The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will screen ‘Frost/Nixon,’ a movie detailing the BBC interviews of Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Gifford Auditorium.

Newhouse and the Office of Electronic Media Communications is bringing the journalistic-centric film to campus because Syracuse University alumni Frank Langella plays Richard Nixon, said Stuart Lisson, executive director of electronic media communications.

‘It’s one of the most amazing portrayals of a personality by a living actor,’ Lisson said of Langella’s performance. He attended the movie premiere in New York City.

William Connor, the movie’s associate producer and an SU alumnus, will be on campus to introduce the film. He will also participate in a question-and-answer session afterward, Lisson said.

Because Connor and Tony Award winner Langella are in the film, it has a personal SU connection, Lisson said.

Previously, Connor partnered with ‘Frost/Nixon’ director Ron Howard on ‘Apollo 13,’ ‘The Aviator’ and ‘The DaVinci Code.’

The plot of the movie centers on the interviews of President Nixon by BBC reporter David Frost, played by Michael Sheen. Frost’s interview was the first time Nixon spoke publicly about the events which led to his resignation.

While the movie is billed as a ‘riveting verbal boxing match’ between the two men, public relations major Jocelyn Jones said she doesn’t think the movie will attract the younger crowd.

‘I feel like there are so many other things in the headlines,’ Jones said.

Jones said she remembers hearing about the Watergate scandal long before she became interested in a career in communications. But she said the last time she truly cared about the historical event was when her Communications and Society class studied it three years ago.

‘It’s more of a thing for our parents,’ Jones said.

Lisson, who lived during the time of the scandal and the tumultuous events of the 1970s, said he believes SU students should care about the movie’s significance and said it can appeal to all audience of all ages and interests.

‘If you don’t remember history, you repeat it,’ he said. ‘It’s a good lesson for students now to learn.’

adbrow03@syr.edu

Published on December 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm