was a liar. Right? 2966 03:02:37,112 --> 03:02:40,448 [Stone] Yes, of course. the tapes implicate Nixon. 2967 03:02:40,532 --> 03:02:44,953 One of my favorite speeches here. He said it during this time period. 2968 03:02:45,037 --> 03:02:47,121 There's more than just me. 2969 03:02:47,206 --> 03:02:49,791 You can't break, my boy. 2970 03:02:49,875 --> 03:02:52,210 Even though it's ended. 2971 03:02:52,294 --> 03:02:55,755 You can't admit, even to yourself, when it's gone. 2972 03:02:56,966 --> 03:02:59,884 Do you think those P.O.W.s in there did? 2973 03:03:00,719 --> 03:03:03,304 Now, there's some people, and we both know them, Al 2974 03:03:03,389 --> 03:03:05,974 think you can go stand in the middle of a bull ring 2975 03:03:06,058 --> 03:03:07,934 and cry "mea culpa, mea culpa," 2976 03:03:08,018 --> 03:03:12,230 while the crowd is hissing and booing and spitting on you. 2977 03:03:13,065 --> 03:03:16,901 Well, a man doesn't cry. I don't cry. 2978 03:03:17,653 --> 03:03:20,822 You don't cry. You fight. 2979 03:03:20,906 --> 03:03:23,116 [applause] 2980 03:03:24,743 --> 03:03:25,994 OK. 2981 03:03:26,078 --> 03:03:30,331 [man] Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States! 2982 03:03:30,416 --> 03:03:32,500 [cheering, applause] 2983 03:03:35,337 --> 03:03:39,424 Good evening. We interrupt this program for a special report from NBC news. 2984 03:03:39,508 --> 03:03:41,175 The country is in the midst 2985 03:03:41,260 --> 03:03:44,846 ofwhat may be the most serious constitutional crisis in its history. 2986 03:03:44,930 --> 03:03:48,099 [Stone] We interviewed Richardson, who told us this great line 2987 03:03:48,183 --> 03:03:51,602 I used in the movie later, I gave it to Kissinger. "He had greatness 2988 03:03:51,687 --> 03:03:55,523 within his grasp, but he had the virtue of his defects." 2989 03:03:56,859 --> 03:03:59,485 that is actually Robert Bork. that's not a fake beard. 2990 03:03:59,570 --> 03:04:02,739 He was almost made Supreme Court justice years later. 2991 03:04:02,823 --> 03:04:05,366 But it was turned back by Congress. 2992 03:04:05,451 --> 03:04:09,203 Bork fired everybody in the Justice Department. It's very ironic 2993 03:04:09,288 --> 03:04:13,875 that he was put up for the job of Supreme Court justice by Reagan. 2994 03:04:13,959 --> 03:04:19,213 And it became a cause celebre. He fired everybody in the Justice Department. 2995 03:04:19,298 --> 03:04:21,215 Because of his views he was rejected. 2996 03:04:21,300 --> 03:04:24,427 - Look. This. Nixon can't say that. - Well, you did say it, sir. 2997 03:04:24,511 --> 03:04:26,721 Never! I never said that about Jews. 2998 03:04:26,805 --> 03:04:30,433 - Makes me sound like an anti-Semite. - [Stone] Richardson was a Brahmin 2999 03:04:30,517 --> 03:04:35,354 who was a totally ethical and honest man, the most you've met in your life. 3000 03:04:35,439 --> 03:04:37,982 Spoke like a Brahmin from Boston. 3001 03:04:38,067 --> 03:04:41,069 Always a Republican, but a real straight-laced Republican. 3002 03:04:41,153 --> 03:04:43,571 He was much admired. 3003 03:04:44,615 --> 03:04:48,743 - We could write "expletive deleted." - Cut all these "goddamns" 3004 03:04:48,827 --> 03:04:51,913 and "Jesus Christs" out. Jesus. 3005 03:04:51,997 --> 03:04:56,292 Mr. President. Don't you see that all these deletion marks in the transcript 3006 03:04:56,376 --> 03:04:59,837 make it look as though you... you do nothing but swear? 3007 03:05:03,300 --> 03:05:06,260 [Stone] "Expletive deleted" became a joke at the time. 3008 03:05:06,345 --> 03:05:09,263 Comedians would go on. When the transcripts were released, 3009 03:05:09,348 --> 03:05:12,683 so many "expletive deleteds," it became part of the language. 3010 03:05:12,768 --> 03:05:17,105 We could start again, sir, but we don't really have the staff to do that. 3011 03:05:17,189 --> 03:05:20,441 Then start over! Just start over! 3012 03:05:20,526 --> 03:05:23,611 The world will see only what I show 'em! 3013 03:05:23,695 --> 03:05:26,405 From page one, Al. Page one, Ron! 3014 03:05:26,490 --> 03:05:28,908 Ron, get in there and do something. 3015 03:05:28,992 --> 03:05:31,160 All this stuff. 3016 03:05:38,377 --> 03:05:40,253 Five seconds, Mr. President. 