# Backstory on movie "All the President's Men" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 10, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978 "2022-06-10T13:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/1 "2022-06-10T13:54:35Z")
> **[How ‘All the President’s Men’ went from buddy flick to masterpiece](https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2022/all-the-presidents-men-robert-redford-woodward-bernstein/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjYyMDc3NTgiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjU0ODY4NzM1LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjU2MDc4MzM1LCJpYXQiOjE2NTQ4Njg3MzUsImp0aSI6Ijk2NTkwNGUzLTQ5ODEtNDU0Yi05MzQ4LTM3OGVjNzZmZmY5MyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9tYWdhemluZS9pbnRlcmFjdGl2ZS8yMDIyL2FsbC10aGUtcHJlc2lkZW50cy1tZW4tcm9iZXJ0LXJlZGZvcmQtd29vZHdhcmQtYmVybnN0ZWluLyJ9.JS1U5wWmnklfUY5aA6dTOSwldpSroz7Z14rw1KRAqrk&itid=gfta)** > > Early drafts of the screenplay struggled with how to depict Woodward and Bernstein [Gift link] > … > No movie springs perfectly formed from page to screen. But to read Woodward’s marked-up draft of Goldman’s screenplay is to realize that the “All the President’s Men” we know — the lean, flawlessly calibrated thriller that made millions at the box office when it came out in 1976, earned four Oscars and turned Woodward and Bernstein into legends; the movie that’s worshiped by reporters, political junkies and filmmakers alike; the movie that from the moment it opened seemed to fuse seamlessly with private memory and collective myth — that movie came perilously close to being forgettable, along, quite possibly, with Watergate itself. > > The journey of “All the President’s Men” from mediocrity to triumph tells an alternately sobering and inspiring truth about movies: The great ones are a function of the countless mistakes that didn’t get made — the myriad bad calls, lapses in taste and bouts of bad luck that encase every production like a block of heavy, unyielding stone. > > This is the story of how Redford and Pakula, and the cast and crew they assembled, bullied Goldman’s flawed but structurally brilliant script into art. > … Long and really interesting article about the drama behind the breaking news story and how it became an unforgettable movie. I rewatch the movie at least once a year, and if you haven’t seen it recently (or at all) this article may make you seek it out. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/2 "2022-06-10T15:06:44Z")
An interesting talk with Redford, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UVrGZSxpBEA/hqdefault.jpg "The Legacy of All the President's Men") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVrGZSxpBEA) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/3 "2022-06-10T15:28:38Z")
For a completely different, but equally interesting take on the whole Watergate story and the movie, I just read [All the newsroom’s men: How one-third of “The Watergate Three” got written out of journalism history](https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/06/all-the-newsrooms-men-how-one-third-of-the-watergate-three-got-written-out-of-journalism-history). With regard to the movie it says in part: > But Sussman, the leader of the Watergate Three, wasn’t portrayed _inaccurately_ — he just wasn’t portrayed at all. He’d been written out of the movie entirely.[1](https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/06/all-the-newsrooms-men-how-one-third-of-the-watergate-three-got-written-out-of-journalism-history#footnote_0_203664) Filmmakers said they were worried that having three middle-aged white-guy editors on screen was already confusing for the audience, and four would’ve been too much. > > But that it was Sussman they chose to cut — the editor most involved in the story from Day 1 — was galling to many, both in and out of the Post. When director Alan Pakula was doing his initial research for the film, [both Simons and Rosenfeld had told him](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/the-woodstein-tapes) that, “if any one individual at the Post was deserving of a Pulitzer for the newspaper’s Watergate coverage…it was Barry Sussman.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/4 "2022-06-10T15:34:02Z")
I always wondered if Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein flipped a coin to decide who got played by Robert Redford. One of hottest actors in Hollywood at that time. The loser got Dustin Hoffman. A fine actor, but… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/5 "2022-06-10T15:55:35Z")
That was really interesting and unknown to me - thanks. And RIP to Mr. Sussman. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/6 "2022-06-10T16:31:44Z")
I never knew Redford had a major part in developing this movie. It’s very odd that he doesn’t have any production or writing credits. He’s only listed as an actor. > **[All the President's Men (1976) - IMDb](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0074119/fullcredits/cast?ref_=m_ttfc_3)** > > All the President's Men (1976) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/7 "2022-06-10T16:55:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I never knew Redford had a major part in developing this movie.- Yeah, that surprised me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/8 "2022-06-10T16:59:55Z")
