CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story

1971 film by Woody Allen

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ3305681
Source-derived summary

Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story is a short film directed by Woody Allen in 1971. It is a satirization of the Richard Nixon administration made in mockumentary style.

Allen plays Harvey Wallinger, a thinly disguised version of Henry Kissinger. The short was produced as a television special for PBS and was scheduled to air in February 1972, but it was pulled from the schedule shortly before its airdate, as PBS officials reportedly feared it would affect their government funding support. Allen, who had previously sworn off television work, cited it as an example of why he should "stick to movies". The special never aired, but it can now be viewed in The Paley Center for Media, and is often found on YouTube.

Two of Allen's regular leading ladies, Louise Lasser and Diane Keaton, make appearances, as does Richard Nixon-lookalike Richard M. Dixon. Actor Reed Hadley narrates. The fictional characters are interspersed with newsreel footage of Hubert Humphrey, Spiro Agnew and Nixon in embarrassing public moments. Allen later explored this style in his 1983 film Zelig.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story” as 1971 film by Woody Allen. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1971, 1972, 1983—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1971-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Crisis, Harvey and Wallinger can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1971 film by Woody Allen. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3305681. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1972 and 1983.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story primary sources, Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story archive and Crisis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.