3017 03:05:40,337 --> 03:05:44,715 And four, three, two... 3018 03:05:47,970 --> 03:05:49,720 [Stone] the last pathetic gasp. 3019 03:05:49,805 --> 03:05:52,849 Good evening, my fellow Americans. 3020 03:05:52,933 --> 03:05:54,892 Tonight I'm taking an action 3021 03:05:54,977 --> 03:05:57,812 unprecedented in the history of this office. 3022 03:05:57,896 --> 03:06:01,482 I had no knowledge of the cover-up till John Dean told me about it 3023 03:06:01,567 --> 03:06:04,443 - on March 21st, a year ago. - I think I'm going to throw up. 3024 03:06:04,528 --> 03:06:06,779 ...no payment to Hunt or anyone else be made. 3025 03:06:06,864 --> 03:06:09,907 [Stone] these TV appearances were boring and repetitive 3026 03:06:09,992 --> 03:06:14,787 and pleading to stay in office. they were disgusting, shameless. 3027 03:06:14,872 --> 03:06:18,749 He's the kind of guy who said, "I earned every penny. I never profited." 3028 03:06:18,834 --> 03:06:21,169 that's true. Who knows? But he lived well. 3029 03:06:21,253 --> 03:06:24,964 In all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice. 3030 03:06:25,048 --> 03:06:28,509 It's a tragedy because he had greatness in his grasp. 3031 03:06:28,594 --> 03:06:32,180 - I welcome this examination. - But had the defects of his qualities. 3032 03:06:32,264 --> 03:06:35,016 - I made $250,000... - [Haig] They'll crucify him. 3033 03:06:35,100 --> 03:06:37,226 [Kissinger] Does anybody care anymore? 3034 03:06:37,311 --> 03:06:39,979 ...which many of you were good enough to purchase. 3035 03:06:41,523 --> 03:06:44,859 And what happens after? 3036 03:06:44,943 --> 03:06:46,694 [Nixon] ...every year. 3037 03:06:47,487 --> 03:06:51,824 When I, in 1968 decided to become a candidate for the president, 3038 03:06:51,909 --> 03:06:56,537 I decided to clean the decks and to put everything in real estate. 3039 03:06:56,622 --> 03:07:00,374 So, that's where the money came from. That's all I own. 3040 03:07:00,459 --> 03:07:03,461 That's what we have, and that's what we owe. 3041 03:07:03,545 --> 03:07:06,797 Because people have got to know whether or not their president... 3042 03:07:06,882 --> 03:07:08,883 ...their president is a crook. 3043 03:07:08,967 --> 03:07:12,803 Well, I am not a crook. I've earned everything I have 3044 03:07:12,888 --> 03:07:14,513 ...doesn't have a mink coat. 3045 03:07:14,598 --> 03:07:17,475 She does have a respectable Republican cloth coat. 3046 03:07:17,559 --> 03:07:20,895 And I always tell her that she'd look good in anything. 3047 03:07:20,979 --> 03:07:24,065 [Stone] It occurred to me when making the movie and it was clear 3048 03:07:24,149 --> 03:07:27,109 that Watergate begging was straight out of Checkers speech. 3049 03:07:27,194 --> 03:07:30,821 I thought it would be nice to go to Pat as a connector. 3050 03:07:30,906 --> 03:07:34,784 She would remember the past vividly and see the repetition of the character 3051 03:07:34,868 --> 03:07:39,288 flaw in her husband. At the same time, realize how wasted her life was, 3052 03:07:39,373 --> 03:07:42,250 that in his lie, she was wrapped up. 3053 03:07:42,334 --> 03:07:46,462 [man] ...has voted 27 to 11 to recommend impeachment to the House. 3054 03:07:46,546 --> 03:07:50,258 [Stone] We're rushing towards the end here with all the charges being... 3055 03:07:50,342 --> 03:07:53,261 ...all the unrolling of events we don't have time for, 3056 03:07:53,345 --> 03:07:56,681 as the two men go to see him. they saw him separately 3057 03:07:56,765 --> 03:07:59,767 and the resignation was done under different circumstances. 3058 03:07:59,851 --> 03:08:03,854 But I think for purposes of this movie, 3059 03:08:03,939 --> 03:08:07,525 I combined the two men, Haig and Kissinger into one meeting. 3060 03:08:07,609 --> 03:08:09,610 ...and thejustice department. 3061 03:08:09,695 --> 03:08:12,446 It denounces the plumbers and it raises the question 3062 03:08:12,531 --> 03:08:16,575 ofwhether the United States had a valid election in 1972. 3063 03:08:16,660 --> 03:08:19,620 [Stone] Nixon was a fan of Victory at Sea by Richard Rogers. 3064 03:08:19,705 --> 03:08:22,123 So was my father. I used to hear it a lot as a kid. 3065 03:08:22,207 --> 03:08:25,251 It was a famous TV show with clips ofWWII. 