White House Madness (1975)

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writer:

Milton Miron

Stars:

Steve Friedman, Dennis Fimple, Perry Cook

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Friedman	...	Richard M. Nixon
Dennis Fimple	...	Bob Haldeman
Perry Cook	...	John Mitchell
Rusty Blitz	...	John Erlichman
Lesley Woods	...	Pat Nixon
Merrie Lynn Ross	...	Julie Nixon
Margaret Wheeler	...	Mamie Eisenhower
Kathy Bellinger	...	Tricia Nixon
Oaky Miller	...	Ronald Ziegler
Patti Jerome	...	Martha Mitchell
Peggy Stewart	...	Rosemary Woods
Al Lewis	...	Judge Cirrhosis
Del Hinkley	...	Billy Graham
William Tregoe	...	General Haig
George Skaff	...	King Feisal

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

politics | watergate | nixon | satire | dog | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Checkers

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark L. Lester Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Dirty Harry (1971)

User Reviews

Becomes tiresome quickly

I was interested in seeing this movie when I found about its existence, since it was an early effort by B movie maker Mark L. Lester, who has had quite a career. This is unlike any other movie he's been involved with, since it's a political comedy/satire. One thing the movie got right was its casting of Steve Friedman as Richard Nixon - while he does not really look like Tricky Dickie, his voice sounds similar, and he gives a pretty enthusiastic performance. Unfortunately, he is unable to save the movie. While supposedly a look at the last days of Nixon in the White House, the movie mostly ignores this in order to do its own thing. That might not have been bad had the movie been funny, but it mostly isn't. Most of the gags in the movie come across as dated or old hat, or have good ideas (such as making the Watergate burglars like The Three Stooges) but are botched in their execution. I guess this movie does have historical value, a document of reaction to the times, but I think even historians will be pressing the fast-forward button before the end.