All the President's Men (1976)

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

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

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
David Arkin	...	Eugene Bachinski
Henry Calvert	...	Bernard L. Barker
Dominic Chianese	...	Eugenio R. Martinez
Bryan Clark	...	Arguing Attorney (as Bryan E. Clark)
Nicolas Coster	...	Markham
Lindsay Crouse	...	Kay Eddy (as Lindsay Ann Crouse)
Valerie Curtin	...	Miss Milland
Gene Dynarski	...	Court Clerk
Nate Esformes	...	Virgilio R. Gonzales
Ron Hale	...	Frank Sturgis
Richard Herd	...	James W. McCord, Jr.
Polly Holliday	...	Dardis' Secretary
James Karen	...	Hugh Sloan's Lawyer
Paul Lambert	...	National Editor
Frank Latimore	...	Judge
Gene Lindsey	...	Alfred D. Baldwin
Anthony Mannino	...	Arresting Officer #2
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Carolyn Abbott
James Murtaugh	...	Congress Library Clerk
John O'Leary	...	Attorney #1
Jess Osuna	...	Joe, FBI Agent
Neva Patterson	...	CRP Woman
George Pentecost	...	George
Penny Peyser	...	Sharon Lyons
Joshua Shelley	...	Al Lewis
Sloane Shelton	...	Bookeeper's Sister
Lelan Smith	...	Arresting Officer #3
Jaye Stewart	...	Male Librarian
Ralph Williams	...	Ray Steuben
George Wyner	...	Attorney #2
Leroy Aarons	...	Financial Editor
Donnlynn Bennett	...	Reporter
Stanley Bennett Clay	...	Assistant Metro Editor (as Stanley Clay)
Carol Coggin	...	News Aide
Laurence Covington	...	News Announcer
John Devlin	...	Metro Editor
John Furlong	...	News Desk Editor
Sidney Ganis	...	L.A. Stringer
Amy Grossman	...	Reporter
Cynthia Herbst	...	Reporter
Basil Hoffman	...	Assistant Metro Editor
Mark Holtzman	...	Reporter
Jamie Smith-Jackson	...	Post Librarian (as Jamie Smith Jackson)
Barbara Lipsky	...	Reporter (as Barbara Litsky)
Doug Llewelyn	...	White House Aide
Jeff MacKay	...	Reporter
Irwin Marcus	...	Reporter
Greg Martin	...	Reporter
Ron Menchine	...	Post Librarian
Christopher Murray	...	Photo Aide
Jess Nadelman	...	Assistant Metro Editor
Noreen Nielson	...	Reporter
Florence Pepper	...	Message Desk Receptionist
Barbara Perlman	...	CRP Receptionist
Louis Quinn	...	Salesman
Peter Salim	...	Reporter
Shawn Shea	...	News Aide
Marvin Smith	...	Reporter
Pam Trager	...	Reporter
Carol Trost	...	Ben Bradlee's Secretary
Richard Venture	...	Assistant Metro Editor
Bill Willens	...	Hippie
Wendell Wright	...	Assistant Metro Editor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Spiro Agnew	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Warren Burger	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cara Duff-MacCormick	...	Tammy Ulrich (uncredited)
Thomas Eagleton	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gerald Ford	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Richard Kleindienst	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Clark MacGregor	...	Himself (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Robert S. Mills	...	TV Reporter (uncredited)
Pat Nixon	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rick O'Donnell	...	CIA Agent (uncredited)
Del Rager	...	CIA Agent (uncredited)
John Randolph	...	John Mitchell (voice) (uncredited)
Ronald L. Ziegler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula

Writing credits
Carl Bernstein		(book) &
Bob Woodward		(book)
William Goldman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jon Boorstin	....	associate producer
Michael Britton	....	associate producer
Walter Coblenz	....	producer

Original Music by
David Shire

Cinematography by
Gordon Willis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert L. Wolfe

Casting by
Alan Shayne

Production Design by
George Jenkins

Set Decoration by
George Gaines

Makeup Department
Fern Buchner	....	makeup artist
Don L. Cash	....	makeup artist (as Don Cash)
Romaine Greene	....	hairdresser
Lynda Gurasich	....	hairdresser
Gary Liddiard	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
E. Darrell Hallenbeck	....	executive production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bill Green	....	first assistant director
Kim Kurumada	....	second assistant director
Art Levinson	....	first assistant director
Charles Ziarko	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Matty Azzarone	....	assistant property master
Guy Bushman	....	assistant property master
Mike Higelmire	....	lead man
Roger Irvin	....	construction foreman
Robert I. Jillson	....	assistant art director (as Bob Jillson)
Robert Krume	....	construction coordinator
Alan Levine	....	property master (as Allan Levine)
Bill MacSems	....	property master (as Bill Mac Sems)
George Szeptycki	....	draughtsman (as J. George Szeptycki)
Edward T. McAvoy	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	re-recording mixer (as Dick Alexander)
Clint Althouse	....	boom man
Milton C. Burrow	....	supervising sound editor
Les Fresholtz	....	production sound mixer
Les Fresholtz	....	re-recording mixer
Chris McLaughlin	....	boom man
Arthur Piantadosi	....	re-recording mixer (as Art Piantadosi)
James E. Webb	....	production sound mixer (as Jim Webb)