3066 03:08:25,335 --> 03:08:27,420 [music playing] 3067 03:08:30,966 --> 03:08:32,383 Come in. 3068 03:08:44,396 --> 03:08:49,692 Victory at Sea, Al. Henry. The Pacific Theatre. 3069 03:08:49,776 --> 03:08:53,571 Christ, you can almost hear the waves breaking over the decks. 3070 03:08:53,655 --> 03:08:58,284 [Stone] Nixon was a naval officer in the Pacific, a rear echelon administrator. 3071 03:08:59,453 --> 03:09:02,288 I'm afraid we have another problem, Mr. President. 3072 03:09:03,123 --> 03:09:04,915 Excuse me, gentlemen. 3073 03:09:09,546 --> 03:09:12,089 June 23rd, '72, sir. 3074 03:09:14,760 --> 03:09:19,221 Your instructions to Haldeman regarding the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. 3075 03:09:20,474 --> 03:09:22,016 So? 3076 03:09:22,100 --> 03:09:26,854 Your lawyers feel that it's the smoking gun. 3077 03:09:26,938 --> 03:09:30,191 Totally out of context. I was protecting the national security. 3078 03:09:30,275 --> 03:09:32,860 Sir, the deadline is today. 3079 03:09:36,031 --> 03:09:39,241 - Can we get around this, Al? - [Stone laughs] 3080 03:09:39,326 --> 03:09:43,371 It's the Supreme Court, sir. You don't get around it. 3081 03:09:43,455 --> 03:09:46,665 [Stone] We're also kind to Haig. I don't think Haig was this kind 3082 03:09:46,750 --> 03:09:50,503 and empathetic an individual, but you don't wanna paint everybody bad. 3083 03:09:50,587 --> 03:09:54,215 If you resign, you can keep your tapes as a private citizen. 3084 03:09:54,299 --> 03:09:56,884 You could fight them for years. 3085 03:09:56,968 --> 03:09:59,470 [Stone] I don't know why. Haig got off easy here. 3086 03:09:59,554 --> 03:10:03,557 I don't know, maybe it's my own fear of if I make everybody a bastard 3087 03:10:03,642 --> 03:10:05,976 or dastardly dark, 3088 03:10:06,061 --> 03:10:10,314 it would look like a cabal of cutthroats here. 3089 03:10:10,399 --> 03:10:14,568 But they weren't. they were more disorganized than that. 3090 03:10:16,988 --> 03:10:18,197 the Lincoln Room. 3091 03:10:19,157 --> 03:10:21,867 - That was civil war. - [Stone] Civil war. 3092 03:10:21,952 --> 03:10:23,327 How do you see this? 3093 03:10:27,082 --> 03:10:28,416 Oh, God. 3094 03:10:28,500 --> 03:10:31,544 We can't survive this, sir. 3095 03:10:34,506 --> 03:10:39,176 They also have you instructing Dean to make the payoff to Hunt. 3096 03:10:39,261 --> 03:10:43,347 There's nothing in that statement the president can't explain. 3097 03:10:43,432 --> 03:10:46,600 [Stone] You could argue that Haig was, at that point, a younger man 3098 03:10:46,685 --> 03:10:50,813 and wasn't as confident as he was later in the Reagan administration 3099 03:10:50,897 --> 03:10:54,567 when his manner offended people. So perhaps at this time 3100 03:10:54,651 --> 03:10:57,528 he was more the loyal military aid, which is what he was, 3101 03:10:57,612 --> 03:11:01,782 who acquired a position only because everybody else had been lost around him, 3102 03:11:01,867 --> 03:11:04,577 Ehrlichman, Haldeman. People were disappearing. 3103 03:11:04,661 --> 03:11:06,954 these were the people leFt in the inner circle. 3104 03:11:07,038 --> 03:11:10,749 So you could argue Haig is drawn more innocently than he was later 3105 03:11:10,834 --> 03:11:12,251 as a person. 3106 03:11:12,335 --> 03:11:16,464 They might if there was another recording. 3107 03:11:17,132 --> 03:11:20,134 [Stone] this was never said by Haig that we know of, 3108 03:11:20,218 --> 03:11:22,303 but this is a theory of ours. 3109 03:11:25,474 --> 03:11:29,143 I know for a fact that it's possible. 3110 03:11:32,230 --> 03:11:33,689 I've spoken to Ford. 3111 03:11:33,773 --> 03:11:38,611 There's a very strong chance that he'll pardon you. 3112 03:11:38,695 --> 03:11:42,531 I don't need a goddamned deal, for God's sake. I... 3113 03:11:42,616 --> 03:11:47,620 This is something that you will have to do, Mr. President. 3114 03:11:49,664 --> 03:11:54,084 I thought you'd rather do it now. 3115 03:11:58,590 --> 03:12:00,591 I'll wait outside. 3116 03:12:05,847 --> 03:12:07,598 Sir. 3117 03:12:08,767 --> 03:12:12,186 May I say, sir, that if you stay now, 3118 03:12:12,270 --> 03:12:16,524 it will paralyze the nation and its foreign policy. 3119 03:12:20,111 --> 03:12:23,447 You always had a great sense of timing, Henry. 