Barbarians at the Gate (film)

{{Short description|1993 television film directed by Glenn Jordan}}

{{Infobox television

| image = BarbariansAtTheGateDVDCover.jpg

| caption = DVD cover

| based_on = {{Based on|Barbarians at the Gate|Bryan Burrough|John Helyar}}

| writer = Larry Gelbart

| director = Glenn Jordan

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| composer = Richard Gibbs

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

Thomas M. Hammel
Glenn Jordan

}}

| producer = Ray Stark

| cinematography = {{Plainlist|

Thomas Del Ruth
Nic Knowland

}}

| editor = Patrick Kennedy

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| network = HBO

| released = {{Start date|1993|03|20}}

}}

Barbarians at the Gate is a 1993 American biographical comedy-drama television film directed by Glenn Jordan and written by Larry Gelbart, based on the 1989 book of the same name by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar. The film stars James Garner, Jonathan Pryce, and Peter Riegert. It tells the true story of F. Ross Johnson, who was the president and CEO of RJR Nabisco.

Barbarians at the Gate received generally positive reviews from critics. The film earned nine nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards (winning for Outstanding Made for Television Movie). It also won Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television and Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for Garner at the Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

Self-made multimillionaire F. Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco, decides to take the tobacco and food conglomerate company private in 1988 after receiving advanced news of the likely market failure of the company's smokeless cigarette called Premier, the development of which had been intended to finally boost the company's stock price.{{cite news |title=Those Good Old Takeover Days |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEEDB113CF93BA25750C0A965958260 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 18, 1993 }}

The free-spending Johnson's bid for the company is opposed by two of the pioneers of the leveraged buyout, Henry Kravis and his cousin. Kravis feels betrayed when, after Johnson initially discusses doing the LBO with Kravis, he takes the potentially enormous deal to another firm, the Shearson Lehman Hutton division of American Express.

Other bidders emerge, including Ted Forstmann and his company, Forstmann Little, after Kravis and Johnson are unable to reconcile their differences. The bidding goes to unprecedented heights, and when executive Charles Hugel becomes aware of how much Johnson stands to profit in a transaction that will put thousands of Nabisco employees out of work, he quips, "Now I know what the 'F' in F. Ross Johnson stands for." The greed is so evident, Kravis's final bid is declared the winner, even though Johnson's was higher.

The title of the book and movie comes from a statement by Forstmann in which he calls Kravis' money "phoney junk bond crap" and how he and his brother are "real people with real money," and that to stop raiders like Kravis: "We need to push the barbarians back from the city gates."

Cast

James Garner as F. Ross Johnson
Jonathan Pryce as Henry Kravis
Peter Riegert as Peter Cohen
Joanna Cassidy as Linda Robinson
Fred Dalton Thompson as Jim Robinson
Leilani Sarelle (credited as Leilani Ferrer) as Laurie Johnson
Matt Clark as Edward A. Horrigan, Jr.
Jeffrey DeMunn as H. John Greeniaus
David Rasche as Ted Forstmann
Tom Aldredge as Charles Hugel
Graham Beckel as Don Kelly
Peter Dvorsky as George R. Roberts
Mark Harelik as Peter Atkins
Joseph Kell as Nick Forstmann
Rita Wilson as Carolyne Roehm-Kravis
Ron Canada as Vernon Jordan

