All the President's Men (Film)
**All the President's Men (Film) Overview**
All the President's Men is a critically acclaimed film that chronicles the investigative journalism of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the Watergate scandal, a pivotal event in American political history. Released in 1976, the film portrays how these two young reporters, played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, uncovered the deeper criminal conduct linked to the Nixon administration following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. It highlights the challenges they faced within a complacent media environment, as their editors debated the significance of what initially seemed like a minor burglary.
Directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on the book by Woodward and Bernstein, the film features a strong ensemble cast, including Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee, the editor of The Washington Post. The film is noted not only for its gripping narrative but also for its innovative cinematography, which employs split-screen techniques and varied color temperatures to enhance the storytelling. It received several Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay, and remains a significant cultural artifact that reflects the public's growing distrust of governmental authority during the 1970s. Ultimately, All the President's Men serves as both a suspenseful thriller and a poignant commentary on political ethics and accountability.
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Subject Terms
All the President's Men (Film)
Identification Motion picture
Date Released in 1976
Director Alan J. Pakula
The cinematic dramatization of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s 1974 account of their investigation into the burglary at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C., was an unlikely candidate for a blockbuster film.
Key Figures
Alan J. Pakula (1928-1998), film director
When operatives of the Republican Party broke into offices of the Democratic National Committee before Richard M. Nixon’s reelection campaign in 1972, few paid attention to the story. All the President’s Men documents the efforts of two relatively inexperienced reporters—Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman ) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford )—who persevered and demonstrated that the Watergate incident went beyond dirty tricks to criminal conduct perpetrated by the highest levels of the Nixon administration. The film does an excellent job of demonstrating the social complacency that surrounded the 1972 election, as editors at The Washington Post quarreled over the legitimacy of a story about some obscure burglars.
The film gained attention for its stellar production: the cast, including Hoffman, Redford, and Jason Robards as editor Ben Bradlee; the direction of Alan J. Pakula; the screenplay by William Goldman; and the cinematography by Gordon Willis. Filmgoers saw it as a taut thriller that succeeded as a brilliant historical synopsis.
The Watergate scandal eventually gained national attention when a legislative investigation was broadcast during the summer of 1974 and an array of political operatives gave often confusing testimony. The film manages to clarify the events and gives clear personalities to some of the principal figures, among them Hugh W. Sloan, Jr. (Stephen Collins), the treasurer for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) who is revealed to be a decent man caught in an ethical nightmare. In a telling moment, as Bernstein interviews the scapegoat for dirty tricks, Donald Segretti (Robert Walden), Segretti bemoans the fact that his antics, which paled in comparison to the burglary, will cost him his license to practice law and any hope of a decent reputation. The film accurately portrays how the shadow of Watergate eventually eclipsed many lives and destroyed numerous careers.
Impact
Although All the President’s Men was a blockbuster from the moment that it was released and thus part of a cinematic phenomenon that defined the 1970’s, it also stands with some of the most accomplished and daring films of its era. Cinematically, it relied on extraordinary techniques. It used dioptric lenses, creating a split-screen effect that allows subjects in both the foreground and background to appear in focus simultaneously. The film also used different color temperatures in the same shot, giving surrounding light different colors and tones depending on the location.
The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Editing. It won Best Supporting Actor for Robards, Best Screenplay for Goldman, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound. Perhaps most important, the film thematically revealed the atmosphere of betrayal and public disgust over political excesses.
Bibliography
Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All the President’s Men. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
Hume, Ellen. “The Weight of Watergate.” In Defining Moments in Journalism, edited by Nancy J. Woodhull. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1998.
Huntley, Reid. “All the King’s Men and All the President’s Men: Two Studies of Power over Society.” In Film and Society, edited by Douglas Radcliff-Umstead. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1990.