Frost\Nixon Page #6

Excuse me, sir. Something

I think you should see.

People love that story.

Why don't we save it for the book?

Yeah, right, come on.

David. Mr. Frost.

David, some people in

the media have suggested

that you're not the

right man for the job,

that you'll be too

soft on the President.

What will you do if he stonewalls you?

Well, I shall say so again and again.

But I should say right

now that I'm not expecting

his approach to be to stonewall.

I'm hoping that it'll be

that of a cascade of candor.

REPORTER 1. "A cascade of candor"?

From Richard Nixon?

You think that's what you'll get?

No, I just thought it was a

phrase that might appeal to you.

So what about the money?

That's a strange fellow.

Started life as a comic, you know.

Is that so? Mmm-hmm.

Almost married Diahann Carroll.

Who?

The singer.

Isn't she black?

Yes, sir.

Right here in the Frost

file, which we put together

as part of our general preparations.

Okay. Let's get back to work.

That's fact, this is fiction.

So now it's about The

Slipper and the Rose.

It's a cracker of a movie.

I hope you'll all

come and see it, and...

I shouldn't have ordered that coffee.

Just don't drink any more.

Good luck. Thank you.

I'll be thinking of you.

Dick. Wait.

For the record, I'm gonna

be starting with John's idea.

"Why didn't you burn the tapes?"

No. F***.

Please, God, no! You can't.

David, you can't do that.

It would be a disaster.

It would get us into Watergate

way ahead of the agreed time.

What is the point of

having contractually set

specific times to deal

with certain subjects

if you're just going to

ignore it right off the bat?

'Cause it's war, isn't it? Gloves off.

I like it. It's ballsy.

Strategically, it'll

give us the upper hand.

It's insanely risky.

He could walk right off the set,

and there's nothing

we could do about it.

Worse, he could sue you!

We were sadly unable to do

the taping at Casa Pacifica

because of the Coast

Guard radio interference,

so we ended up at the rather

more modest Smith house,

which was owned by a local

Republican businessman.

Right here!

Mr. Frost, look over here.

Over here, sir!

Here we go. Back up behind the curb.

A few questions, please.

Right here, Mr. Frost.

David! David! David!

Well, hello there.

Excuse me, fellas.

Nixon, there's blood on your hands!

Liar!

Here comes the President!

Mr. President!

Mr. President!

How are you feeling, Mr. President?

The Smith family requested that

the furniture be put back in place.

They talked to you about that, too?

They're bugging everybody.

You know, I've written

four books about him,

but this is the first time I've

actually seen him in the flesh.

He's taller than I imagined, and tanned.

The least he could do is look ravaged.

You gonna shake his hand?

Am I gonna shake...

Are you kidding me?

After everything that

prick's done to this country?

I'm not gonna shake his hand.

Gentlemen.

May I present Bob Zelnick,

my executive editor?

How do you do?

Pleasure, Mr. President.

And Jim Reston, one of my researchers.

Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reston.

Mr. President.

Excuse me, sir? Got a

room for you right here.

Wow. That was devastating, withering.

I mean, I don't think he's

ever gonna get over that.

Yeah, f*** off.

I got you guys set up back here.

Now this is your green room.

And the President will

be on the large monitor.

Craft services is that way.

Keep it about that temperature, okay?

Mr. President?

Yeah.

Before we start, I just want to say

how delighted we all are

by Mrs. Nixon's recovery.

Well, thank you. It's true.

She's much better now.

She's just getting round to the

business of replying to all the cards.

And from our point of view, well,

I'd just like to say how pleased we are

that you got this all together.

Thank you.

As I understand it, it's

been quite a struggle.

Well...

How much has it cost?

You mind me asking? Hey, come on.

Come on, it's just between us.

Very well. Two million.

Two million? Jeez. I didn't

realize we were making Ben-Hur.

But tell me something.

You raised it all now?

Not quite. But we're getting there.

Everyone's been kind and deferred fees.

Well, not quite everyone.

David, I'm gonna go

in with you on camera.

Excuse me.

I want to put a

handkerchief here, if I may.

Is that out of shot?

That's fine, Mr. President.

Contractually, I think that we made

an agreement that after each question

I might dab my upper

lip before answering it.

Which you won't show, you

know, when you cut it together.

You're probably aware of my

history with perspiration.

If you're referring to your TV

debate with Jack Kennedy in 1960.

They say that moisture on my

upper lip cost me the presidency.

People who heard it on the

radio, well, they thought I'd won.

But television and the close-up,

they create their own sets of meanings.

So now they insist I

bring a handkerchief

and that I have my eyebrows trimmed.

Sixty seconds, everyone.

You trim yours? No.

No, of course not.

Yeah, you're light-skinned. Yeah.

You got blue eyes. You've got no

troubles with perspiration, I imagine.

No, not that I'm aware.

You were obviously

born to be on the tube.

Stand by to roll tape in 30 seconds.

Settling.

Those shoes.

They're Italian, aren't they?

My shoes? I believe so.

Yeah, that's interesting.

You don't find them too effeminate?

No.

Well, I guess somebody in your field

can get away with them, you know.

Manolo, just check my collar, will you?

David, starting with camera two,

in four, three, two. Cue David. And...

Mr. President. Now, we're going

to be covering a lot of subjects

in a great deal of detail over

the course of these interviews,

but I'd like to begin

completely out of context

by asking you one question,

more than any other,

almost every American

and people all over the

world want me to ask.

Why didn't you burn the tapes?

Son of a b*tch!

Well, Mr. Frost, I'm

surprised by your question

since we have an agreement, a

contractual agreement, I believe,

that we would cover Watergate

in our last taping session.

But if your viewers really

do have a major concern,

then perhaps I should

briefly respond to it now.

What probably very few people realize

is that the taping

system in the White House

was set up by my predecessor,

President Johnson,

partly to avoid the necessity of

having a secretary in every meeting,

and partly to ensure there was

a record kept of every verbal agreement,

no matter how off the cuff or casual.

Now, initially, on coming

into the White House,

I insisted on dismantling the system.

I hadn't liked the idea at

all, but the former President,

President Johnson, had repeatedly said

how crazy it would be

to remove the system,

which he felt was the best way...

Well, in boxing, you know,

there's always that first moment,

and you see it in the challenger's face.

It's that moment that he feels

the impact from the champ's first jab.

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