Path to War (2002) (TV)

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writer (WGA):

Daniel Giat (written by)

Release Date:

18 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Beyond the battlefields of Vietnam. Inside the halls of power. A different kind of war would decide the fate of a nation.

Plot:

In the mid-1960s, President Johnson and his foreign-policy team debate the decision to withdraw from or escalate the war in Vietnam.

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | President | Vietnam War | Light At The End Of The Tunnel | Troop Buildup

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 17 nominations

Cast

Michael Gambon	...	Lyndon Johnson
Donald Sutherland	...	Clark Clifford
Alec Baldwin	...	Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense
Bruce McGill	...	George Ball, Undersecretary of State
James Frain	...	Richard Goodwin
Felicity Huffman	...	Lady Bird Johnson
Frederic Forrest	...	General Earle G. Wheeler
John Aylward	...	Dean Rusk, Secretary of State
Philip Baker Hall	...	Everett Dirkson
Tom Skerritt	...	General William Westmoreland
Diana Scarwid	...	Marny Clifford
Sarah Paulson	...	Luci Baines Johnson
Gerry Becker	...	Walt Rostow
Peter Jacobson	...	Adam Yarmolinsky
Cliff De Young	...	McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor (as Cliff DeYoung)

Runtime:

165 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Avenue Pictures Productions

Trivia:

The extensive historical research for this film resulted in a script with a five-page, single-spaced bibliography.

Quotes:

George Ball, Undersecretary of State: Clark, I can't tell you how grateful I am to finally have an ally at the barricades.
Clark Clifford: Well, it's just what makes sense, George. Not to Bob McNamara, but to me. A million men was straight out of your memo of October of last year. An impressively persuasive document, in my opinion.
George Ball, Undersecretary of State: All 67 pages of it? Well, it's true I haven't shown much restraint on the subject. If the President brought you in, it must be because I'm like... an old, broken record now.
Clark Clifford: Then there'll be two of us - scratchy and irritating as hell.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hail to the Chief

curious omission

Although I immensely enjoyed & admired this film, I was struck by

a curious omission: there is neither an appearance by nor a

reference to Hubert Humphrey, LBJ's VP at the time. Even his

appearance at the opening inaugural ball would have helped. If

his role were insignificant or non-existent, there should have been

some reference to this; if he tried to persuade LBJ to withdraw our

troops from Vietnam & were shut out of further counseling

sessions because of this, that too should have been mentioned.

When HH ran as Dem prez candidate in 1968, he was burdened

by the war just as LBJ would have been. If there were a line about

Humphrey (& 1 or 2 lines might be all that would be necessary), I

missed it. Or were there legal problems that made the director or

writer or producer determine not to allude to him?