Secret Honor
Tags: tragedy, comedy

Plot synopsis:
A disgraced Richard Nixon is restlessly pacing in the study at his New Jersey home, in the late 1970s. Armed with a loaded revolver, a bottle of Scotch whisky and a running tape recorder, while surrounded by closed circuit television cameras, he spends the next 90 minutes recalling, with rage, suspicion, sadness and disappointment, his controversial life and career in a long monologue.
Nixon's monologue often veers into tangents, often concerning his family, the people who made him powerful or the people who took him out of power. Nixon recalls his mother fondly, Dwight Eisenhower with hatred, Henry Kissinger with condescension and John F. Kennedy with a mixture of appreciation and rage. When Nixon gets frustrated or enraged at the person he is thinking about, the monologue often becomes disjointed; the passion overwhelms Nixon's ability for words. If he veers too far off topic, he tells the person who is supposed to transcribe the tape (an unseen character named "Roberto") to edit out the whole screed back to an earlier, calmer point.
Throughout the monologue, Nixon's description of himself changes. Sometimes he calls himself a man of the people, saying that he could succeed because he had known failure, just like the average American; he broods on his humble beginnings and the hard work he put in to rise to the top, and all the setbacks that he endured and overcame. However, the times when he talks about his own ideas and accomplishments in flattering terms tend to be brief, and they often bleed into self-pitying rants about how he is an innocent martyr, destroyed by sinister and hypocritical forces. Similarly, he can be self-deprecating or otherwise reflect a low self-image, but he rarely focuses on his own faults for long, preferring instead to blame others.
In the film, he denies the relevance of Watergate and claims that he never committed a crime. He emphasizes that he was never charged with a crime, therefore he did not need or deserve a pardon. He feels that the pardon he received from President Gerald Ford forever tainted him in the public's eyes, because to get a pardon he must have been guilty.
However, in the end Nixon admits that he has been the willing tool of a political network he alternately calls "the Bohemian Grove" and "The committee of 100". The alleged interest of the committee is the heroin trade with Asia, although he followed them rather out of a lust for power plus some belief in their willingness to bring democracy to Asia. However, after the 1972 vote he received new orders from them: they wanted Nixon to keep the Vietnam war going on at all costs, then go for a third term in office, so they can continue their business with the president as their strawman. Nixon further explains that at some point he decided that he did not want to go down in history as the president who sacrificed thousands of American soldiers for drug money, so he himself staged the Watergate scandal to get out of office against the massive public support. So in the end, he again puts the blame on others: on the public that supports him although — or even because — he is a scam artist and a petty thief, just like the majority of them, as he sees it.

Review: The familiar hunched shoulders and odd poses employed by every Nixon impersonator, in Hall's hands seem less like imitation than brilliant artistic choices, revealing the inner struggles of a remarkable, tormented man.
Even someone who has never heard of Nixon couldn't help but be fascinated by this powerful, complex man.Note to PT Anderson fans: According to Anderson, this was the performance that convinced him he had to work with Hall.
This is a one man show (Hall is the only actor in the film) and an adaptation of a stage performance.
Philip Baker Hall delivers one of the best screen performances I can ever remember in this one man movie.
The movie takes place on the day before Richard Nixon is going to resign, and sits around drinking scotch and yelling into a tape recorder about everything in his political life.
Made 11 years before Oliver Stone's "Nixon", with Anthony Hopkins, Robert Altman's direction of Philip Baker Hall in his gritty portrayal of Richard Millhouse on his last night in the Whitehouse, rehashing out all his problems over a bottle of scotch.
To those who know him and his story (wether through a variety of books or personal experience or even through Oliver Stone's excellent "Nixon") this is a magnificent epilogue that instead of tying all loose threads together, reopens wounds and reformulates old and tired questions.The film is a mix of fragments of a complex and important life (one that helped shape the modern world) and an equally complex mind.
Whether you are interested in history, Nixon himself, character suffering, paranoia, film or acting, this is a must-see, if only for the brilliant performance by Philip Baker Hall.
He may be less sympathetic than Hopkins, but such was one of the real Nixon's flaws (in interviews the real Hall is quite charming!).Turning a play - especially a one-man-show - into a film is quite a challenge, but Altman, through simple yet effective means (notably the use of security-camera monitors and portraits), cranks up the intimacy and paranoia, ending the film in an uneasy and dark manner that would never be conceivable on stage.In fewer words, suffice to say that this unusual little film is in truth a giant in movie-making resourcefulness and talent.