3120 03:12:23,532 --> 03:12:27,326 When to give and when to take. 3121 03:12:30,413 --> 03:12:34,166 How do you think Mao and Brezhnev will react? 3122 03:12:34,251 --> 03:12:37,545 [Stone] this is something he asked Kissinger. 3123 03:12:37,629 --> 03:12:40,339 ...after all the great things you and I did together, 3124 03:12:40,423 --> 03:12:45,261 as some kind of... of crooks? 3125 03:12:45,345 --> 03:12:50,057 They will understand. To be undone by a third-rate burglary 3126 03:12:50,141 --> 03:12:52,393 is a fate of biblical proportions. 3127 03:12:52,477 --> 03:12:55,938 [Stone] this is, I believe, a Kissinger line also. Very well said. 3128 03:12:56,022 --> 03:12:59,066 And very fawning and praising of Nixon, which he was. 3129 03:12:59,150 --> 03:13:01,735 Kissinger owed his career to Rockefeller and Nixon. 3130 03:13:01,820 --> 03:13:04,947 No question that Kissinger hurt Nixon with some of his leaks. 3131 03:13:05,031 --> 03:13:08,492 I'm not a quitter, never have been. 3132 03:13:08,577 --> 03:13:11,495 But I'm not stupid either. 3133 03:13:11,580 --> 03:13:15,082 A trial would kill me. That's what they want. 3134 03:13:15,166 --> 03:13:17,710 - They won't get it. - [Stone] Interesting how Nixon 3135 03:13:17,794 --> 03:13:20,504 turns it around from a defeat into victory. "Retreat, 3136 03:13:20,589 --> 03:13:23,674 we're advancing backwards." Nixon saw it as, 3137 03:13:23,758 --> 03:13:28,095 "they wanna kill me, put me on trial," which would have been a painful thing 3138 03:13:28,179 --> 03:13:31,682 with his phlebitis. He went through hell anyway aFter the resignation, 3139 03:13:31,766 --> 03:13:34,143 fighting prosecution and civil prosecution. 3140 03:13:34,227 --> 03:13:38,314 What we wanted to do in the resignation was flip it, like he was defying them 3141 03:13:38,398 --> 03:13:41,400 by resigning. 3142 03:13:41,484 --> 03:13:45,571 If they harass you, I too will resign, and I will tell the world why. 3143 03:13:45,655 --> 03:13:49,491 Don't be stupid. The world needs you, Henry. 3144 03:13:51,036 --> 03:13:53,495 You always saw the big picture. 3145 03:13:57,042 --> 03:13:59,960 You were my equal in many ways. 3146 03:14:09,304 --> 03:14:12,264 You're the only friend I got, Henry. 3147 03:14:14,893 --> 03:14:17,227 Do you ever pray? 3148 03:14:18,396 --> 03:14:23,734 You know, believe in a supreme being? 3149 03:14:25,445 --> 03:14:29,657 Not really. You mean on my knees? 3150 03:14:33,662 --> 03:14:37,247 My mother used to pray a lot. 3151 03:14:37,332 --> 03:14:42,252 It's been a long time since I really prayed. 3152 03:14:48,009 --> 03:14:50,844 Let's pray, Henry. 3153 03:14:50,929 --> 03:14:55,432 Let's pray a little. Just you and me. 3154 03:15:03,566 --> 03:15:06,360 I hope this doesn't embarrass you, Henry. 3155 03:15:06,444 --> 03:15:09,279 No. Not at all, no. 3156 03:15:09,364 --> 03:15:13,325 - This is not going to leak, is it? - [Stone] I just love the idea, 3157 03:15:13,410 --> 03:15:17,121 in the middle of this solemn moment, which is true by all accounts. 3158 03:15:17,205 --> 03:15:20,040 How do we know? Leaked by the only person in the room. 3159 03:15:20,125 --> 03:15:22,960 Kissinger. Nixon didn't talk about it. 3160 03:15:23,044 --> 03:15:26,463 We couldn't resist the impulse to go in and have Kissinger 3161 03:15:26,548 --> 03:15:30,926 make a joke. "this isn't gonna leak?" Which would have been appropriate. 3162 03:15:35,640 --> 03:15:37,808 [Nixon sobbing] 3163 03:15:44,607 --> 03:15:46,567 How can a... 3164 03:15:46,651 --> 03:15:49,194 How can a country come apart like this? 3165 03:15:49,279 --> 03:15:52,823 [Stone] Hiding his tears from Kissinger. Hard scene for Tony to play. 3166 03:15:52,907 --> 03:15:54,867 He did a great job, very emotional. 3167 03:15:54,951 --> 03:15:59,496 I opened China. I made peace with Russia. 3168 03:16:00,749 --> 03:16:03,834 I ended the war. 3169 03:16:05,503 --> 03:16:08,297 I did what I thought was right. 3170 03:16:13,511 --> 03:16:16,221 God, why do they hate me so? 3171 03:16:16,306 --> 03:16:20,184 It's unbelievable. It... It's insane. 3172 03:16:20,268 --> 03:16:23,312 [Stone] Don't know what he prayed about, but we put words in 3173 03:16:23,396 --> 03:16:26,607 because they were the most important things we could have done 3174 03:16:26,691 --> 03:16:29,985 and he couldn't understand why he'd been cursed. 