Special Effects by
Henry Millar	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Bingham	....	stillman
Ray De La Motte	....	first assistant camera (as Ray de la Motte)
Ralph Gerling	....	camera operator
Carl R. Gibson Jr.	....	best boy (as Carl Gibson Jr.)
Louis Goldman	....	stillman
George Holmes	....	gaffer
Larry D. Howard	....	best boy electric (as Larry Howard)
Frank Lambers	....	crab dolly grip
Bob Rose	....	key grip
Peter Salim	....	second assistant camera
Ron Vargas	....	second assistant camera
Bernie Abramson	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Isabel Halliburton	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jules Melillo	....	assistant costumer
G. Perez	....	assistant costumer
Bernie Pollack	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Carroll Timothy O'Meara	....	assistant editor (as Tim O'Meara)
Steve Potter	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Nicholas C. Washington	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Eddie Baken	....	transportation captain
Craig Pinkard	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Rebecca Britton	....	production coordinator
Steve Bussard	....	researcher
Eve Christopher	....	production staff
Phil Geyelin	....	production staff
Jill Gifford	....	production staff
Karen Hale Wookey	....	script supervisor (as Karen Wookey)
Jack Hirshberg	....	production publicist
Buck Holland	....	production assistant
Erika Koppitz	....	production coordinator
Ronnie Kramer	....	production coordinator
Marge Leonard	....	production staff
John Bard Manulis	....	production staff (as John Manulis)
Stuart Neumann	....	production staff
Joanna Ney	....	unit publicist
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Tammy Pittman	....	production staff
Ken Ryan	....	auditor
Liz Shea	....	production staff
Lois Smith	....	publicity consultant
Shirley Street	....	production staff
Steve Vetter	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Wildwood (as Wildwood Enterprises)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1976) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1976) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1980) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (VHS)
• Varus Video
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• DeForest Research  research (as de Forest Research, Inc)
• National Park Service, The  various locations courtesy of
• Pacific Title  titles
• Washington Post  acknowledgement

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:

Nearly 200 desks - costing $500 each - were purchased from the same firm that sold desks to the Washington Post in 1971.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Woodward and Bernstein visit Judy Hoback to press for confirmation of her information, there is an iced tea pitcher on the table where she sits. The liquid level in the pitcher noticeably fluctuates from shot to shot.

Quotes:

[Asking for background information about Howard Hunt]
Bob Woodward: It's just profile information, mostly. We know, for example, that he works for Mullen and Company, or did work for Mullen and Company, as a writer. He's also a novelist; we know that he works in the office of Charles Colson at the White House...
Bennett: ...and the CIA.
Bob Woodward: And the CIA.
Bennett: Well, if you're conducting that kind of investigation, certainly it comes as no surprise to you that Howard was with the CIA.
Bob Woodward: No, no surprise at all.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Family Guy: Deep Throats (#4.23)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Concerto in C for two trumpets

Required viewing.

If you were to imagine yourself as a newspaper journalist, one of the best conspiracies you could ever find yourself stumbling upon would undoubtedly be the infamous Watergate Scandal. And reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) were the two men who found themselves head-above-water in an elaborate cover-up that went all the way up the chain of command to the United States President himself.

On June 17th, 1972, Watergate hotel security guard Frank Wills spotted a possible break-in at the Democratic Party's National Committee. Some apparent CIA agents were arrested for breaking and entering, and later held at a trial, where Bob Woodward first found out that they were more than mere intruders. They worked for the government.

After researching into the matter, Woodward soon realized that one of the intruders had the name of a political figure scrawled in a notebook located within his shirt pocket.

And with the help of Carl Bernstein, a fellow Washington Post reporter (and a veteran of the field), Woodward followed the slight tracks, and the two men soon found themselves unearthing a shattering conspiracy that did indeed lead all the way up to President Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States of America, himself.

Based on Woodward and Bernstein's own memoirs, William Goldman's Oscar-winning script makes for a brilliant subtle mystery; a true-life story as amazingly honest and forthright as it is entertaining and engaging. It would always remain the late Alan J. Pakula's greatest film, and its standing as one of the top films of all time on many various "great movies lists" is certainly merited.

It's a shame that both Hoffman and Redford were snubbed by the Academy Awards for their performances here. As Woodward and Bernstein, the two are amazingly convincing and bounce dialogue off of each other with striking clarity and realistic quality. Hoffman, who is top billed, appears in the film less than Redford, but gives just a performance just as amazing. He would gain an Oscar twelve years later for his portrayal of Raymond Babbitt in "Rain Man," his finest performance to date, but his role in "All the President's Men" is of a different caliber. Woodward and Bernstein are two complete opposites, and at first they rub each other the wrong way -- Bernstein, a veteran reporter, takes one of Woodward's articles and starts making revisions. "I don't mind what you did," Woodward says, "I just mind how you did it." Even though it's not anything special, this if my favorite scene in the movie, and perhaps the best example of just how well these two actors are able to bring their characters to life.

The movie is a mystery but not in the traditional sense. Almost all of us watching the film already know how the story is going to turn out, but the way it makes its dynamic revelations seem surprising and its story tense and exciting is one of the greatest examples of compelling filmmaking.

For the film's opening sequence, in which Woodward and Bernstein's condemning news is written on a typewriter, Pakula used sounds of gunshots to clarify each separate key of the device striking downwards. The 37th President of the United States of America was sentenced to a sort of death with the publishing of that article, and the bold gunshots add an extra depth and meaning to this fact.

"All the President's Men" has no hidden morals, messages, meanings. It's just a true story about something that happened, brought to life on the big screen by a great director, an influential screenwriter and two of the best actors of all time. No, it's not going to have you thinking after it's over, but if anything, it's the type of movie that will generate a lot of talk instead. And more often than not, that's a good thing.

5/5 stars.

- John Ulmer