A film which is an entire monologue by Philip Baker Hall, one of the best character actors of our time.
Altman's film has been out of print for at least a decade, but it far surpasses Oliver Stone's film and is worth watching for anyone who ever wanted to appreciate Nixon as anything other than a monster..
Any comments about this film should be prefaced by a simple, undeniable fact: Despite the genius and talent of Robert Altman, this film succeeds solely on the shoulders of Philip Baker Hall.
(In my opinion, Hall is the most underrated actor in Hollywood today, by far.) With that said, I would much rather see "Secret Honor" as a play, which is how it was originally written.
"You, ladies and gentlemen of the American jury, shall look at the face that is under the mask!" - Philip Baker Hall (Richard Nixon) It takes 12 minutes for Robert Altman's "Secret Honor" to really get going, the audience having to endure some terribly dated TV music and lots of theatrical posturing by Philip Baker Hall, but once the actor begins his meaty monologue, it's hard not to be transfixed.Hall, of course, plays former president Richard Nixon.
Recently disgraced by the Watergate fiasco, he prances about his private office with a loaded gun and a glass of whisky, spewing scorn at the Kennedy's, Helen Douglas, Henry Kissinger and a mysterious group called both "The Committee of 100" and "The Bohemian Grove".Employing students from the University of Michigan, and a script that sticks religiously to a stage play by Donald Freed and Arnold Stone, "Secret Honor" is a fairly small scale project for Altman.
For example, Altman surrounds Nixon's room with wall-mounted pictures of past presidents and places a huge bank of security monitors to one side.
There's therefore a sense of profound scrutiny, Nixon waging a war for his own innocence, politicians over his shoulders, a security camera in his face, a national audience behind his back and a bank of monitors recording his every move.The second interesting thing is Hall's performance itself.
Incidentally, Altman pretender Paul Thomas Anderson would use actor Philip Baker Hall extensively throughout his filmography, casting him in "Sydney", "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights".
"Secret Honor" is an actor's wet dream.This screen adaptation of a one-man play stars Philip Baker Hall as Richard Nixon on the dark night that follows his resignation from the office of President of the United States.
The film makes clear from the outset that it is not a representation of facts but rather a fictional exploration of the thoughts and feelings that may have been torturing Nixon at the time.
The material isn't very deep and doesn't give Hall a lot of room to explore, but I suppose it succeeds on its own modest terms.Robert Altman made this film at the apex of his disenfranchisement from the mainstream Hollywood system.
Though the action is confined to Nixon's private office, Altman frequently pans his camera over to a bank of security cameras that Nixon has trained on himself, so that much of the time we're watching an image of Hall on a T.V. monitor rather than Hall himself.
It made me realize how little I actually know about Nixon's presidency, which was over in the years just before I was born, and I wasn't able to understand many of the film's references.
Richard Nixon, a man known for many things, amongst which trying to reach out to the "silent majority" of America, while plunging the country further into war and getting into one of the big cover-ups of the nation, is given a character here.
It's not necessarily the man altogether, but like Oliver Stone's Nixon, it's an interpretation given a blood-life by way of Donald Freed and Arnold Stone's script (which is maybe the 2nd best thing about the film), Robert Altman's peering, sometimes paranoid, but tight compositions, and Philip Baker Hall.
Here his inhabitance, more than portrayal, of Nixon captures (as Antony Hopkins did in his own way) the soul of the man dead-on.It's a one-man film, so that Hall's work here has to be better than top-notch, it has to be engrossing.
Nixon as a political being, family man, lawyer, and practically professional liar, are given shape here by his near-movie length confession into a tape recorder.
This could be a tricky thing for Altman and Hall to pull off, but for pretty much the entire film they do.
One thing I loved was how sometimes Altman would cut-away from his actor and get shots on Nixon on the security monitors installed in his office/room (where he spend the duration of the film in).
There were also some very evocative, powerful shots of Hall as Nixon reflected against the window, this being even closer to Nixon- a ghost or some other entity- than Hall.But in the end, even for all that Altman could do (which is really just to let the camera roll and maybe give Hall a word or two when needed), it is really Hall who has all the credit going for him here.
Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation.This comes down to one thing: an examination of the acting skills of Philip Baker Hall.
