Themes: Work Ethics, Conspiracies, Crumbling Marriages
Main Cast: Martin Sheen, Theresa Russell, Michael Callan, Lonny Chapman, William Daniels
Release Year: 1979
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Maureen Dean's Mo woven in by screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, this is the saga of the Watergate affair, as experienced by Dean (Martin Sheen) and hia wife Maureen (Theresa Russell). As the Nixon administration goes down in flames, the Deans' marriage is sorely tested-as is Dean's success-at-any-price credo. Rip Torn plays Nixon like something out of a Greek Tragedy; some viewers accepted his interpretation, others found it jarringly inaccurate. Others in the cast of "usual suspects" include Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Grandy as Donald Segretti, Christopher Guest as Jeb Magruder, Lawrence Pressman as H. R. Haldeman, William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, James Greene as E. Howard Hunt, Logan Ramsey as J. Edgar Hoover, and Al Checco as judge John Sirica. Also known as The John Dean Story, Blind Ambition earned two Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Clifford David - Fred Fielding; Ed Flanders - Charles Shaffer; Fred Grandy - Donald Segretti; Christopher Guest - Jeb Magruder; Graham Jarvis - John Ehrlichman; Edward Mallory - Henry Peterson; Gerald O'Loughlin - John J. Caulfield; Alan Oppenheimer - George Simonson; Lawrence Pressman - H.R. Haldeman; John Randolph - John Mitchell; Peter Mark Richman - Robert Mardian; William Schallert - Herbert Kalmach; James J. Sloyan - Ron Ziegler; Rip Torn - Richard M. Nixon; William Windom - Richard Kleindienst; Ralph Byers - Hugh Sloan; Pat Collins - Gordon Strachan; Kip Niven - Earl Krogh; Garn Stephens - Carol Thompson; Logan Ramsey - J. Edgar Hoover; Lorne Greene - E. Howard Hunt; Mitzi Hoag - Press Briefing Secretary; Dawson Mays - Dwight Chapin; Darrell Zwerling - Frederick LaRue; Cathleen Cordell - Pat Nixon; Terry McGovern - Jack Garfield; Jenny O'Hara - Liz Garfield; Al Checco - John Sirica; Rosemary de Camp - Maureen Dean's Mother; David Sheiner - Sam Dash; Josette Banzet - Frenchwoman; Ross Bickell - Tom Huston; Stuart Gillard - Larry Higby; Harry Basch - Gen. Walters; Brian Farrell - Bruce Kehrli; James Karen - Earl Silbert; Alan Haufrect - Robert McCandless; Patricia Stich - Jill Vollner; Jack Collins - Paul O'Brien; Don Herbert - TV Commentator; Mario Machado - TV Commentator; Janice Kent - Colson's Secretary; Hal Fishman - TV Commentator; Janet Langhart - TV Commentator; John Barbour - TV Commentator; Ray Briehm - TV Commentator; Larry Carroll - TV Commentator; Larry McCormick - TV Commentator; Hettie Lynne Hurtes - TV Commentator; John Bernabei - Barber; Paul Lukather - James Neal; Alan Mandell - Seymour Glanzer; Earl Montgomery, Jr. - Donald Campbell; Edwin Owens - Burt; Jack Kosslyn - Paul; Joe Mantell - Joey; Frank McCarthy - Deputy; Jack Rader - Supervisor; Ron Recasner - Marshall; K Callan - Mrs. Kleindienst; Chris Gugas - Polygraph Operator; Dan Priest - Richard Moore; Jo de Winter; Anne Ramsey
Credit
Michael Baugh - Art Director, George Schaefer - Director, Arthur D. Hilton - Editor, Peter Parasheles - Editor, John Wright - Editor, David Susskind - Executive Producer, Fred Karlin - Composer (Music Score), Walter Scharf - Composer (Music Score), Edward R. Brown - Cinematographer, George Schaefer - Producer, Renee Valente - Producer, Stanley R. Greenberg - Screenwriter, John Dean - Book Author, Maureen Dean - Book Author
