All the President's Men (1976)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

Carl Bernstein (book) &
Bob Woodward (book) ...

Release Date:

9 April 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

At times it looked like it might cost them their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives.

Plot:

Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation.

Plot Keywords:

Nixon | Watergate | Reporter | Journalist | White House

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Carl Bernstein
Robert Redford	...	Bob Woodward
Jack Warden	...	Harry Rosenfeld
Martin Balsam	...	Howard Simons
Hal Holbrook	...	Deep Throat
Jason Robards	...	Ben Bradlee
Jane Alexander	...	Bookkeeper
Meredith Baxter	...	Debbie Sloan
Ned Beatty	...	Dardis
Stephen Collins	...	Hugh Sloan
Penny Fuller	...	Sally Aiken
John McMartin	...	Foreign Editor
Robert Walden	...	Donald Segretti
Frank Wills	...	Frank Wills
F. Murray Abraham	...	Arresting Officer #1

Runtime:

138 min | Spain:125 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating after appeal) (certificate #27119) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:10 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Finland:S | Iceland:L | Norway:12 (1976) | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film contains 25 telephone conversations in which we are privy to both sides of the exchange.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Bernstein and Woodward talk to Dean about why he revoked his statement, you can see people walking into the hallway, startling when they see the camera and then walk past the wall as if they could keep out of the shot.

Quotes:

Ben Bradlee: Bernstein, are you sure on this story?
Carl Bernstein: Absolutely.
Ben Bradlee: Woodward?
Carl Bernstein: I'm sure.
Ben Bradlee: I'm not. It still seems thin.
Howard Simons: Get another source.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Veronica Mars: You Think You Know Somebody (#1.5)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Concerto in C for two trumpets

Truth is stranger...

A central problem for all thrillers is that the need to find twist after clever twist means that stories escalate quickly into realms of implausibility; an apparently boring tale of low level corruption soon brings down the President of the United States. Which gives 'All the President's Men' a huge advantage over most thrillers, because this film (based on the Watergate incident in 1972) can tell such a story and support it on the basis that all of it is true. Director Alan Pakula, something of a conspiracy thriller specialist, here does a great job in adapting the book written by the journalists who broke the story: the film is never overly melodramatic, but is always tense, and although it has pair of heroes, we're left in no doubt of their selfish motivations as they work potential witnesses any way they can in their bid to nail the truth. Unlike most clichéd detective thrillers, the true nature of the crime is unknown (and arguably, remains unknown to this day), so even though we know what happened, there's an air of unpredictability to the story; reporters Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) don't know what they are looking for, even though they are certain that (somewhere) it is there. The plot is nicely paced, and even dares to skip lightly over the eventual vindication of the journalist's hunches, preferring to concentrate on how it felt for them, chasing this huge story, over a mere historical reconstruction of President Nixon's demise. Indeed, although Nixon appears in this film, it's only on television, and played by himself. This means that what we don't get is a wider analysis: a theory as to the true motive of Nixon's actions is hinted at but nothing more; nor does the film tell us whether it regards his behaviour as a disgrace to modern politics, or an mere symptom of them. In this respect, Oliver Stone's (more fanciful) 'Nixon' makes an interesting companion piece. But as a complex, gripping and understated thriller, 'All the President's Men' has few equals. Truth is stranger than fiction indeed.