All the President's Men

Alan Pakula directed this 1976 movie adapted from the book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book of the same name. The book, of course, told the story of Woodward and Bernstein's reporting for The Washington Post that broke the Watergate story and coverup.

The movie is nothing short of fantastic. Starting with the discovery of the break in at The Watergate Hotel by a security guard that led to the arrest of the five burglars. Assigned to the case is Woodward, played by Robert Redford, a young reporter. At the arraignment Woodward is surprised to see that these small time burglars have a country club lawyer, and even more surprised when one of the burglars, Kent McCord claims he has been a CIA operative.

Eventually Woodward and then Bernstien, played by Dustin Hoffman, work thier way up the chain of the case. They tie Howard Hunt into the case, Hunt works for Charles Colson the President's counsel and eventually find the slush fund dispensed by the Commitee to Reelect the President, or CREEP, is controlled by H R Haldemen and John Mitchell. Haldemen as the President's Chief of Staff is considered the second most powerful man in the country and Mitchell is the former Attorney General who now heads up the President's Reelection campaign.

Jason Robards is perhaps the best actor in the movie, no mean feat, playing Editor Ben Bradlee. Bradlee continually pushes on his young reporters to get more information and more sources and get somebody to go on the record. Still when the reporters publish and the White House attacks the reporting he silently passes around a note at a staff meeting with his editors that says simply" We stick with the story." Bradlee is a hero and should be considered such.

The movie ends with Nixon taking the oath of office in 1973, the story did not break soon enough and deep enough to prevent that, and then we see headlines typed out over the next two years detailing the collapse of the Nixon administration.

The movie could have been twice as long but ends in a good spot. Once Haldeman and Mitchell were implicated the rest of the story only needed time.

This is a movie that as you watch it you are amazed at the ways that the reporters have to gain information as clearly everyone is scared to speak, and pressure is certainly coming from on high to protect the administration. Were the reporters, it should be noted young reporters at that time, not supported by Bradlee then this story might well have not broken.

A great movie.