Since the direction is so limited, it really cannot say anything good or bad about Robert Altman (who had already made his name by this point).Hall's Nixon is something of a madman.
Not to say too much about Secret Honor: just know that it is an amazingly written monologue with amazing acting by Philip Baker Hall and amazing direction by Robert Altman.
I remembered really wanting to see it, as I am a big Paul Thomas Anderson fan (this film is where he saw Philip Baker Hall and decided he was the best actor in America), as well as a fan of Hall's performance in "Hard Eight", PTA's debut."Secret Honor", a film adaptation of the play, which also starred Hall, is certainly a worthwhile viewing, though I'm not exactly carried away with praises as some critics seem to be.Hall certainly has more than a few exciting and inspired moments as former President Richard M.
Nixon in this fictitious work that places him in his study for 90 minutes one night with alcohol, TV monitors, his mother's old piano, and various other elements that come into play.But, for me, the piece just doesn't have much realism for a play/film that has a premise which is certainly plausible.
In this sense, I prefer Anthony Hopkins' Nixon (which ALSO has a whopper of an ending), because I feel the former President's dark, brooding core is masterfully portrayed by the Welsh actor.Hall's bravado cannot be dismissed, however.
Former President Richard Milhous Nixon (Philip Baker Hall) is alone in his study talking into a tape recorder.
Stone about the reasons behind President Richard Nixon's departure from the Office, the motives behind Watergate and lots of other random thoughts by one of the most notorious politics of America.
"Secret Honor" is a great opportunity to watch Philip Baker Hall carrying a film on its entirely, directed by one of the greatest directors of all time, Robert Altman.In this fictional account, Hall plays a drunken/angry/mad/paranoid Nixon in all his forms, the man, the president and all, most of the time hiding his mistakes, blaming other people for them.
The trajectory of a simple man who became the most powerful, the man who lost his soul to gain the world to at the end lose it all is well evidenced when Dick tells in his tapes how he was a winner in life quoting something like this "I dream of failure that's why I succeed it." It's difficult to select his best moments on the film, there's so many.
The film is extremely difficult to follow as stream-of-consciousness usually are, it's complicated to see someone else's mind and the way they think, specially a person like Nixon, haunted by his demons while in many moments of his life.
Hall joins a gallery of great Nixon performers like Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" and Anthony Hopkins in "Nixon", two heavyweight dramas with solid acting from actors who played Nixon like a Shakespearian tragedy.
And he is like those tragedies!In this one, Philip Baker Hall follows the same path James Whitmore walked in his Oscar nominated performance in "Give'em Hell, Harry", where he's the only actor on scene playing Harry Truman.
The play works because of him, way more than the drowsy text itself that among other things theorized about Nixon's escape from the Presidency in order to avoid more years of war to help his rich supporters getting drugs from Asia, and more years in the Office.
Since the screenplay is often sliced in too many rants, not respecting a certain order for at least fifteen minutes presenting political figures and events all the time, this must be watched only by viewers who know Nixon's background, otherwise you'll be utterly lost.
An adaptation of a stage play, "Secret Honor" is the tour de force performance of actor Philip Baker Hall.
While he doesn't look or sound very much like Nixon he totally inhabits the character and rages around the set swilling Scotch and experiencing nearly every emotion you can think of.The story is of course totally fictional but in some respects Hall and the writers may have gotten closer to the core of who Nixon was than any other film ever did.
Nixon is without a doubt the most enigmatic man ever to be President and "Secret Honor" is a fascinating study revealing what made the man tick.Even if you don't care for Nixon or political movies, this movie is worth watching for Hall's performance alone.
I love many Altman films, but was disappointed by "Secret Honor." Described as a work of "fiction" that uses Nixon as a "character," it still depends heavily on actual facts from Nixon's life to succeed and there is the constant danger of blurring fact and fiction.
Lawyers know that's not true: Having served your time doesn't extinguish the public record; and Nixon was, by many accounts, a brilliant lawyer and a brilliant man, but there's the tragedy.Even little details at the start played false.
P.B. Hall's performance is very strong, although I kept saying to myself throughout, that's the man from "Magnolia." For me, the best section was when Fictional Nixon took himself to task for destroying Helen Gahagan Douglas's political career by suggesting she was a communist when she ran against him from California for a U.S. Senate seat.
