David Frost Interviews Richard Nixon (1977) on Netflix
NR19771h 25mDocumentaryHistory
David Frost, whose New York talk show had been canceled, arranges and pays for a series of interviews with Richard Nixon. Nixon, out of office since Watergate, is publishing his memoirs.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb7.9/10468 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
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Plot summary
Out of the White House for more than two years after Watergate, Richard Nixon agreed to a paid interview series with the British journalist David Frost. Network news divisions regarded the arrangement as checkbook journalism and refused to distribute it, so Frost funded the project himself and found investors who bought air time for the programs. Nixon's chief of staff, Jack Brennan, negotiated terms that gave Nixon $600,000 and a share of any profits. Nixon's advisers expected the programs to restore his standing and treated Frost as an easy opponent. Frost recruited James Reston Jr. and Bob Zelnick to examine the Watergate record first. Taping ran over four weeks at a rented seaside house in Monarch Bay, California, with Nixon answering without advance sight of the questions.
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about David Frost Interviews Richard Nixon (1977)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To prepare for the Watergate questioning, Frost recruited author and intelligence officer James Reston Jr. and ABC News producer Bob Zelnick to evaluate the details beforehand. Nixon's negotiated fee was $600,000 plus a 20% share of any profits.
- Recording took place at a seaside home in Monarch Bay, California owned by longtime Nixon supporter Harold H. Smith, rather than at Nixon's San Clemente home La Casa Pacifica, because Coast Guard navigational transmitters interfered with the television relay equipment. Frost rented the Smith home for $6,000.
- Frost had agreed to pay Nixon, and the American television network news operations were not interested, regarding it as checkbook journalism. They refused to distribute the program, so Frost funded the project himself while seeking investors who bought air time and syndicated the four programs.
- The premiere episode of the Frost-Nixon interviews drew 45 million viewers, the largest television audience ever recorded for a political interview.
