Washington Behind Closed Door

It's 1977 but relevant as ever 35 years later. Astonishingly so! Pay phones-NO cells; no deleted expletives; VHS tape surveillance technology; and the film look of the late 70s--early 80s but its datedness is quickly forgotten THEN seen as a period political series with set-costume historic perfection. I lived the Nixon years (actually voted for him, OUCH!) This is powerful. Made me mad all over again, but also expect a compelling drive all the way to the 3 DVDs' end.
SUBTITLES for all 6 feature-length episodes.

One dialogue quote sums it up: "It's just so vicious. There's so much back-biting and insincerity." Perhaps too true in an election year. You may opt to stay away from the voter booth in favor of another viewing for this adaptation of Ehrlichman's book. Everyone knows the book and this series was about Nixon and Watergate. Author Ehrlichman was part of it. Like Haldeman, portrayed perfectly by Robert Vaughn under the fiction name of Flaherty, they did 18 months of jail time. Both the real man and Vaughn inspire disgust of politicians. Also giving such an astonishingly perfect performance that it makes a voter want to puke, was Nicholas Prior as Hank, anything-to-get-ahead boot-licker. And you'll be spitting nails at the see-saw politics of the CIA Director (Cliff Robertson plays Martin, but it was Helms in real Nixon life). Plenty of other stars like Jason Robards playing `Tricky Dick',President. I'm surprised congress didn't investigate the actor after the series, like they did the president--that convincing. Oh and who'd have thought Andy Griffith could play such a nasty former-Pres ESA (really LBJ)? Easy to spot Tessler (Harold Gould), or the real Kissinger, with German accent and dark frame glasses.

Unfortunately, some really good acting by female leads of Stephanie Powers, Frances Lee McCain, Lois Nettleton, Meg Foster, and Lara Parker but Ehrlichman's book and the film script left all women looking like they served no purpose in DC other than sex objects and arm candy...wait, what's changed? Politics as usual, almost. It's not Disney!

I remember refusing to read the books put out by the Nixon political crooks, didn't think they should benefit financially for what they did to the USA citizens. I did watch this CBS series. Good DVD to revisit. After 35 years this series appears to be a documentary for those of us who lived it, a history lesson for younger generations, and a lesson never learned by DC. If you like this, and want another truth look at presidential politics, both sides of the aisle, try 20th Century With Mike Wallace: Politics & Presidents.

I first watched this mini-series on British TV some years ago, and found it riveting. Having since enjoyed the film "The American President" and the entire West Wing series, I think Washington Behind Closed Doors was the first of these political dramas, showing the behind the scenes jockeying for position, power and privilege. But it was shown at a time just before most of us in the West began to doubt and mistrust most of our political "leaders", so it was in some ways quite shocking at the time. But it was also funny, sometimes hilariously so. Nicholas Pryor springs immediately to mind as a young man desperate to climb the greasy political pole, but a man also greatly lacking in confidence, someone who would behave as though he were a lord of creation when things were going well for him, but who disintegrated into a wimpish, snivelling, sweating wreck when he saw his golden future disappearing in front of his eyes. It is a truly great performance. Robert Vaughn,in full Machiavellian mode,usually cut him down to size in no time at all, browbeating, intimidating and blackmailing everyone into following his instructions, and a first rate job he made of it, too.

Jason Robards made a wonderfully shifty, devious and underhand President. Cliff Robertson and Stefanie Powers were also in the cast, along with a dark-haired actress with hypnotically blue eyes, name of Meg, but I can't remember whether that was her character's name, or the first name of the actress playing her. I believe I read somewhere that she had been auditioned for one of the lead parts in "Cagney and Lacey", and was in fact in the pilot of that show, but subsequently replaced for the series. I have forgotten many of the plot twists, as it is now so many years since I saw Washington Behind Closed Doors on TV, and I am really looking forward to getting the DVD and enjoying it once again. Cassandra

This is an excellent, albeit terrifying, dramatic parallel to the Nixon administration. Since I was living out of the country at that time, I didn't fully "feel" the impact it wrought, but this film really drives the point home retroactively. It seems strange that John Ehrlichman would have written such a revealing story, when he was an integral part of the hypocrisy that regime carried out.

Yes, a few situations were altered, but the frightening background was quite factual. Jason Robards, Cliff Robertson, and Robert Vaughn, among others, turned out their customary outstanding performances. You could say that the "lovey'dovey" affairs were a bit overdone throughout the entire miniseries. Nevertheless, each of the various husband-wife-mistress messes was influenced by the political turmoil surrounding the characters.

What amazes me is how a country could elect and re-elect such a man, considering the degree of disrespect evidenced by the public, so vividly described on screen. We clearly had to be asleep at the switch. I can well remember that just before Nixon's second election, Ralph Nader described his administration as being the most corrupt administation in U.S. history. Although hardly anyone apparently listened, this was soon to be proven correct.

I honestly feel that what I'm writing here is not overmingling fiction with fact. This was a story that needed to be told, and has been done so far more clearly than the film Nixon managed to achieve -- without mentioning specific names, yet coming mighty close syllable-wise.

If a movie studio should choose to produce a film describing Nazi Germany in its heyday, they wouldn't have to do much more than modify this one's script a bit and change the setting from Washington to Berlin.