The White House Screening of The Hunt For Red October Had Celebrities, Spies and (Maybe) a Sex Scandal

By Matt Novak, Gizmodo, Apr. 26, 2016

President George H. W. Bush hosted a star-studded screening of The Hunt for Red October at the White House on February 19, 1990. The guests included everyone from Tom Clancy and James Earl Jones to the CEO of Paramount and Colin Powell. Robert Gates was there, as was the director of the CIA, and men from the highest ranks of the Navy. But there are some guests who still remain a secret, even to this day.

I obtained photos of the movie screening through a Freedom of Information request to the George Bush Presidential Library. And the photos that have been withheld are nearly as interesting as the photos I got.

It’s sort of a surreal event to imagine, in retrospect. The Hunt for Red October, based on Tom Clancy’s 1984 book of the same name, is notable for being the last American film produced about the Cold War during the Cold War. And this gathering of Hollywood elites and the National Security establishment could almost be seen as both a victory lap for the Cold War and a pre-game meeting for the first Gulf War.

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