3175 03:16:35,241 --> 03:16:38,994 Tony ad-libbed those words. they have broken meanings, 3176 03:16:39,078 --> 03:16:42,831 but they came from his heart very suddenly. And we used that take. 3177 03:16:42,916 --> 03:16:47,586 It was a broken personal message perhaps to his relative or mother. 3178 03:16:47,670 --> 03:16:51,131 It just was really sad. It evoked body gestures. 3179 03:16:51,216 --> 03:16:54,384 Strong. I love this scene, too. the walk-out scene. 3180 03:16:54,469 --> 03:16:57,888 In the darkened sort of Citizen Kane White House. 3181 03:16:58,014 --> 03:17:03,477 They smelled the blood on me this time, Al. I got soft, you know? 3182 03:17:04,354 --> 03:17:07,815 A rusty, metallic smell. 3183 03:17:07,899 --> 03:17:11,318 - I know it well, sir. - It came over from Vietnam. 3184 03:17:11,402 --> 03:17:16,198 [Stone] I wanted to do a wrap-up scene where Nixon states his final position. 3185 03:17:16,282 --> 03:17:19,201 I mean, everyone suffered so much. 3186 03:17:19,285 --> 03:17:22,412 Their boys killed. 3187 03:17:22,497 --> 03:17:26,208 They need to sacrifice something. 3188 03:17:26,292 --> 03:17:29,211 You know, appease the gods ofwar. 3189 03:17:30,088 --> 03:17:33,215 Mars, Jupiter. 3190 03:17:36,302 --> 03:17:39,388 I am that blood, General. 3191 03:17:41,391 --> 03:17:44,184 I am that sacrifice. 3192 03:17:44,978 --> 03:17:46,603 In the highest place of all. 3193 03:17:46,688 --> 03:17:48,939 [Stone] He once said that... 3194 03:17:51,192 --> 03:17:55,362 Yeah. All leaders must finally be sacrificed. 3195 03:17:56,614 --> 03:17:59,533 Things won't be the same after this. 3196 03:17:59,617 --> 03:18:05,330 No, I played by the rules. Rules changed right in the middle of the game. 3197 03:18:05,415 --> 03:18:09,126 There's no respect forAmerican institutions anymore. 3198 03:18:09,210 --> 03:18:12,129 [Stone] I believe he also said this in another context. 3199 03:18:12,213 --> 03:18:16,884 But the actual speech is cobbled together from various sources. 3200 03:18:19,095 --> 03:18:22,389 People spit on soldiers. 3201 03:18:22,473 --> 03:18:25,017 Government secrets mean nothing. 3202 03:18:26,477 --> 03:18:29,646 I pity the next guy who sits here. 3203 03:18:32,483 --> 03:18:34,651 Good night, gentlemen. 3204 03:18:40,575 --> 03:18:43,118 Mr. President. 3205 03:18:53,421 --> 03:18:58,759 [Stone] It was an important move, dolly around, reveal the competition. 3206 03:18:58,843 --> 03:19:02,262 the bookmark of his life. Kennedy, Nixon. Two bookmarks. 3207 03:19:02,347 --> 03:19:07,017 It's from '60 to '74, 13 years, a lot about American history. 3208 03:19:07,101 --> 03:19:09,394 A man of class and leadership and distinction 3209 03:19:09,479 --> 03:19:12,522 and another man of great ambition. 3210 03:19:12,607 --> 03:19:16,652 Great intelligence and, ultimately, tragic flaw. 3211 03:19:16,736 --> 03:19:18,862 the defects of his virtues. 3212 03:19:19,614 --> 03:19:24,534 When they look at you, they see what they want to be. 3213 03:19:27,288 --> 03:19:32,292 When they look at me, they see what they are. 3214 03:19:37,632 --> 03:19:40,759 Dick, please don't. 3215 03:19:47,308 --> 03:19:49,434 I can't. 3216 03:19:49,519 --> 03:19:51,561 I don't have the strength anymore. 3217 03:19:51,646 --> 03:19:56,149 [Stone] this is a dramatized scene. We don't know if this happened. 3218 03:19:56,234 --> 03:19:59,194 Tom Wicker of The New York Times reported the line 3219 03:19:59,278 --> 03:20:03,407 about the portrait of Kennedy. Whether he said it to the portrait, 3220 03:20:03,491 --> 03:20:07,452 I don't know. I think we'd heard he was talking to portraits 3221 03:20:07,537 --> 03:20:10,330 according to Woodward and Bernstein, The Final Days. 3222 03:20:10,415 --> 03:20:13,500 I wouldn't know if he talked to the Kennedy portrait, but it was 3223 03:20:13,584 --> 03:20:18,005 a strong, strong anchor for him. 3224 03:20:18,089 --> 03:20:20,173 Very sad scene. 3225 03:20:20,258 --> 03:20:25,262 ...my mother gave me this stuff and she made me swallow it. 3226 03:20:26,681 --> 03:20:29,516 It made me throw up all over her. 3227 03:20:29,600 --> 03:20:31,810 [Stone] He needs to egress from his mother. 