Best of Enemies
Fleet, brutally funny...the film is a fizzy bath of expertly organized archival footage and commentary.
Best of Enemies
In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley, Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult, cementing their opposing political positions. Their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born - a highbrow blood sport that marked the dawn of pundit television as we know it today.
Genre
Documentary,
History
Web Site
Runtime
87
Language
English
Director
Morgan Neville,
Robert Gordon
FEATURED REVIEW
Ella Taylor, NPR
Late in a series of bruising televised debates on ABC tied to the momentous Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968, Gore Vidal beamed one of his supercilious side-eyes at William F. Buckley Jr. and called him a "crypto-fascist." Buckley bared his teeth, branded Vidal a "queer" and threatened ...
Played at
Playhouse 7 8.07.15 - 8.30.15
Town Center 5 8.07.15 - 8.20.15
Claremont 5 8.21.15 - 8.27.15
Lumiere Music Hall 8.21.15 - 9.03.15
Royal 12.12.15 - 12.13.15
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