Page 98 - All About History - Issue 11-14

HISTORY HOLLYWOOD

VS

Fact versus fi ction on the silver screen

NIXON Director: Oliver Stone Starring:

Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen Country
of origin: USA Year made: 1995
A critical success but a box-office

failure, is Oliver Stone’s historical
interpretation of Richard Nixon

as scandalous as Watergate?

What they got right
Hopkins’ Nixon boasts that if
he’d been president instead of
Kennedy, “they never would
have killed me.” This isn’t far
from the real Nixon’s memoirs: “I
did not think that if I had won in
1960 it would have been I rather
than he riding through Dealey
Plaza in Dallas at that time.”
WHAT THEY GOT WRONG…

Stone has Nixon visit a A young Richard Nixon Many of the film’s historical After the assassination Nixon is portrayed as a
01 sinister meeting with Texas 02 pledges to be his mother’s 03 inaccuracies come in the 04 of President John F 05 weak orator with little
billionaires. They buy the young “humble dog” in the film, which form of skewed portrayals of some Kennedy, Nixon says that British confidence from his debate with
Navy lawyer’s services with booze is shown to please her greatly. of its characters. Henry Kissinger, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan Kennedy in 1960 to his Watergate
and women, but the actual 1946 However, in reality Nixon actually Nixon’s national security advisor will attend the funeral. However, swan song. In fact, his skill as a
meeting, between Nixon and said this to his grandmother and who, despite winning the Nobel Macmillan had already been public speaker was one of the main
Californian businessmen, was very he did so in a written letter to her, Prize for Peace, is shown to be a succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home reasons why he became the head of
much open and legitimate. not in person. conniving bootlicker in Stone’s film. over a month previously. the White House in the first place.

© Alamy

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