Barbarians at the Gate (film)

File:BarbariansAtTheGateDVDCover.jpg DVD cover
Based on	Template:Based on
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
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	HBO
Original release

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 45th Primetime Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Made for Television Movie. It also won Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for Garner at the 51st 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 advance 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.

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 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	Recipient(s)	Result
1993	9th TCA Awards	Program of the Year	Barbarians at the Gate	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Drama		Nominated
	45th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Made for Television Movie	Thomas M. Hammel Glenn Jordan Marykay Powell Ray Stark	Won
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	James Garner	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
			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 Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special	Michael Armani Jan K. Bergstrom Karen O'Hara Linda Pearl	Nominated
		Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Special	Patrick Kennedy	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Special	Jacob Goldstein Tim Philben Ken S. Polk James A. Williams	Nominated
	9th Artios Awards	Best Casting for Movie of the Week	Marsha Kleinman	Nominated
1994	16th CableACE Awards	Best Movie or Miniseries	Larry Gelbart Thomas M. Hammel Glenn Jordan Marykay Powell Ray Stark	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
		Best Directing for a Movie or Miniseries	Glenn Jordan	Nominated
		Best Writing for a Movie or Miniseries	Larry Gelbart	Won
		Best Art Direction in a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries	Linda Pearl	Won
	51st Golden Globe Awards	Best Miniseries or Television Film	Barbarians at the Gate	Won
		Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film	James Garner	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
	46th Writers Guild of America Awards	Adapted Long Form (Television)	Larry Gelbart	Won
	44th ACE Eddie Awards	Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television	Patrick Kennedy	Nominated

External links

• Barbarians at the Gate at IMDb

1. REDIRECT Template:EmmyAward TelevisionMovie
2. REDIRECT Template:Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film