

Best of Enemies
“Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.”
Overview
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?"
Top Cast

Gore Vidal
Self

William F. Buckley Jr.
Self

Kelsey Grammer
Voice of William F. Buckley

John Lithgow
Voice of Gore Vidal

Dick Cavett
Self

Christopher Hitchens
Self

Noam Chomsky
Self (archival)
Reid Buckley
Self

Andrew Sullivan
Self
Todd Gitlin
Self
Brooke Gladstone
Self

Paul Newman
Self (archival)
Key Film Crew
Production Stats
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