When Nixon Asked Robert Altman for a Copy of "Nashville"

My wife generally works the Netflix account pretty vigorously. Our movie watching patterns were recently affected when our DVD return did not reach Netflix in the usual prompt manner. I wondered if a little inside game would have helped our chances.

I wouldn't know who to contact at Netflix. However, in a different era, it was possible to contact a human being and cut through red tape. Evidence on behalf of this proposition was recently demonstrated by the movie maestros at the Criterion Collection. They posted via Facebook a reproduction of correspondence from the one and only Richard Nixon to Robert Altman. Tricky Dick asked the very liberal film director if he could forward him a copy of Nashville. If you didn't see the request in print, you would have imagined this was a Hollywood barroom gag.

It's not, and you can see the proof above.