Best of Enemies

Best of Enemies

Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

US

Made in US

7.2/10

2015

Documentary
History
Tremolo ProductionsMotto PicturesMagnolia PicturesParticipantITVSJustFilms / Ford Foundation

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Cast

Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal

As Self

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr.

As Self

Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer

As Voice of William F. Buckley

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

As Voice of Gore Vidal

Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett

As Self

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

As Self

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

As Self (archival)

Reid Buckley

Reid Buckley

As Self

Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan

As Self

Todd Gitlin

Todd Gitlin

As Self

Brooke Gladstone

Brooke Gladstone

As Self

Paul Newman

Paul Newman

As Self (archival)

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

As Self (archival)

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

As Self (archival)

Sam Donaldson

Sam Donaldson

As Self (archival)

Norman Mailer

Norman Mailer

As Self (archival)

Matt Tyrnauer

Matt Tyrnauer

As Self

Godfrey Cambridge

Godfrey Cambridge

As Self (archival)

John McWhorter

John McWhorter

As Self

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

As Self

James J. Kilpatrick

James J. Kilpatrick

As Self (archival)

Richard J. Daley

Richard J. Daley

As Self (archival)

Everett Dirksen

Everett Dirksen

As Self (archival)

James Wolcott

James Wolcott

As Self

Woody Allen

Woody Allen

As Self (archival)

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