Redford has been involved in the camera side of moviemaking since at least _Jeremiah Johnson_ and _The Candidate_ (excellent and non-partisan film about the dehumanizing and corrupting aspects of politics, and still quite relevant despite being fifty years old) . He’s a guy with leading man looks and a player’s charisma who was born to be a producer and director. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/9 "2022-06-10T17:30:52Z")
Redford showed such patience and humbleness reaching out to Woodward and Bernstein. Only for them to brush him off. Redford kept trying. That says a lot about him. A lot of people would have been offended and lost interest. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/10 "2022-06-10T17:43:31Z")
And actually, it shows a lot about _Woodstein_, too, namely, that they didn’t jump at the chance to get Hollywood-ized. Grownups all around. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/11 "2022-06-10T18:00:03Z")
I just don’t understand the adulation that “All The President’s Men” gets. It’s an interesting story, but there’s not really much to see other than Redford and Hoffman (and a few side characters) talking. I’d much rather listen to a podcast about Watergate than ever watch the movie again. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/12 "2022-06-10T18:09:28Z")
To each their own, I guess. 🤷🏽 “Not really much to see”… I see plenty when I watch the movie. I see the minute-by-minute portrayal of old-fashioned journalism in action-- research before the internet, pounding the pavement, relentlessly pursuing people who don’t want to talk to you, _phone books_, for crap’s sake! And then Bradlee insisting on validation from multiple sources before he would print anything. All of that stuff is ancient history. Now anyone can post, write, upload _anything_, and most people are too stupid and careless to seek out reliable sources (and there are still a few, WaPo being one of them). I was 25 when Watergate broke and I watched all the hearings on TV every day. It’s a real story to me, not history. * * * I knew the guy who moved into John Dean’s office after Gerald Ford became President. He told me that one day these two scruffy-looking guys came in and were asking him about where the furniture had been when Dean worked there. You see, they were writing a book and wanted to get those details right… 😲 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/13 "2022-06-10T18:12:17Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I see the minute-by-minute portrayal of old-fashioned journalism in action-- research before the internet, pounding the pavement, relentlessly pursuing people who don’t want to talk to you, _phone books_ , for crap’s sake! And then Bradlee insisting on validation from multiple sources before he would print anything. So you see people talking, people walking, people walking and talking, phone books and Ben Bradlee talking. Understood. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/14 "2022-06-10T18:26:15Z")
But I am capable of understanding and interpreting what I see in a way that makes the events meaningful. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. More’s the pity. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/15 "2022-06-10T18:41:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I always wondered if Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein flipped a coin to decide who got played by Robert Redford. Looks at Woodward and Bernstein. Looks at Redford and Hoffman. How do we decide? How? They’re twins, like Schwarzenegger and Devito. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/16 "2022-06-10T19:21:27Z")
I agree with @ThelmaLou . I like rewatching _All the President’s Men._ Re-watches don’t have the same tension I felt (even though I knew how it all turned out) the first time I watched it. This is the kind of movie I really love. A _real_ story told with nuance and brains. Although I do also love _Dick_…quoting Michelle Williams. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/17 "2022-06-10T19:23:31Z")
A similar investigative story with another Bradlee is _Spotlight_. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/18 "2022-06-10T19:26:56Z")
I forgot about that one…I need to watch it. Right up my alley. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/19 "2022-06-10T19:36:28Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I agree with @ThelmaLou . I like rewatching _All the President’s Men._ Re-watches don’t have the same tension I felt (even though I knew how it all turned out) the first time I watched it. This is the kind of movie I really love. A _real_ story told with nuance and brains. Although I do also love _Dick_ …quoting Michelle Williams. I recommend _[Dick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_(film))_ for anyone who wants a different take on the Watergate scandal, and in particular the relationship between Woodward and Bernstein. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978/20 "2022-06-10T19:46:04Z")
It’s broad (heh) comedy, but also hilarious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backstory-on-movie-all-the-presidents-men/965978.md?page=2)