Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU alumnus, producer of "Frost/Nixon" returns for screening
By Abram Brown
Posted: 12/4/08, 11:34 PM EST Section: Feature
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Howard wanted to be kept in the loop about Connor's trip "north."
Three days later, Connor made the four-and-a-half-hour drive from New York City to Syracuse to be on campus for the screening of his new movie, "Frost/Nixon," which he helped produce.
Connor introduced the movie before its screening in front of a full Gifford Auditorium. Students, professors and members of the Syracuse community filtered into the crowd to watch the movie with a serious Syracuse University connection.
Not only did Connor, an alumnus, produce it, but the film starred Frank Langella, an SU graduate himself, as the embattled president. Michael Sheen appeared opposite Langella as David Frost, the TV talk show host who conducted one of the first interviews with Nixon after his resignation.
"Frost/Nixon" details the dramatic struggle between the two men in a series of four interviews, but manages to keep away from any overt political message and focuses solely on the titular characters. There was serious debate over when to release the film, in order to keep audiences from reading too much into the film, Connor said.
"Ron didn't want to use this as a political message," he said. "At its core, it's a movie about two men battling each other."
Television, radio and film professor Peter Moller attended the screening and said it was an amazing production. "Frost/Nixon" was a hit play before being adapted by its playwright, Peter Morgan ("The Last King of Scotland," "The Queen").
"I was very curious on how it would translate to film," Moller said. "I think Ron Howard did the right thing."
Langella is receiving plenty of Oscar buzz for his performance as Nixon. And it almost never happened.
Even though Langella originated the role on Broadway, the studio almost balked on him. Universal Pictures wanted to go with an established movie star, Connor said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Eric
posted 12/05/08 @ 11:14 AM EST
The article makes no mention of it, but I found it interesting that more than half of the audience left after the screening before the Q&A session began. (Continued…)
Maria Ostridge
posted 3/05/09 @ 12:27 PM EST
That looks like lots of fun. When I was in college we didn't had so many fun activities.
Linda Eaton
posted 3/09/09 @ 6:40 AM EST
Thank you for writing the article, I am very pleased with how it came out.
Caroline Pellyn
posted 3/11/09 @ 3:52 AM EST
That looks like lots of fun. When I was in college we didn't had so many fun activities.
Alison Worth
posted 3/14/09 @ 3:34 PM EST
Thank you for writing the article, I am very pleased with how it came out.
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