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Without ever attempting a night-club impersonation of the man, Robards cuts to his quick. Whether Nixon /Monckton is railing at his staff or daydreaming about his place in his tory or delivering an overly rehearsed joke to the press, he is always in full focus; we see his melancholia, insecurity, public gracelessness, paranoia and unfathomable hurts.
Washington: Behind Closed Doors may well reduce Watergate to freewheeling soap opera, but in Robards' imperial President, it has a protagonist worthy of a great American tragedy.