Born Again (film)

Born Again is a 1978 American biographical drama film directed by Hollywood veteran Irving Rapper depicting the involvement of Charles Colson in the Watergate scandal, his subsequent conversion to Christianity and his prison term. It stars Dean Jones as Colson, Anne Francis as his wife, Dana Andrews as Tom Phillips, Harry Spillman as President Nixon, former Senator Harold Hughes as himself and George Brent in his final film. The film was released by Avco Embassy Pictures.

Born Again
Film poster
Directed byIrving Rapper
Written byWalter Bloch
Based onBorn Again
by Charles Colson
Produced byFrank Capra Jr.
Starring
CinematographyHarry Stradling Jr.
Edited byAxel Hubert Sr.
Music byLes Baxter
Distributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures
Release dates
  • September 29, 1978 (1978-09-29) (Washington, D.C.)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million

The title theme song "Born Again," with music by Les Baxter and lyrics by Craig Johnson, was sung by Larnelle Harris.

Plot

As president Richard Nixon's special counsel, Colson has power and prestige along with an office in the White House. After the Watergate scandal, Colson pleads guilty and is sent to prison. The experience changes him drastically, and he establishes Prison Fellowship International, a Christian ministry that now reaches around the world.[1]

Cast

Production

Filming for Born Again took place between December 14, 1977, and February 8, 1978, at locations in Washington, D.C., including the Capitol Building, the White House, the Executive Office Building, the Justice Department, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square and the Watergate complex.

Some exteriors were filmed in California. The Los Angeles County Superior Court stood in for Judge Gesell's Washington courtroom and the Chino penitentiary known officially as the California Institution for Men doubled as the federal prison camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where Colson served his sentence. Soundstage interiors filmed at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California included replicas of the offices of H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Colson, and Colson donated several items that were used in the set.[2]

Release

The world premiere of Born Again was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on September 24, 1978, with Charles Colson in attendance.

Two hundred prints of the film were released over a series of two-week periods in three successive regional waves:

  • September 29 and October 6, 1978: Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Portland, Oregon
  • November 3 to December 10, 1978: Charlotte, Los Angeles, Denver and Milwaukee
  • Christmas and New Year's 1978-79: Minneapolis, Des Moines, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Indianapolis and New Orleans

The film's producers partnered with a religious public-relations expert to promote the film to the Christian community nationwide. The outreach campaign included premieres to benefit Colson’s charity, Prison Fellowship.

Reception

A TV Guide review stated: "In Born Again Colson (played by Jones) realizes the error of his ways and is born again. His faith sustains him through his prison term. In this sympathetic script, Colson emerges as an innocent who is drawn into the devious machinations of Washington without his actually engaging in anything untoward."[3]

Home media

On January 13, 2009, a 30th-anniversary edition of the film was released on DVD in Region 1 by Crown Movie Classics.

References
  1. Born Again: DVD Release (January 13, 2009), The Dove Foundation Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  2. Born Again production details, American Film Institute Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  3. Born Again (Overview), TV Guide Retrieved 2017-09-20.
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