‘Best of Enemies’ review: William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal change television

Political pundits yell at each other all the time on television today, but in 1968, the world of television was different. You could see people of two different political ideals debate the issues in commentary-dedicated shows. But in 1968, ABC was desperate to get viewers for its convention coverage. They turned to conservative pundit William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal novelist Gore Vidal to add something extra to their unconventional convention coverage.

The result was 10 televised debates that changed the face of television as we know it. Those debates are the subject of Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s fascinating new documentary Best of Enemies.

The film runs at breakneck speed, running just 87 minutes, but there is so much ground to cover and it exceeds in sticking to its subject. The debates themselves were as fascinating as the two men involved, since audiences hadn’t seen anything like this in 1968. Two intellectuals battled it out, focusing on the issues that divided the country at the time. We think of 1968 as a battle between protesters and police, but it was much more than that. It was a fight for the heart of the U.S. and Vidal and Buckley somehow encapsulated that during their debates.

If there’s anything to learn from Best of Enemies (and there is a lot to learn from this film), it’s that intellectuals used to be respected in political circles. Ratings for the Buckley/Vidal debates were so great that the other networks added commentary to convention coverage in 1972. But you have to wonder how many of today’s Republicans would pay attention to Buckley’s intellectual conservatism. Or how many Democrats would want to listen to Vidal.

Gordon and Neville also do a good job at providing background on Buckley and Vidal without going too far from their main subject. It’s a balancing act, because they know that many of today’s viewers aren’t too familiar with them, but they also have to stay focused on the debates. They managed to provide enough information on the two men to put the debates in their place in the history of these two men.

The film also goes a bit beyond the debates, which were the only times that Buckley and Vidal ever met in person. Buckley later sued Vidal over an essay published in Esquire (after Buckley had published one about the debates in Esquire) and the film’s latter portion deals with that case. There are also a few fascinating interviews that go over the impact the debates had on television and ABC.

Best of Enemies is an engrossing film that not only looks at the debates, but at the importance they had in shaping television. It’s sad, too, because it shows that the only thing TV executives learned from the debates was that people like to watch two people get under each others’ skins. They should have learned that people like to hear intelligent discourse that can be learned from.

The film will be released on DVD by Magnolia Films on Nov. 3. It was reviewed at the Savannah Film Festival and presented by Savannah College of Art and Design.