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
Year ! Award ! Category ! Nominee(s) ! Result ! Ref.
rowspan="12"\| {{center\|1993}} \| Artios Awards \| Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week \| Marsha Kleinman \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{Cite web \|url=https://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1993 \|title=1993 Artios Awards \|publisher=Casting Society of America \|date=October 19, 1993 \|access-date=September 20, 2023}}
rowspan="9"\| Primetime Emmy Awards \| Outstanding Made for Television Movie \| Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Ray Stark, and Marykay Powell \| {{won}}{{efn\|Tied with Stalin.}} \| align="center" rowspan="9"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/barbarians-gate \|title=Barbarians at the Gate \|publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences \|access-date=September 20, 2023}}
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special \| James Garner \| {{nom}}
rowspan="2"\| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special \| Jonathan Pryce \| {{nom}}
Peter Riegert \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special \| Glenn Jordan \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special \| Larry Gelbart \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special \| Linda Pearl, Michael Armani, Jan K. Bergstrom, and Karen O'Hara \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special – Single Camera Production \| Patrick Kennedy \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special \| Jacob Goldstein, Tim Philben, Ken S. Polk, and James A. Williams \| {{nom}}
rowspan="2"\| Television Critics Association Awards \| colspan="2"\| Program of the Year \| {{won}} \| align="center" rowspan="2"\| {{cite web \|url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/tv-crix-assn-kudocast-on-e-107831/ \|title=TV Crix Assn. kudocast on E! \|publisher=Variety \|date=June 16, 1993 \|access-date=December 22, 2013}}
colspan="2"\| Outstanding Achievement in Drama \| {{nom}}
rowspan="10"\| {{center\|1994}} \| American Cinema Editors Awards \| Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television \| Patrick Kennedy \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000017/1994/1/?ref_=ev_eh \|title=Nominees/Winners \|publisher=IMDb \|access-date=April 3, 2019}}
rowspan="5"\| CableACE Awards \| Movie or Miniseries \| Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Larry Gelbart, Ray Stark, and Marykay Powell \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="5"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-17-ca-12851-story.html \|title=HBO the Big CableACE Award Winner: Television: Its taking of 34 of 88 trophies far outdistances Showtime's second place with 10. \|last=Herbert \|first=Steven \|work=Los Angeles Times \|date=January 17, 1994 \|access-date=September 20, 2023}}
Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries \| Jonathan Pryce \| {{nom}}
Directing for a Movie or Miniseries \| Glenn Jordan \| {{nom}}
Writing for a Movie or Miniseries \| Larry Gelbart \| {{won}}
Art Direction in a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries \| Linda Pearl \| {{won}}
rowspan="3"\| Golden Globe Awards \| colspan="2"\| Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television \| {{won}} \| align="center" rowspan="3"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/barbarians-gate \|title=Barbarians at the Gate \|publisher=Golden Globe Awards \|access-date=September 20, 2023}}
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television \| James Garner \| {{won}}
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television \| Jonathan Pryce \| {{nom}}
Writers Guild of America Awards \| Adapted Long Form \| Larry Gelbart; Based on the book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar \| {{won}}{{efn\|Tied with Walter Halsey Davis and Vickie Patik for Silent Cries.}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000710/1994/1/?ref_=ev_eh \|title=WGA Awards 1993 \|publisher=IMDb \|access-date=January 20, 2022}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

Year

! Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

! Ref.

rowspan="12"| {{center|1993}}

| Artios Awards

| Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week

| Marsha Kleinman

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{Cite web |url=https://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1993 |title=1993 Artios Awards |publisher=Casting Society of America |date=October 19, 1993 |access-date=September 20, 2023}}

rowspan="9"| Primetime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Made for Television Movie

| Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Ray Stark, and
Marykay Powell

| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with Stalin.}}

| align="center" rowspan="9"| {{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/barbarians-gate |title=Barbarians at the Gate |publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |access-date=September 20, 2023}}

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special

| James Garner

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special

| Jonathan Pryce

| {{nom}}

Peter Riegert

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special

| Glenn Jordan

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special

| Larry Gelbart

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special

| Linda Pearl, Michael Armani, Jan K. Bergstrom, and
Karen O'Hara

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special –
Single Camera Production

| Patrick Kennedy

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special

| Jacob Goldstein, Tim Philben, Ken S. Polk, and
James A. Williams

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| Television Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Program of the Year

| {{won}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/tv-crix-assn-kudocast-on-e-107831/ |title=TV Crix Assn. kudocast on E! |publisher=Variety |date=June 16, 1993 |access-date=December 22, 2013}}

colspan="2"| Outstanding Achievement in Drama

| {{nom}}

rowspan="10"| {{center|1994}}

| American Cinema Editors Awards

| Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television

| Patrick Kennedy

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000017/1994/1/?ref_=ev_eh |title=Nominees/Winners |publisher=IMDb |access-date=April 3, 2019}}

rowspan="5"| CableACE Awards

| Movie or Miniseries

| Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Larry Gelbart,
Ray Stark, and Marykay Powell

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="5"| {{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-17-ca-12851-story.html |title=HBO the Big CableACE Award Winner: Television: Its taking of 34 of 88 trophies far outdistances Showtime's second place with 10. |last=Herbert |first=Steven |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 17, 1994 |access-date=September 20, 2023}}

Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries

| Jonathan Pryce

| {{nom}}

Directing for a Movie or Miniseries

| Glenn Jordan

| {{nom}}

Writing for a Movie or Miniseries

| Larry Gelbart

| {{won}}

Art Direction in a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries

| Linda Pearl

| {{won}}

rowspan="3"| Golden Globe Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

| {{won}}

| align="center" rowspan="3"| {{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/barbarians-gate |title=Barbarians at the Gate |publisher=Golden Globe Awards |access-date=September 20, 2023}}

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

| James Garner

| {{won}}

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

| Jonathan Pryce

| {{nom}}

Writers Guild of America Awards

| Adapted Long Form

| Larry Gelbart;
Based on the book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar

| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with Walter Halsey Davis and Vickie Patik for Silent Cries.}}

| align="center"| {{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000710/1994/1/?ref_=ev_eh |title=WGA Awards 1993 |publisher=IMDb |access-date=January 20, 2022}}