But am I the only one who thought the piece also was suggesting that Nixon may have been latently gay?"Secret Honor" is not one of Altman's best.
Altman is a master of only using one set and creating great suspense and drama but here he just used one man: Philip Baker Hall.
A crushed Richard Nixon who seems to have gone insane rambles about some sort of Secret Honor and how he staged Watergate and about conspiracies while he throws out racial slurs and other forms of profanity.
A few bits are a little silly actually but this film is definitely great and I can't deny that creating something like this is a true work of pure genius.My rating is 9/10, depending on how you look at it the rating could be higher or lower.
It really is a brilliant film, but there is no exposition--it does assume that you know all about Nixon and Watergate.
Philip Baker Hall (who played the character of "Library Cop" on "Seinfeld") essays the part of Richard Nixon in an unforgettable one actor performance.
of Michigan, the crew composed largely of UM students, while director Robert Altman was doing a short hitch as filmmaker-in-residence there and has the interesting, "you are there" immediacy and intimacy of a filmed stage play or TV show.The set is a large, wood paneled office, apparently in Nixon's home in San Clemente, a few months after his August 1974 resignation from the Presidency.
Nixon on several occasions mentions the mysterious "Bohemian Grove" located in rural northern California (a subject of much "conspiracy theorizing" in recent years.) This film is a must see, if for no other reason to experience Hall's stunning and overwhelming performance as the desperate and doomed Tricky Dick, to appreciate Altman's unique cinematographic and directorial style and to vividly grasp the nature of an bafflingly influential human and cultural "focal point" in recent American history.
Additionally, whether one is or isn't a Nixon hater, after finishing this film one may gain some understanding of and deeper insight into if not grudging respect or sympathy for this undoubtedly gifted and highly skilled yet incredibly tormented and angry man whose character, behavior and personality was a rare and corrosive but powerful and unforgettable blend of all of the tragic protagonists that had ever emerged from the works of Shakespeare, Dostoevski and Conrad to Fitzgerald, Beckett and Pirandello.Hall's Richard Nixon, like Marlon Brando's character of Col. Walter Kurtz in 1979's "Apocalypse Now" is a poignant and intense collage of what some might term a classic "American archetype;" a brooding and obsessive "failed overachiever" whose single-minded drive to reach that nebulous yet seductive goal of "being somebody" had been completely and irreparably derailed at the final bend by the same volatile forces that had also driven him relentlessly and vindictively toward that goal, leaving all sorts of tragic wreckage, human and political, in his wake.
And finally, from the opening scene of "Secret Honor," a more specific and pointed question arises, one that persists all the way to the film's final two words: Is there a little bit of Dick Nixon in all of us?.
I had become aware of the film sometime during high school, when I became obsessed, more or less simultaneously, with Richard Nixon, Philip Baker Hall, and Robert Altman.
When I finally saw it, my obsessions with Nixon and Hall had waned, but my Altman fixation had only grown.
Philip Baker Hall is magnetic as a fictionalized Richard Nixon and puts Anthony Hopkins's swell performance to shame.
Hall is a fantastic actor, but Altman must have been doing something right to pull this performance--which is tragic and absurd in equal measures--from anyone, no matter how talented.
It's the perfect pitch to play the film, as playing Nixon with too much or too little pathos would have killed the movie.
An extraordinary performance By Philip Baker Hall.
It's 1983 and Richard Nixon, late at night, is in the study of his home preparing to record his version of the events in his life.
"My client is guilty of one thing only," he cries to the imaginary judge, "of being Richard Milhous Nixon." This 90-minute play, restaged to become a highly fluid and effective film by Robert Altman, is an absolute tour de force of solo acting by Philip Baker Hall.
Philip Baker Hall hardly looks like Nixon but that kind of fits with the movie to show this is just a parody and not the true story of Nixon's life.5.
Philip Baker Hall reigns supreme in this searing work of gutsy political fiction.
A bitter and disgraced Richard Nixon (superbly played with alarming intensity and ferocity by Philip Baker Hall) decides one night while pacing around his private study to open up and reflect on his troubled life and thwarted political career before eventually revealing the reasons behind the reasons for the infamous Watergate scandal.Director Robert Altman makes ingenious use of a bank of television monitors and cinematographer Pierre Mignot's restless prowling camera in order to inject plenty of thrilling cinematic panache into the stage play-based material.