Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story
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Running time 25 mins Country United States Language English
Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story is a
short film directed by
Woody Allen in 1971. The film was a
satirization of the
Richard Nixon administration made in
mockumentary style.
Allen plays Harvey Wallinger, a thinly disguised version of
Henry Kissinger. The short was produced as a
television special for
PBS and was scheduled to air in February 1972, but it was pulled from the schedule shortly before the airdate. Reportedly, PBS officials feared losing its government support and decided not to air it. Allen, who previously had sworn off doing television work, cited this as an example of why he should "stick to movies". The special never aired and can now be viewed in
The Paley Center for Media.
Two of Allen's regular
leading ladies,
Louise Lasser and
Diane Keaton, make appearances, as does the Richard Nixon-
lookalike Richard M.
Dixon. The fictional characters are interspersed with
newsreel footage of
Hubert Humphrey,
Spiro Agnew, and Nixon in embarrassing public moments. Allen would later explore this style again in
Zelig.