REVERENCE FOR PRESIDENCY GONE WITH THE WIND IN HOLLYWOOD.Byline: Bob Thomas Associated Press Movies once portrayed U.S. presidents as stalwart leaders. Not anymore. Watergate, CIA CIA: see Central Intelligence Agency. (1) (Confidentiality Integrity Authentication) The three important concerns with regards to information security. Encryption is used to provide confidentiality (privacy, secrecy). skulduggery and JFK's dalliances have changed Hollywood's view of the presidency from reverence to scandal-driven cynicism. Today's films tend to portray presidents as womanizers, conspirators CONSPIRATORS. Persons guilty of a conspiracy. See 3 Bl. Com. 126-71 Wils. Rep. 210-11. See Conspiracy. and cover-up artists - and sometimes, life seems to imitate art. ``Wag the Dog'' - uncannily in nationwide release while allegations of scandal swirl around President Clinton - depicts an unseen president who has had sex with a young woman. The White House hires a spin doctor (Robert De Niro Noun 1. Robert De Niro - United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943) De Niro ) who enlists a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman). Together they concoct con·coct tr.v. con·coct·ed, con·coct·ing, con·cocts 1. To prepare by mixing ingredients, as in cooking. 2. a phony war with Albania to shift the public's attention. In 1996's ``Absolute Power,'' an aging jewel thief (Clint Eastwood) happens to witness a drunken president (Gene Hackman) having sex with his mistress, who is then killed by the Secret Service. ``The American President'' (1995) portrays a widower president (Michael Douglas) who has an affair with a lobbyist (Annette Bening). A political opponent (Richard Dreyfuss) tries to capitalize on the scandal. ``Primary Colors,'' to be released March 20, tells of a married presidential candidate (John Travolta) who manages to win the nomination despite accusations of an adulterous liaison. The movie is adapted from the best-selling roman a clef ro·man à clef n. pl. ro·mans à clef A novel in which actual persons, places, or events are depicted in fictional guise. [French : roman, novel + à, with + based on the 1992 Clinton campaign. ``When we were kids, presidents were treated with awe in films,'' said Time magazine film critic and author Richard Schickel. ``Sitting presidents were customarily filmed from the back, the way Jesus was portrayed in religious movies. There is that famous scene in `Yankee Doodle Dandy Yankee Doodle Dandy feather-capped dandy; “handy” with the girls. [Nurs. Rhyme: Opie, 439] See : Foppishness ,' in which Jimmy Cagney as George M. Cohan Noun 1. George M. Cohan - United States songwriter and playwright famous for his patriotic songs (1878-1942) Cohan, George Michael Cohan visits FDR in the White House. ``There was a sense that all institutions and figures were sacred, beyond reproach. Now nothing is sacred. Except Brett Favre.'' Franklin Roosevelt was portrayed in several Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . movies during his presidency, always from a rear view, with an actor imitating his voice. In 1960 the same company filmed ``Sunrise at Campobello,'' with Ralph Bellamy as Roosevelt stricken with polio and courageously returning to politics despite his handicap. The life and death of Abraham Lincoln provided filmmakers with ample drama, and he has appeared in more than 10 movies, highlighted by ``Abraham Lincoln'' (Walter Huston), 1930; ``Young Mr. Lincoln'' (Henry Fonda), 1939; and ``Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (Raymond Massey), 1939. A singing Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) appeared in the musical about the Founding Fathers, ``1776.'' Charlton Heston took the role of Andrew Jackson twice, in ``The President's Lady'' and ``The Buccaneer buccaneer: see piracy. buccaneer Any of the British, French, or Dutch sea adventurers who chiefly haunted the Caribbean and the Pacific seaboard of South America during the latter part of the 17th century, preying on Spanish settlements and shipping. .'' In 1944, Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902–December 22, 1979) was a producer, writer, actor and director who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career being rivalled only by that of Adolph Zukor). released an epic ``Wilson,'' with the intent of convincing America to avoid the isolationism isolationism National policy of avoiding political or economic entanglements with other countries. Isolationism has been a recurrent theme in U.S. history. It was given expression in the Farewell Address of Pres. that followed World War I. President Wilson had struggled vainly to persuade Congress to vote to join the League of Nations. The change in Hollywood's attitude toward the presidency can be attributed to Watergate and the subsequent resignation of Richard Nixon, tales of misdeeds by the CIA and FBI, and reports of John F. Kennedy's sexual liaisons in the White House. ``Both FDR and Kennedy have been subjects of sexual revelations,'' Schickel said. ``Most presidents have been, except Jimmy Carter. It's all part of the tabloid trend, and that part of it saddens me. Regardless of the outcome of the current scandal, it seems to me that we're going too far in criminalizing politics.'' Producers consider conspiracy a sure-fire movie theme, since the American public has been exposed to such real-life episodes as the plots by Nixon's White House ``plumbers,'' the CIA's partnership with the Mafia in attempts to assassinate as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. Fidel Castro and J. Edgar Hoover's use of the FBI to investigate innocent people. Oliver Stone made two three-hour-plus movies that were awash in conspiracy.F With ``JFK,'' he postulated that Lyndon Johnson conspired with the CIA to eliminate Kennedy. In ``Nixon,'' he alleged matters that have escaped historians. With the Cold War over, Hollywood has been short of villains. Nowadays, the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency have filled in the gap (see ``Air Force One''). And if a president can be brought into the conspiracy, so much the better. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Ralph Bellamy, right, plays FDR in 1960's ``Sunrise at Campobello.'' Associated Press |
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