Born Again (film)

Born Again
Film poster
Directed by	Irving Rapper
Written by	Walter Bloch
Based on	Born Again by Charles Colson
Produced by	Frank Capra Jr.
Starring	Dean Jones Anne Francis Jay Robinson Dana Andrews
Cinematography	Harry Stradling Jr.
Edited by	Axel Hubert Sr.
Music by	Les Baxter
Distributed by	AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release dates	September 29, 1978 (1978-09-29) (Washington, D.C.)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million

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.

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

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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

Dean Jones as Charles Colson
Anne Francis as Patty Colson
Jay Robinson as David Shapiro
Dana Andrews as Tom Phillips
Raymond St. Jacques as Jimmy Newsom
George Brent as Judge Gerhard Gesell
Harold Hughes as Himself
Billy Graham as Himself
Harry Spillman as President Richard M. Nixon
Scott Walker as Scanlon
Robert Gray as Paul Kramer
Arthur Roberts as Al Quie
Ned Wilson as Douglas Coe
Dean Brooks as Dick Howard
Christopher Conrad as Christian "Chris" Colson
Peter Jurasik as Henry Kissinger
Stuart Lee as Wendell Colson
Richard Caine as H.R. Haldeman
Brigid O'Brien as Holly Holm
Robert Broyles as John Ehrlichman
Anthony Canne as Burkhardt
Corinne Michaels as Raquel Ramirez

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

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

External links

Born Again at IMDb
Born Again at the TCM Movie Database
Born Again at the American Film Institute Catalog

Films directed by Irving Rapper

Shining Victory (1941)
One Foot in Heaven (1941)
The Gay Sisters (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
The Corn is Green (1945)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Deception (1946)
The Voice of the Turtle (1947)
Anna Lucasta (1949)
The Glass Menagerie (1950)
Another Man's Poison (1951)
Forever Female (1953)
Bad for Each Other (1953)
Strange Intruder (1956)
The Brave One (1956)
Marjorie Morningstar (1958)
The Miracle (1959)
Pontius Pilate (1962)
The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1962)
The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)
Born Again (1978)

v t e Billy Graham
Leader of Billy Graham Crusades Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Evangelism	Cliff Barrows BMS World Mission Bob Jones University First International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne Covenant) Florida Bible Institute Mordecai Ham Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Los Angeles Crusade (1949) Henrietta Mears Northwestern Bible College Bettie Page Robert Schuller George Beverly Shea Urbana Wheaton College Grady Wilson Youth for Christ Louis Zamperini
Media	Christianity Today (founded 1950) Hour of Decision (1950–1954) Mr. Texas (1951) World Wide Pictures (founded 1951) Man in the 5th Dimension (1964) Two a Penny (1967) Born Again (1978) Billy: The Early Years (2008)
Family	Ruth Graham (wife) Anne Graham Lotz (daughter) Franklin Graham (son) Will Graham (grandson) Tullian Tchividjian (grandson) L. Nelson Bell (father-in-law)
Related	Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Billy Graham Library Billy Graham rule Evangelicalism "Just as I Am" Protestantism Sinner's prayer Southern Baptist Convention

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
U.S. Senator from California (1950–1953)
U.S. Representative for CA–12 (1947–1950)

Pre-presidency

Presidency
(timeline)

Foreign policy	International trips Nixon Doctrine Vietnam War Cambodian bombing Paris Peace Accords "Peace with Honor" Vietnamization Cold War period Linkage policy Tar Baby Option 1972 visit to China Shanghai Communiqué 1973 Chilean coup d'état Détente 1972 Moscow Summit Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty SALT I Treaty Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement Threshold Test Ban Treaty Operation CHAOS Space exploration
Domestic policy	Family Assistance Plan Revised Philadelphia Plan Minority Business Development Agency Native American policy Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Education Amendments of 1972 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Title IX Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 National Cancer Act of 1971 End Stage Renal Disease Program Supplemental Security Income Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act Shafer Commission War on Drugs Drug Enforcement Administration Cannabis policy Federal Contested Elections Act Federal Election Campaign Act 1970 VRA Amendments District of Columbia Home Rule Act Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 Congressional Research Service
Economic policy	Bank Secrecy Act Fair Credit Reporting Act National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Nixon shock Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 Smithsonian Agreement Occupational Safety and Health Act National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible exposure limit U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumer Product Safety Act Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act Securities Investor Protection Act Securities Investor Protection Corporation Tax Reform Act of 1969 Alternative minimum tax Revenue Act of 1971 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Agricultural Act of 1970 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Federal Energy Administration Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act
Environmental policy	Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Quality Improvement Act National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Amendments of 1970 Clean Water Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Performance Standards Noise Control Act Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act Coastal Zone Management Program Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Marine Mammal Protection Act Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Oil Pollution Act of 1973 Water Resources Development Act of 1974
Watergate	Timeline Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone Saturday Night Massacre CRP White House Plumbers Watergate Seven Enemies List list of opponents White House tapes United States v. Nixon (1974) Senate Watergate Committee impeachment process "I am not a crook" Resignation Pardon

Life and
politics

Books

Elections

U.S. House	1946 1948
U.S. Senate	1950
Vice Presidential	1952 campaign selection convention election transition 1956 campaign convention election
Presidential	1960 campaign primaries running mate selection convention debates election 1968 campaign primaries running mate selection convention election 1972 campaign primaries convention election
Gubernatorial	1962