Best of Enemies

Director: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville

The sociopolitical climate during the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1968 was highly combustible and it is safe to say that the tensions surrounding the respective events reflected that which was gripping the nation. With the Vietnam War raging, a galvanized and committed counter-culture movement vigorously protested the conflict, while an equally committed conservative establishment voiced its contempt for the left's anti-war protests and sentiments.

In this seething atmosphere came a series of debates, aired by ABC T.V. during its coverage of both conventions, that stand as the most famous in American television history.
We learn from directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville's excellent documentary, The Best of Enemies, that ABC was regarded as something of a joke and an also-ran among the other networks at the time. As a boost to its convention coverage, the network held a series of ten on-air debates between two towering intellects; Gore Vidal; author, screenwriter and knight of the American left and William F. Buckley Jr., editor of the conservative magazine The National Review and paladin for the right.

Gordon and Neville's film explores the debate's impact on television but also, and maybe more significantly, on the two combatants themselves. Even decades later, the debates left Vidal and Buckley's nerves a little tender, which the film effectively conveys.

Gordon and Neville's film skillfully blends debate footage with commentary from a variety of sources, including Dick Cavett, the late Christopher Hitchens, Buckley's brother F. Reid Buckley; all who provide valuable insights. In F. Reid's case; familial perspective proves to be insightful and objective. Weighing in and providing embellishment are Vidal and Buckley biographers, who are never short of incisive analysis and facts.

An indisputable fact, made abundantly clear by both Buckley and Vidal and by commentators alike is the intense loathing both men bore for the other. As stated in the film, both felt the other represented something dangerous and threatening to the nation. Those interviewed are quick to place emphasis on the fierce intellects and the almost peerless use of language both men made their specialty. With eloquence and saber-sharp wit at their disposal, Vidal and Buckley's debates were looked upon as an intellectual prize-fight. Both contestants were expected to be brutal and merciless.

Biographical territory is also covered in the film. We learn that both men were well-educated and privileged; their respective backgrounds very similar. While Buckley pursued higher education, Gore wrote his first novel at nineteen, thus beginning a prolific, authorial career.

The film wastes little time showing the debates, which are divided appropriately by rounds. Though what we see and hear is hardly surprising, given both men's antipathy for his opponent's politics, it is still quite fascinating to listen as they verbally jab and parry. A Buckley biographer speaks of his ability to effectively dismantle an argument, piece by piece, while Vidal's weapons of choice were razor-sharp witticisms, which he could deploy to devastating effect.

But it is the final round, the 10th debate, where the harshest words were exchanged; inappropriately ad hominem but seemingly inevitable. After the near-violent exchange, where Vidal goaded Buckley into fisticuffs, the conservative leader made bigoted comments he would live to regret. One of the insults pointedly targeted Vidal's sexuality; a subject the film could hardly sidestep. The fact that Buckley's own sexuality was suspect makes his outburst all the more peculiar and intriguing.

The latter half of the film deals with the debate's aftermath and its impact on both men into their elder years. We learn that in the 80s', the shame Buckley felt for his outburst was still acute. When an interviewer mentioned having seen the debate, a bewildered Buckley expressed his surprise that the tapes hadn't been destroyed.

We also see how the debates helped spawn news program point/counterpoint commentary.

It is easy to become absorbed in Gordon and Neville's documentary, which captures a time that seems so alive and yet so quaint. Given the shrill, venomous nature of ubiquitous, political diatribes today, one can appreciate the Vidal/Buckley debates as an extinct form of political melee; where eloquent arguments were as highly regarded as facts and statistics. But the film is as much about the adversaries as it is the debates and the state of the nation in the late 60s'.

Best of Enemies is a terrific film and a fascinating time-capsule. Both men have passed on this new century, but like warriors of Homeric lore, they've achieved a legendary status; as nemeses and as intellects.