December 22, 1995
Web posted at: 6:25 a.m. EST
From Entertainment Correspondent Paul Vercammen
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The newest film portrayal of late President Richard Nixon is hitting the theaters, but not without controversy. Supporters of Nixon are calling Oliver Stone's depiction a grotesque distortion that falsely shows the 37th president as evil, profane, and a heavy-drinking schemer.
"Never once in that film ... did it show Nixon (saying) I want to bring peace," says Nixon supporter Charles Colson. "I saw this man as a human being. He is not portrayed as a human being in this film.. He is portrayed as some kind of monster. It's a dreadful film." (349K AIFF sound or 349K WAV sound)
Nixon's family members agree with that view. Through a statement issued by the Richard Nixon library and birthplace, the late president's daughters said the movie committed a vicious character assassination of their father.
Director Oliver Stone, familiar with controversy, says the movie is more sympathetic toward Nixon than many realize. Stone says if the daughters see the movie, they would be surprised at how Nixon is portrayed.
But most Nixon supporters don't agree with Stone's assessment of the film. John Taylor, director of the Nixon Presidential Library, calls the film reprehensible. Taylor says the film links Nixon to the Kennedy assassination, and inaccurately trashes his relationship with his wife, Pat.
"The effort this film script makes to drive a wedge between President Nixon ... and his first lady is simply a dehumanization of the 37th president to make him a solitary, marginal figure even in the eyes of his wife," Taylor says. (306K AIFF sound or 306K WAV sound)
But Stone says his portrayal of Nixon is not distorted. The director argues that his movie was thoroughly researched. Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield served as a technical advisor to Stone on the film. He believes the movie was on the mark, including characterizations of what went on behind the closed doors of the Nixon administration.
"I knew Richard (Nixon) well enough and I know Pat well enough to know that the scenes behind closed doors are not only plausible, but quite probable," Butterfield says.
Staunch supporters of the late president remain unconvinced, but ultimately, it will be up to Americans to decide on the validity of "Nixon." And this time, the votes will be cast at the ticket window.
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