As Bill Connor logged onto his computer from his Upper East Side home Monday, one e-mail attracted his attention. It was from friend and producing partner Ron Howard, acclaimed director of ‘Apollo 13,’ ‘Cinderella Man’ and ‘The DaVinci Code.’

Howard wanted to be kept in the loop about Connor’s trip ‘north.’

Three days later, Connor made the four-and-a-half-hour drive from New York City to Syracuse to be on campus for the screening of his new movie, ‘Frost/Nixon,’ which he helped produce.

Connor introduced the movie before its screening in front of a full Gifford Auditorium. Students, professors and members of the Syracuse community filtered into the crowd to watch the movie with a serious Syracuse University connection.

Not only did Connor, an alumnus, produce it, but the film starred Frank Langella, an SU graduate himself, as the embattled president. Michael Sheen appeared opposite Langella as David Frost, the TV talk show host who conducted one of the first interviews with Nixon after his resignation.

‘Frost/Nixon’ details the dramatic struggle between the two men in a series of four interviews, but manages to keep away from any overt political message and focuses solely on the titular characters. There was serious debate over when to release the film, in order to keep audiences from reading too much into the film, Connor said.

‘Ron didn’t want to use this as a political message,’ he said. ‘At its core, it’s a movie about two men battling each other.’

Television, radio and film professor Peter Moller attended the screening and said it was an amazing production. ‘Frost/Nixon’ was a hit play before being adapted by its playwright, Peter Morgan (‘The Last King of Scotland,’ ‘The Queen’).

‘I was very curious on how it would translate to film,’ Moller said. ‘I think Ron Howard did the right thing.’

Langella is receiving plenty of Oscar buzz for his performance as Nixon. And it almost never happened.

Even though Langella originated the role on Broadway, the studio almost balked on him. Universal Pictures wanted to go with an established movie star, Connor said.

But Langella won over critics ‘by the sheer power of his performance’ on stage, Connor said.

‘He was so damn good night after night on Broadway,’ Connor said.

Just days after the play ended its run on Broadway, Langella boarded a plane to start shooting in California. To get into his character, he insisted on being called ‘Mr. President’ and treated as the commander in chief, Connor said.

But it was all worth it, Connor said. Langella turned in a marvelous performance.

‘It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up,’ he said.

Filming wrapped more than two years ago. Now, Connor is preparing for the film’s countrywide release on Dec. 25. But he wouldn’t miss making the drive north and coming back to his alma mater after 15 years to showcase his hard work.

‘I thought the film played very well,’ Connor said of the screening. ‘I liked to sit in the back and get a sense of what people thought.’

Andrew Cahill, a college buddy of Connor and a freelance advertising copywriter in New York City, came with Connor to the screening. Cahill remembers both he and Connor coming to SU with grand aspirations.

‘You always have to have big dreams,’ Cahill. ‘Everyone chooses to achieve something.’

adbrow03@syr.edu

Published on December 4, 2008 at 12:00 pm