I thought the film was absolutely fascinating, but I was left unclear as to whether the phone call was a real event or merely a useful plot device. Is it widely accepted as true, debated, or entirely fabricated?
^(Please note, my question relates to the real events in 1977, and as such falls beyond this subreddit's 20-year embargo. The 2008 film merely prompted the question.)
In another admission, screenwriter Peter Morgan told the same screening audience that Nixon's fictionalized high-tension phone call to Frost one night between interview sessions did not actually happen, but was plausible because Nixon mixed alcohol with mood stabilizers.
"We know he made late night phone calls. He didn't remember them," Morgan said, adding "I had what I felt got to the heart of Richard Nixon" including a tendency to "destroy himself."
As the screenwriter fully admits to fabricating the scene I think this answer can be made without consulting the historical record; however I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about Nixon can add that. My knowledge here comes from mainly theatre and entertainment, and the screenwriter has said in many forums that the scene is 100% fiction, created using existing knowledge of his drug habits to illustrate a part of Nixon's personality.
Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ron-howard-says-he-voted-richard-nixon
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