3228 03:20:31,894 --> 03:20:35,647 He has to throw up his mother to be free of his mother. 3229 03:20:35,732 --> 03:20:39,735 Now he can be free of his burden of goodness, of obligation, 3230 03:20:39,819 --> 03:20:41,403 duty, whatever. 3231 03:20:41,487 --> 03:20:44,239 I'm so afraid. 3232 03:20:44,907 --> 03:20:47,034 There's darkness out there. 3233 03:20:47,118 --> 03:20:50,245 [Stone] We got very high up here. We pulled out the ceiling. 3234 03:20:50,329 --> 03:20:52,956 I really wanted a high shot, high as we could go. 3235 03:20:53,041 --> 03:20:56,251 We went with this as the finale 'cause of the lighting. 3236 03:20:58,588 --> 03:21:02,215 Inside the ending, you'll find another kernel of thought, 3237 03:21:02,300 --> 03:21:04,217 which is important. 3238 03:21:04,302 --> 03:21:07,387 We duplicate his speech from his farewell speech, 3239 03:21:07,472 --> 03:21:10,682 one of the most powerful speeches he gave. It was emotional 3240 03:21:10,767 --> 03:21:13,602 and felt, in spite of his mask. 3241 03:21:13,686 --> 03:21:17,939 And it reveals to us that although the words are the same, 3242 03:21:18,024 --> 03:21:21,359 about the mother and father, and it relies on cliche. 3243 03:21:21,444 --> 03:21:25,363 Cliche, in this case, is emotionalized and dressed up in a new form. 3244 03:21:25,448 --> 03:21:28,867 It's not to say I forgive Nixon or some people said 3245 03:21:28,951 --> 03:21:31,286 I get sentimental about Nixon. Not at all. 3246 03:21:31,370 --> 03:21:33,622 this is actually the speech and what it meant. 3247 03:21:33,706 --> 03:21:37,417 To those people in that room, it was a great patriotic speech. they loved it. 3248 03:21:37,502 --> 03:21:40,921 they were crying. People who don't like him say, "Terrible speech. 3249 03:21:41,005 --> 03:21:43,715 He was lying." But I think he meant it. 3250 03:21:43,800 --> 03:21:46,843 But partly do we end this movie on a note of hagiography. 3251 03:21:46,928 --> 03:21:49,346 ...my old man. 3252 03:21:49,430 --> 03:21:53,016 I think that they would have called him sort of a, 3253 03:21:53,101 --> 03:21:56,061 sort of a little man, a common man. 3254 03:21:56,145 --> 03:22:01,900 Well, he didn't consider himself that way. 3255 03:22:01,984 --> 03:22:06,571 You know what he was? He was a streetcar motorman first. 3256 03:22:06,656 --> 03:22:10,242 Then he was a farmer. 3257 03:22:10,326 --> 03:22:12,285 Then he had a lemon ranch. 3258 03:22:12,370 --> 03:22:16,123 It was the poorest lemon ranch in California, I can assure you. 3259 03:22:16,207 --> 03:22:19,251 He sold it before they found oil on it. 3260 03:22:22,338 --> 03:22:24,965 Then he was a grocer. 3261 03:22:25,049 --> 03:22:27,551 But he was a great man 3262 03:22:27,635 --> 03:22:30,929 because he did his job. 3263 03:22:31,013 --> 03:22:34,182 And everyjob counts up to the hilt 3264 03:22:34,267 --> 03:22:36,852 regardless ofwhat happens. 3265 03:22:38,229 --> 03:22:41,731 Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. 3266 03:22:41,816 --> 03:22:46,486 [Stone] At the resignation speech he never mentioned his wife, Pat. 3267 03:22:49,490 --> 03:22:52,868 My mother was a saint. 3268 03:22:52,952 --> 03:22:57,789 And I think of her two boys dying of tuberculosis 3269 03:22:57,874 --> 03:23:01,626 [Stone] Very crisp black and white photography by Bob Richardson. 3270 03:23:07,842 --> 03:23:13,430 Yes, she will have no books written about her. 3271 03:23:14,765 --> 03:23:18,351 But she was a saint. 3272 03:23:19,395 --> 03:23:23,356 Now, however, we look to the future. 3273 03:23:23,441 --> 03:23:27,652 I remember something Theodore Roosevelt wrote 3274 03:23:27,737 --> 03:23:31,907 when his first wife died in his twenties. 3275 03:23:31,991 --> 03:23:35,702 He thought the light had gone from his life forever. 3276 03:23:35,786 --> 03:23:39,372 But he went on, and he not only became president 3277 03:23:39,457 --> 03:23:42,250 but as an ex-president, he served his country 3278 03:23:42,335 --> 03:23:46,379 always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, 3279 03:23:46,464 --> 03:23:49,007 sometimes right, sometimes wrong. 