Newspaper Movie: All the President's Men

23 Jan

As a newspaper obsessive, I’ve been compiling a list of films set in newspapers, you can find the others here. If you have a newspaper-related movie to recommend, that I’ve missed, please let me know.

All the President’s Men (1976)

Rating: 5 stars
Newsroom quotient: 5
Rolling presses vibe: 5
Newspaper featured: The Washington Post
Newsroom used for filming: Burbank soundstage

It's a classic. With the possible exception of Citizen Kane probably the best-known film on my list. You've probably seen it, but trust me it warrants another look, and if you've never watched it you're in for a treat.

Stephen Spielberg’s 2017 movie, The Post, finishes with the break-in to the Watergate Building. The scene is almost identical to the opening of All the President's Men, which was released some forty-one years before. I like to think it's a nod from Spielberg to Alan J. Pakula director of All the President's Men.

On 17th June 1972, five men broke into the Democratic National Committee offices housed on the sixth floor of the Watergate Building. An event which, in large part, led two years later to the resignation of President Nixon.

The film dramatises the first seven-months of The Washington Post's two-year investigation into the burglary. The passing of those two years is one of the only areas where the film falls down. You get little impression of how long they worked on the story before getting the break they needed. It's a long and complicated story which I won't attempt to précis here. The book of the same name by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, on which the film was based, is an excellent read.

Carl Bernstein is wonderfully played by Dustin Hoffman, who definitely got the better part. I've not seen more than the briefest interview with Carl Bernstein, so Hoffman's character may not be entirely authentic. Still, it's impossible not to love the hyperactive, chain-smoking, version of Bernstein. Robert Redford, whose production company made the film plays Bob Woodward, a much calmer, fastidious soul.

In her autobiography, Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, writes, "In some ways it was the natural pairing, since their qualities and skills complemented each other. Both are bright, but Woodward was conscientious, hardworking and driven, and Bernstein messy and undisciplined. He was, however, the better writer, more imaginative and creative."

All the President's Men received eight Academy Award nominations, winning four. Jason Robards won best supporting actor for playing Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post. The reporting of events around the break-in earned The Washington Post the 1973 Pulitzer Prize.

Katharine Graham's autobiography.

Let's stay safe out there.