Barbarians at the Gate (film)

*Barbarians at the Gate*
Barbarians at the Gate
	DVD cover
Based on	Barbarians at the Gate; by Bryan Burrough; John Helyar;
Written by	Larry Gelbart
Directed by	Glenn Jordan
Starring	James Garner; Jonathan Pryce; Peter Riegert;
Composer	Richard Gibbs
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Thomas M. Hammel; Glenn Jordan;
Producer	Ray Stark
Cinematography	Thomas Del Ruth; Nic Knowland;
Editor	Patrick Kennedy
Production companies	Rastar Pictures; HBO Pictures; Columbia Pictures Television;
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	March 20, 1993

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.^[1]

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

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1993	Artios Awards	Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week	Marsha Kleinman	Nominated	^[2]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Made for Television Movie	Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Ray Stark, and Marykay Powell	Won^[a]	^[3]
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	James Garner	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	Peter Riegert	Nominated
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special	Glenn Jordan	Nominated
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special	Larry Gelbart	Nominated
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special	Linda Pearl, Michael Armani, Jan K. Bergstrom, and Karen O'Hara	Nominated
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special – Single Camera Production	Patrick Kennedy	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special	Jacob Goldstein, Tim Philben, Ken S. Polk, and James A. Williams	Nominated
	Television Critics Association Awards	Program of the Year		Won	^[4]
	Television Critics Association Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Drama		Nominated	^[4]
1994	American Cinema Editors Awards	Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television	Patrick Kennedy	Nominated	^[5]
	CableACE Awards	Movie or Miniseries	Thomas M. Hammel, Glenn Jordan, Larry Gelbart, Ray Stark, and Marykay Powell	Nominated	^[6]
		Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
		Directing for a Movie or Miniseries	Glenn Jordan	Nominated
		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
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television		Won	^[7]
		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	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Adapted Long Form	Larry Gelbart; Based on the book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar	Won^[b]	^[8]

Notes

^ Tied with Stalin.
^ Tied with Walter Halsey Davis and Vickie Patik for Silent Cries.

References

^ "Those Good Old Takeover Days". The New York Times. March 18, 1993.
^ "1993 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 19, 1993. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
^ "Barbarians at the Gate". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
^ "TV Crix Assn. kudocast on E!". Variety. June 16, 1993. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
^ "Nominees/Winners". IMDb. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
^ Herbert, Steven (January 17, 1994). "HBO the Big CableACE Award Winner: Television: Its taking of 34 of 88 trophies far outdistances Showtime's second place with 10". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
^ "Barbarians at the Gate". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
^ "WGA Awards 1993". IMDb. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

External links

Barbarians at the Gate at IMDb

[3] Tied with Stalin.

[9] Tied with Walter Halsey Davis and Vickie Patik for Silent Cries.

[1] "Those Good Old Takeover Days". The New York Times. March 18, 1993.

[2] "1993 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 19, 1993. Retrieved September 20, 2023.

[4] "Barbarians at the Gate". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 20, 2023.

[5] "TV Crix Assn. kudocast on E!". Variety. June 16, 1993. Retrieved December 22, 2013.

[6] "Nominees/Winners". IMDb. Retrieved April 3, 2019.

[7] Herbert, Steven (January 17, 1994). "HBO the Big CableACE Award Winner: Television: Its taking of 34 of 88 trophies far outdistances Showtime's second place with 10". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2023.

[8] "Barbarians at the Gate". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved September 20, 2023.

[10] "WGA Awards 1993". IMDb. Retrieved January 20, 2022.

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