Nixon (1995) HQ "Do you ever think of death, Dick?"

[itsanameisntit]

Very interesting that Stone was forced to give the character the name Helms. In fact, it was George Herbert Walker Bush. Head of the CIA, orchestrated the Bay of Pigs Invasion, led the assassination of JFK, and very probably the attempted assassination of Reagan. Meeting the Bin Ladin brothers on the morning of 911 to discuss selling weapons (on behalf of the Carlisle Group), to Afghanistan and Iraq through them so that no one could trace it.

[podge187]

Kudos for Posting this. Would never have seen it otherwise

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[pzipischiquo]

I never seen this frame in the italian version.....Damn!

[Thejbirdy]

One of Anthony Hopkin's best performances thank you for this post.

[jksonny]

Love this scene, one of the best in the film (though some editing would be a good idea to shorten/tighten the scene). Too bad it was cut but Helms was threatening to raise hell and it wasn't worth that kind of fight.

I'm a big fan of this film but IMO, it would have been better, more focused without so many flashbacks to Nixon's youth and his previous campaigns. For one thing, Hopkins looks far too old to pass for Nixon in some of these scenes, particularly the Kennedy debates.

[TheJoec2005]

i own the fucking casino

[1accon]

@TheJoec2005 Stone has said that he was criticised for including that line - but that was actually a direct quote of Nixon.

[TheJoec2005]

@1accon yea cool line huh

[MegaCriswell]

read the frank church report on watergate.

[hanscombe72]

Stone has referenced the Falcon/Falconer thing before. In Wall Street, when Charlie Sheen is going to handle the blue star deal. Gekko smiles at him "So the falcon's heard the falconer, huh?"

[Boelcke1919]

Of course, it goes deeper. Jimmy Carter got elected largely because he was the white knight who promised to clean up the ugly mess of Watergate. His poor performance then led to Ronald Reagan. I always loved Reagan, even when I sometimes disagreed with him. He was a true patriot and he restored our pride and standing in the world. He also was the first president to beat the 20-year curse that killed every president elected at 20 year intervals starting with 1840.

[Boelcke1919]

I believe it is fair to claim that "The Bay of Pigs" affected four presidencies: JFK, LBJ, Nixon and Ford. How?  Well, it got JFK killed by our own gov't and its agents. That catapulted LBJ into power and then he wilted due to the debacle in Vietnam and the fallout here at home. It also catapulted Nixon into power, with the same basic result. Gerald Ford? This all led eventually to Ford, who probably would never ever been president otherwise.

[Boelcke1919]

I could say a lot about Hoover, Helms and Nixon. Let's leave it that Nixon wanted to fire Helms and Hoover both, but backed down in each case because they had the goods on him. Study it some time. I believe that Helms eventually was replaced, though, but rec'd a fine appointment to Iran as our ambassador. Nixon wanted the CIA to give him their files on "that Bay of Pigs thing," and Helms refused ... and this says a lot. They both knew that meant their JFK files.

[SuperOmnicron]

@hundredmanca ...now Helms did the assassination? LOL, that was a good line.

[BlackieGirl]

7:22:"The CIA has no policy except what I dictate to you".

Right, sure.

[SuperOmnicron]

@BlackieGirl ....thats why Nixon was forced to resign..he tried to create his own Intelligence unit inside the White House, and Kissinger was the guy who did it.

[pookieboytoy]

Interesting use of music by John Williams and Simon Rattle. Somewhere around the 9:20+ mark of the segment part of the soundtrack to the 1989 Henry V's St Crispin's Day The Battle Of Agincourt track was inserted. I guess it was temp tracked. The Battle Of Agincourt—a battle that basically defined the modern rules of warfare. How appropriate for this venue.

[1accon]

@pookieboytoy thanks for your insight on the use of the soundtrack to Henry V in this scene.

[pookieboytoy]

2:11—Domestic Intelligence Plan!!!  (O) (O)

[Whisper2771]

The most interesting part about this scene is Stones commentary, the flowers actually had a reason for being in this scene, there was nothing in Helms life that suggested he like flowers, BUT, Nixon was known to have hated them, he said flowers "reminded him of death", thus the reason for the flowers in Helms office ;)

[IDoNotUseFlourToCook]

Interesting title ! Do I ever think of death, Dick ? Well, since you like overthrow people's lives with surveys, I'll give you my thoughts on death ! Death is just a part of life, all the other dogma just makes that concept seem easier ! I prefer to be happy and if death approaches, at least I died happy ! Straight up !

[MrCoal11]

This is sensational fiction.

[DoBrigh]

if Stone had a couple of fact-checkers he would be about 1000x better.

[blinkzone1]

This is one of the best scenes in the picture and a great score by John Williams. Dark and ominous. Nixon lost the duel against Helms that's why he ordered Manolo to fix him up a drink...

[RightWingHunter666]

Aghhh! look at his eyes.... looks like he is turning into a demon. Very freaking scene with the evilness of Helms, the flowers, the score.

[Koldeman]

Great music score by maestro John Williams. It makes the whole scene unnerving and intense in just the right places. Waterston's performance here gives you an uneasy sense that Helms indeed had the CIA, either directly or indirectly at the behest of Cuba, assassinate Kennedy...and that is an unspoken understanding between Nixon and Helms here. I like how Stone shot and edited this scene suggestively but also with open interpretation.