3280 03:23:49,091 --> 03:23:52,260 But he was a man. 3281 03:23:52,345 --> 03:23:57,974 And as I leave that's an example I think all of us should remember. 3282 03:23:58,059 --> 03:24:03,688 See, we think sometimes when, things happen that don't go the right way; 3283 03:24:03,773 --> 03:24:07,567 we think that when someone dear to us dies, 3284 03:24:07,652 --> 03:24:10,487 when we lose an election, 3285 03:24:10,571 --> 03:24:14,241 or when we suffer defeat that all is ended. 3286 03:24:14,325 --> 03:24:19,287 Not true. It's only a beginning, always, 3287 03:24:19,372 --> 03:24:23,583 because the greatness comes, not when things go always good for you, 3288 03:24:23,668 --> 03:24:27,629 but the greatness comes when you're really tested, 3289 03:24:27,713 --> 03:24:31,424 when you take some knocks, some disappointments 3290 03:24:31,509 --> 03:24:33,593 when sadness comes. 3291 03:24:33,678 --> 03:24:37,764 Because only if you've been in the deepest valley 3292 03:24:37,848 --> 03:24:43,436 can you ever know how magnificent it is 3293 03:24:43,521 --> 03:24:45,772 to be on the highest mountain. 3294 03:24:49,360 --> 03:24:52,654 So, I say to you on this occasion, 3295 03:24:52,738 --> 03:24:57,117 we leave, proud of the people who have stood by us and worked for us 3296 03:24:57,201 --> 03:25:00,662 and served this government and this country. 3297 03:25:00,746 --> 03:25:03,540 They want you to continue to serve in government 3298 03:25:03,624 --> 03:25:05,750 if that is what you wish. 3299 03:25:05,835 --> 03:25:09,337 Remember, always give your best. 3300 03:25:09,422 --> 03:25:13,675 Never get discouraged. Never be petty. 3301 03:25:13,759 --> 03:25:17,345 Always remember, others may hate you. 3302 03:25:17,430 --> 03:25:20,807 But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. 3303 03:25:20,891 --> 03:25:24,060 [Stone] It's as if he's talking about himself and doesn't know it. 3304 03:25:24,145 --> 03:25:29,274 [laughs] But whatever the reasons, we cut to the real President Nixon 3305 03:25:29,358 --> 03:25:33,987 at the end just to, out of the spirit of an homage, to Anthony Hopkins, 3306 03:25:34,071 --> 03:25:36,323 to remind people it was an actor who did this. 3307 03:25:36,407 --> 03:25:39,993 And also to show people who don't know his face the real man. 3308 03:25:40,077 --> 03:25:42,495 I didn't feel it would destroy the credibility. 3309 03:25:42,580 --> 03:25:44,998 Some worried about that. I didn't think so. 3310 03:25:45,082 --> 03:25:46,916 It was the right thing to do. 3311 03:25:47,001 --> 03:25:53,006 And only then will you find what we Quakers call "peace at the center". 3312 03:26:07,772 --> 03:26:13,526 He gave of himselfwith intelligence and energy and devotion to duty. 3313 03:26:13,611 --> 03:26:15,362 [Stone] We pushed it to the funeral. 3314 03:26:15,446 --> 03:26:19,657 I tried to give a neutral reading of the last years of his life. 3315 03:26:19,742 --> 03:26:24,537 Misunderstood by some people as sentimentalizing Nixon. 3316 03:26:24,622 --> 03:26:29,209 I find it ironic that Nixon was so honored on his death 3317 03:26:29,293 --> 03:26:33,630 by the attendance of five presidents. It's amazing. 3318 03:26:33,714 --> 03:26:36,883 Clinton's words were generous. But Clinton was close to Nixon, 3319 03:26:36,967 --> 03:26:38,802 went to him for advice. 3320 03:26:38,886 --> 03:26:43,223 The second half of the 20th century will be known as the age of Nixon. 3321 03:26:43,307 --> 03:26:47,060 [narrator] In his absence, Russia and the United States returned to a decade 3322 03:26:47,144 --> 03:26:49,562 of high-budget military expansion and near war. 3323 03:26:50,481 --> 03:26:53,525 Nixon, who was pardoned by President Ford, 3324 03:26:53,609 --> 03:26:59,197 lived to write six books and travel the world as an elder statesman. 3325 03:26:59,281 --> 03:27:04,327 For the remainder of his life, he fought successfully to protect his tapes. 3326 03:27:04,412 --> 03:27:09,207 The National Archives spent 14 years indexing and cataloging them. 3327 03:27:09,291 --> 03:27:13,753 Out of 4,000 hours, 60 hours have been made public. 3328 03:27:13,838 --> 03:27:16,673 [Stone] Of course, more have been made public since then 3329 03:27:16,757 --> 03:27:20,677 through the work of the historian Stanley Cutler and others. 