Political Drama Tests the Limits of Diplomacy : Television: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger objects to an upcoming project about his work to extricate the U.S. from the Vietnam War, but TNT executives say the film is accurate and will air.

What began as an innocent lunch between a research-minded actor and his reluctant subject has turned into a head-on clash between one of the world’s most prominent statesmen and Turner Network Television.

Alarmed by what he viewed as inaccuracies in an upcoming TNT movie, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger fired off a 42-page list of objections and brought his attorney, former White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler, into the fray. The trail of correspondence between the two sides began during pre-production and extended into August, after the film had wrapped.

The project in question is “Kissinger & Nixon,” starring Beau Bridges as the President and Ron Silver as his national security adviser. Based on Walter Isaacson’s hard-hitting 1992 bestseller, “Kissinger: A Biography,” the drama tracks a five-month period in late 1972 during which Kissinger worked with the White House to extricate the United States from the Vietnam War.

Turner intends to air the movie, as planned, on Dec. 10 despite Kissinger’s contention that its portrayal of the peace accords is off-base.

“The script sent to Dr. Kissinger contained defamatory material that is not supported by Walter Isaacson’s book and that is contradicted by the historical record,” Cutler said Tuesday via fax from Europe.

Not so, counters Lionel Chetwynd (“Joseph,”), who wrote the teleplay and is an executive producer of the film.

“This is a properly researched and scripted work, one drawn extensively from the Isaacson book but in consultation with other sources,” he said. “Neither Mr. Cutler nor his client have seen the finished film. We didn’t think it was appropriate to bring Kissinger into the process because we didn’t want to be co-opted by any particular point of view. Kissinger’s place in history is secure, but he isn’t vouchsafed from those who want to examine what went on behind closed doors.”

Kissinger and Silver declined comment.

The trouble started in the spring, when Silver set up a lunch for research purposes--against the advice of the filmmakers, sources said. By the end of the meal, Kissinger had a promise from the actor to send him the script. His comments were invited.

Kissinger’s suggestions were considered during Turner’s normal pre-production review process and, after intensive grilling of the filmmakers by in-house lawyers, insiders say, minor factual and tonal changes were made.

Despite the fact that Silver created headaches for the company, a Turner executive gives him the benefit of the doubt.

“Ron is a conscientious actor who also spent time with [attorney] Alan Dershowitz, whom he played in ‘Reversal of Fortune,’ ” said Allen Sabinson, Turner’s executive vice president in charge of original programming. “Though we didn’t find out about the lunch until after the fact, I’m sure his intentions were good.”

Added “Kissinger & Nixon” director Dan Petrie Sr. (“My Name Is Bill W”): “Ron was caught in the middle--feeling sheepish and upset with himself for the indiscretion.”

Although Kissinger raised objections to some segments of his book, Isaacson said, the chapter adapted by TNT presents the then-national security adviser in a generally positive vein.

“In 1972, Kissinger achieved an agreement that allowed America to get out of the war--a better agreement than he would have gotten earlier,” the author said. “Though the Saigon government fell three years later, his actions allowed it to survive.”

Still, in a movie billed as the “interplay of power, politics and personality,” the filmmakers acknowledge, subterfuge, high-level shenanigans and ego manipulation inevitably come into play.

“Though I think Kissinger comes off sympathetically, we present him as a superb game-player,” Petrie said. “He was a good student of Metternich, on whom he did his doctoral dissertation, in that he uses realpolitik to satisfy his country’s needs. To say there’s a certain ruthlessness about him marks him not as evil, but tough. Still, almost no one alive won’t take exception to something biographical . . . it’s hard to view your warts.”

Executive producer Daniel Blatt (“Common Ground”) had the responsibility of calling Silver on the carpet.

“We had some very intense conversations about what he’d done and what he’d do in the future,” Blatt said. “If Ron hadn’t been an actor, he’d be in foreign affairs, so he brought a great deal of intensity to the role of a man who is a world figure and an important force in academia for 25 years. Though Kissinger’s life is public domain, we were careful to go with what we believe is factually correct.”

Although a source close to the project suggests that Kissinger is trying to use the threat of litigation to shape the final cut, experts point out that his legal options are limited.

He could sue for defamation after the program is aired but, as a public figure, has the burden of proving malice--reckless disregard for the truth. The possibility of preventing the show from airing at all, they agree, is slim to none.

Michael Shapiro, a USC Law School professor who teaches First Amendment and constitutional law, sees the muscle-flexing as a largely symbolic gesture.

“Kissinger and Cutler know perfectly well that a lawsuit may lack merit but might feel that they have to sue nevertheless,” he said. “If they don’t respond, it may be perceived as a tacit acknowledgment that the material is true.”

To his USC colleague, media law specialist Matthew Spitzer, however, the case is less clear-cut than it might have been had the lunch not occurred. If new information was contained in the 42-page list of objections, he said, “that enables Kissinger to argue with greater force that the company disregarded the truth.”

Whatever the outcome, the situation is a baptism by fire for TNT executives, for whom “Kissinger & Nixon” is the first political drama about a living public figure after a string of classics, Westerns and historical epics.

“To distinguish it from TV bios on Roseanne and Liz Taylor, this is a high-minded political drama we took care to execute with accuracy and fairness,” Sabinson said. “I can’t imagine why we’d back down.”