"Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" with Frank Langella (2013)

In 1964 Muhammad Ali declared his status as a conscientious objector based on his beliefs as a Black Muslim. The War in Vietnam was heating up at the same time that the Civil Rights struggle was coming to a head. This film covers the years between Ali’s initial declaration that he would not fight and the culmination of the Supreme Court Case arising from the Draft Evasion charges, for which he was fined $10,000 and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

During the time of his appeals he worked doggedly to keep himself alive in the eyes of the public, knowing that someday he would be coming back to the world of boxing. He had that kind of faith. From appearances on TV shows, Civil Rights events and even a Broadway Show, he remained visible, and proudly determined to win this, the toughest fight of his life; the United States of America versus Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali.

The brilliance of this film is that no one plays the part of Muhammad Ali. Instead, during the course of the movie, as the Supreme Court Justices debate what to do about the case, the audience sees and hears actual film footage of Mr. Ali on those TV shows, Civil Rights protests and even a clip from the Broadway show. This manages to actually convey the reality of how divorced he was from the actual proceedings. He simply went on with his life while he waited the outcome, of which he never had any doubt. Those are his words, not mine.

Playing the part of the Supreme Court Justices are a cast of luminary actors; not the least of which are Frank Langella as  Warren Burger; Ed Begley Jr. as Harry Blackmun; and Peter Gerety as William Brennan. Christopher Plummer plays Justice John Harlan, who is pitted against Burger in the struggle to keep the court free of political influence.

Barry Levinson plays Potter Stewart; John Bedford Lloyd portrays Byron 'Whizzer' White; Fritz Weaver takes a turn as Hugo Black; while Harris Yulin  and Danny Glover play Justices William Douglas and Thurgood Marshall, respectively. All are excellent in their roles. (Glover is especially humorous in his treatment of the wily Marshall, who recused himself from the case because he had been involved in a lower court ruling on the same case.)

The Chief Justice is beholden to the President, who wants the conviction to stand. The justices are almost divided, but Ali loses the case by a 5-3 vote. But then the astonishing happens; a law clerk assigned to Harlan is actually able to change the minds of not only the Chief, but several others along the way. When the Court debates the case again, Ali’s conviction is overturned.

Remarkable for its acting and the events themselves, this is a film you do not want to miss. It has everything you could hope for in the treatment of this case. It is historically accurate and captures all the tension of the era, while giving full view to what life is like behind the closed doors of the Supreme Court. 

"Frost/Nixon" with Frank Langella and Michael Sheen (2009)

When President Richard Nixon left office in 1974, he became the first American President to have been forced from the Presidency in our nation’s history. Although he did not have any part in planning the Watergate break-in, he did use the Office of the President to thwart justice and protect those who had committed the crime. Added to that were his numerous transgressions as President, including the secret war in Cambodia, which destabilized that country,  leading to the Pol Pot regime, which slaughtered another million, or more, innocent people. An apology was the last thing anyone thought that they would hear from him. They were wrong.

From almost the moment that Richard Nixon resigned from office, Australian TV show personality David Frost became obsesses with interviewing him. When his original offer was $250,000 the President refused the interview, as he had done with the major networks here in America. But, when Mr. Frost was able to up the ante to $600,000, Mr. Nixon agreed to do the interview. His only condition was that they not discuss Watergate.

This film covers the negotiations, and finally the actual interviews, in which the two men sparred over several sessions, each seeking to take control of the questions and answers. The former President, who had recently been pardoned by the only un-elected president in our nation’s history, tried to keep the interview contained to soft questions by giving long, benign answers to “soft” questions, thus eating up the allotted time for the interview. Mr. Frost, who had to borrow money from his friends to make the show happen, was beginning to play the fool to Mr. Nixon. But, not for long.

By the last session, Mr. Frost was in a tight spot, he owed $600,000 for an interview which was hardly worth selling. So, he did what he had to do; he got tough; tackling Watergate and hitting the President with hard ball questions, allowing him no room to avoid answering to the American people. These last exchanges produced both the President’s assertion that “When the President does it, it’s not illegal”, as well as his final admission that he had let the people of the country down, and disgraced the Office of the Presidency.

The movie is directed tightly, with the tension and anxiety of the times fully palpable to the viewer. Included in the disc are some excerpts from the actual broadcasts. While these were a great addition to the film, they did underscore the fact that the original interviews far eclipsed the dramatic versions portrayed in the film.

For the real interviews, you can do no better than to watch them on You Tube, which has them split into 6 segments of about 10 minutes apiece. This was historical stuff then, and still resonates today, in an election year fraught with lies and liars. Here is the first part of the actual interview;