3330 03:27:26,517 --> 03:27:29,936 I ended with a shot of Nixon as a young man 3331 03:27:30,020 --> 03:27:32,730 out of empathy, as I said, for what he started as. 3332 03:27:32,815 --> 03:27:36,109 We must remember what he finished as, young man becomes the old man 3333 03:27:36,193 --> 03:27:37,986 and what happens in between. 3334 03:27:38,070 --> 03:27:41,406 Again, as with my other films, I wanted to thank the actors 3335 03:27:41,490 --> 03:27:43,783 by showing the audience who they were. 3336 03:27:43,868 --> 03:27:46,703 What a magnificent cast. they worked so hard. 3337 03:27:46,787 --> 03:27:48,788 And I thank them. 3338 03:28:15,357 --> 03:28:19,861 Shenandoah would be something Nixon would appreciate like Victory at Sea. 3339 03:28:19,945 --> 03:28:22,238 Civil War tune, of course. 3340 03:28:22,323 --> 03:28:25,575 the healer. He saw himself as the healer, doesn't mean he was. 3341 03:28:25,659 --> 03:28:27,744 It's the way he saw himself. 3342 03:28:27,828 --> 03:28:29,954 He was perhaps a divider. 3343 03:29:09,119 --> 03:29:11,079 E.G. Marshall has passed on. 3344 03:29:11,163 --> 03:29:13,957 A great fighter for human rights. 3345 03:29:18,420 --> 03:29:21,923 J.T. Walsh has passed on. Young. Too young. 3346 03:29:24,134 --> 03:29:28,429 Joan Allen was nominated for an Oscar, as was Tony Hopkins, the screenplay. 3347 03:29:33,769 --> 03:29:37,522 there he was, the bewildered, puzzled thinking man, Mr. Cerebral. 3348 03:29:37,606 --> 03:29:41,234 Always worrying. What a way to live your life. 3349 03:29:41,318 --> 03:29:45,655 Like that opening salesman at the beginning, the used car salesman. 3350 03:29:45,739 --> 03:29:49,075 He never learned that lesson which is project confidence. 3351 03:29:49,159 --> 03:29:52,370 that first actor in that first industrial reel 3352 03:29:52,454 --> 03:29:54,330 was more confident than Nixon. 3353 03:29:54,415 --> 03:29:57,500 In his whole presidency, never learned to project calm 3354 03:29:57,585 --> 03:30:00,420 and confidence and serenity. He was never serene. 3355 03:30:00,504 --> 03:30:03,548 He was always in a contradiction. that's why it was popular, 3356 03:30:03,632 --> 03:30:06,759 people would buy masks of Nixon. the idea was he wore a mask 3357 03:30:06,844 --> 03:30:10,430 because his face was in contradiction to what he was thinking or feeling. 3358 03:30:10,514 --> 03:30:12,640 You felt when he talked, they were at odds. 3359 03:30:12,725 --> 03:30:15,643 the face didn't fit the words. 3360 03:30:15,728 --> 03:30:19,147 Didn't do much at the box office. We hurt ourselves with, who knows, 3361 03:30:19,231 --> 03:30:22,650 the poster, the concept of Nixon turned off a lot of people. 3362 03:30:22,735 --> 03:30:25,445 the darkness of the poster didn't help us. 3363 03:30:25,529 --> 03:30:27,989 the look on his face was a scowl, perhaps too much. 3364 03:30:28,073 --> 03:30:30,575 the public just never bought Nixon, never have. 3365 03:30:30,659 --> 03:30:33,995 Even the ratings on the TV movie that jumped out ahead of us, 3366 03:30:34,079 --> 03:30:35,622 they had no ratings either. 3367 03:30:35,706 --> 03:30:39,292 the interest in Nixon was never there to begin with. It is in the media. 3368 03:30:39,376 --> 03:30:42,128 It is in the History Channel. It is as a president. 3369 03:30:42,212 --> 03:30:45,423 Real life, spectators don't wanna spend time with Richard Nixon. 3370 03:30:45,507 --> 03:30:49,552 they find him to be a monster or somebody who scares them off. 3371 03:30:49,637 --> 03:30:52,680 It's a very interesting psychological underpinning. 3372 03:31:12,201 --> 03:31:15,703 It was a huge production. We did it in 65 days, 60 days. 3373 03:31:15,788 --> 03:31:17,121 Worked our butt off. 3374 03:31:17,206 --> 03:31:20,583 It came out nicely in the end. Cinergi was a great company to work with. 3375 03:31:20,668 --> 03:31:24,212 Andy Vajna did a great job for us. Really backed us. 3376 03:31:24,296 --> 03:31:26,130 We came in very close to budget. 3377 03:31:26,215 --> 03:31:29,884 Doesn't matter to me. I'm glad I made the movie. I'm sorry they lost money. 3378 03:31:29,968 --> 03:31:34,263 I did too. But at the end of the day, I think it's one of my best movies. 302920

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