Alec Terminates Ties with Arnold Doc

If you ask Alec Baldwin, it was a raw deal.

The Hunt for Red October star is demanding his name be removed from a feature-length documentary chronicling Arnold Schwarzenegger's political ascension, saying some Nazi footage the filmmakers used in the film went "over the line."

In a posting last week on the Huffington Post, Baldwin said he had agreed to narrate Running with Arnold, a look at the onetime Terminator's successful run for governor in California's historic 2003 recall election, and recorded "text to picture" in a New York studio. But Baldwin claimed he did not have time to attend any of the early screenings, despite overtures from the filmmakers.

However, after finally viewing the finished product late last month, the actor is now asking the doc's producer, Mike Gabrawy, to stop using Baldwin's voice and name and return his fee, which was being set aside for charity.

"The film's producers had offered to screen the film for me, but I did not have time to see it. I based my decision on the script I read and went ahead," wrote the 48-year-old Baldwin on his blog. "When I recorded the tracks, I was somewhat dismayed by some of the images I saw."

The actor and outspoken Democratic activist, who has expressed opposition to the Republican Schwarzenegger, says he was bothered by several images in the film that he feels unfairly, if subtly, attempts to associate the Gubernator with Hitler's henchmen."The filmmakers hammer Schwarzenegger over his private behavior and his record as governor," Baldwin noted. "But Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film's images of Nazi rallies were over the line."

Per the Associated Press, one of those images was a photo of Kurt Waldheim, the former president of Schwarzenegger's native Austria, who was discovered to have been a lieutenant in a German unit linked to Nazi war crimes and was subsequently prohibited from entering the United States. The doc notes that Waldheim was invited to Schwarzenegger's wedding but did not attend, and shows a picture of him dressed in his World War II Wehrmacht uniform.

Another shot purports to show paperwork indicating the former Pumping Iron star's father as a member of the Nazi party.

Gabrawy told the AP that Baldwin had the script for well over a month and insisted the filmmakers tried to screen Running with Arnold for him on several occasions, and even postponed his voiceover sessions to accommodate his busy schedule.

"What's really shocking about this situation is that this is not a critical look at Arnold—there's a lot more we could've done to be critical," said Gabrawy, who added that the Oscar nominee only announced his intention to quit the project much later after he finished recording the narration.

The producer noted his team was still planning to move forward with distributing the doc, a move that might land them in legal hot water. That's because Baldwin indicated he's instructed his lawyer to issue a cease-and-desist order to make sure his demands are met.

"The filmmakers have thus far refused to accommodate my requests and have claimed that they have delivery deadlines for distribution that prohibit them from granting them," the actor wrote.

Baldwin wrapped up his post with a general thumbs-down of the documentary and its subject.

"Running with Arnold is not a bad film. It isn't a good one either," he opined. "The people of California have the right to reelect an unqualified man to lead their state, and they have the right to do so without unfair and ultimately offensive images of the Third Reich thrown in for bad measure."

As for his own political ambitions, in an interview with the New York Times on Sunday Baldwin acted coy about following Schwarzenegger's lead. But the 30 Rock star didn't dismiss the possibility of giving up his day job and running for governor of New York, saying he has better political credentials than the former Mr. Universe, whose only pregubernatorial office was heading up a fitness program under the first President Bush.

"I'm Tocqueville compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger," he said.

Aside from NBC's 30 Rock, Baldwin appears on the big screen in the just-released comedy Running with Scissors.  

As for his own political ambitions, in an interview with the New York Times on Sunday Baldwin acted coy about following Schwarzenegger's lead. But the 30 Rock star didn't dismiss the possibility of giving up his day job and running for governor of New York, saying that he has better political credentials than the former Mr. Universe, whose only pre-gubernatorial office was heading up a fitness program under the first President Bush.

"I'm Tocqueville compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger," he said.

Aside from NBC's 30 Rock, Baldwin appears on the big screen in the just-released comedy Running with Scissors.