[mother642]

What the hell was with those black eyes ? When he was smelling the flowers ?

[dwilmer7]

@mother642 thats oliver stone's oh so subtle talent for nuance and metaphor lol.

[HarveyDentLives]

This is my favorite scene in the film. I saw it in a theater as a kid. This and JFK are Stone's masterpieces, and Born on the 4th of July and Platoon are pretty good, though not at the level of the JFK and Nixon.

[Boelcke1919]

This is my favorite scene in the movie. Awesome.

[ElFrankus]

Helms was an interesting guy... he actually interviewed Adolf Hitler..

[charlieladder]

I've not heard the O'Toole casting idea -- interesting, O'Toole and Hopkins. But Waterston is perfect, he even looks like Helms in several shots. So many layers to this scene, I can't think of where to begin... Black Eyes... Yeats... Kennedy...

Thanks for posting this, a favorite (and important) movie sequence.

[glimmer2158]

Big fish eat the little fish. Helms was a big fish.

[jerzy862]

9:13

the hells wrong with his eyes??

[jerzy862]

8:05

Maybe its just me but at this point is he making a threat to Nixon's life?

There are rumors the CIA offed Kennedy because they disliked his handling of the Bay of Pigs.

[dearmalika]

Very interesting film, I love to watch the complete movie one day! Thanks so much for sharing this!

[drmoonrat]

A very well performed scene, but I kinda wish Oliver Stone could have toned down his particular style. It made the whole thing made it hard to get into the mood with those flashes reminding us that this movie was directed by Oliver Stone.

[Stube437]

It's all a bit macho isn't it?

[EliCross]

I read somewhere that Stone originally wanted Peter O'Toole to play Helms and was close to casting him. As badass as that choice would have been, Waterston is brilliant in the role. A worthy adversary for Hopkins.

[1accon]

@EliCross Thanks for the input. O'Toole would have been amazing. I do like what Waterson does with his eyes--its almost like his mind is on other things and he can't stay focussed on Nixon. The "yeah" reply regarding JFK is also pitch perfect.

[zulusadat]

@1accon absolutely correct. That "yeah" reply is chilling in its subletly. Not too many actors could pull that off

[zulusadat]

@1accon  absolutely correct. That "yeah" reply is chilling in its subletly. Not too many actors could pull that off

[AndrewMann552]

Is this from the Blu-Ray? I have the 2001 DVD edition and this scene looks like video in comparison to the rest of the film.

[1accon]

@AndrewMann552 You're right, it is. It's an excellent transfer by comparison.

[johnny67448]

Hopkins best performance in a American film. What the hel is going on with the eyes, quite frightening!

[SuperRichardNixon]

Great scene

[jgmcfc]

"A world class poker player"

"Yeah, well I own the fucking casino"

Brilliant

[IuliTr85]

A truly great movie, we can see the real empire of evil. Nixon was defeated by the sistem, the beast scared him to death.

[KnightArkham]

@IuliTr85 empire of evil? and other presidents dont have empires of evil? every president is a crook either during their presidency or before they became president. Imagine if Nixon hadnt been caught, Nixon is infamous because he was the first president to get caught, your naive if you think Nixon is the one and only president to have been corrupt,but thats what its like with every other president, nixon got caught every other president didn't, thats the difference.

[KnightArkham]

@IuliTr85 and another thing empire of evil? really? is nixon darth vader? evil is molesting children or torturing animals, your talking about a president who wiretapped the DNC, stop overreacting and going over board with the "evil" statement

[IuliTr85]

This debate over comments here will never end, its pointless to say i am naive, look at my channel! The thing that stroke my attention was the moment when Nixon realized that presidency has no power, something else runs the game, not the people, not the politicians. If you understand what happened then, you will see what is going to happen today.

[KnightArkham]

@IuliTr85 then what runs the game? the banks? im not trying to be condescending im educationally asking what it is you think runs the game?

[IuliTr85]

I have a recommendation to you, watch Project Camelot with Richard Hoagland. There are several occult organizations and even outside forces involved.

[IuliTr85]

A truly great movie, we can see who is the real empire of evil.

[scorpio888]

@pat442389 There was indeed a threat of a lawsuit from Helms. Just as threatened lawsuits caused the studio to demand that they soften even Ehlrichman's portrayal of condoning things he'd BEEN CONVCITED for.

[nirvana2187]

This is great. Thank you for posting it. I love Oliver Stone's cinematic style and your description is wonderful. Just 1 correction: Stone had insurance from Disney for things like Helms' threat of legal action, so that wasn't the reason this scene and one other of Helms(the flashback that is also included in the Director's Cut) were dropped. Stone cut them for reasons of length concerning the whole film.

[1accon]

@nirvana2187 Thanks for the tip, I will remove that part of the description. At 10 minutes in length its understandable that he cut it, but I'm just wondering - where did you get your info from?

[pat442389]

@1accon stone actually says it in the directors com. in the special edition dvd. the directors cut is over 3hrs long so he said he needed to cut these scenes even tho he liked them. he wanted them in but knew the studio did not want the movie that long, i dont think it had anything to do with helms or a threat of a lawsuit