A national party convention in L.A. is the pit where a number of political bulldogs fight it out for the endorsement of the former president. Gore Vidal's acidic script comes up with an amalgam of candidates that captures the breadth of available politics. Henry Fonda plays quiet intellectual William Russell, the progressive democrat who is a reassuring mixture of Adlai Stevenson and John Kennedy. His opponent is Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), the no-holds-barred ruthless candidate who apes the nastiness of Nixon and Goldwater. They both go abegging to Art Hockstader (Lee Tracey), the ailing ex-prez who walks a tightrope between Truman and Eisenhower. In a superbly ironic plot, the tension mounts to the degree that the real issues vanish, and the showdown is played over mutual threats of character assassination. Vidal's dialogue cuts like a knife. For familiarity's sake, just replace Russell and Cantwell with the contemporary candidates of your choice.-Steve Seid