Have you seen the film “All the President’s Men“? It was released 39 years ago today on April 9, 1976.
If not, here is a quick trailer to introduce you to one of the great journalism movies of all time:
In 1975, The Washington Post described what it was like before filming began:
“One way or another, and like it or not, the presence of movie people is being felt at The Washington Post, where forces from Hollywood have gathered prior to filming of ‘All the President’s Men,’ Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s bestseller on the investigation that led to the Watergate scandals and a President’s resignation.
Actor Redford bought the book a year ago for $450,000 and hired himself to play Woodward. Dustin Hoffman was later cast as Bernstein. Alan J. Pakula (‘Klute’) will direct the movie, Gordon Willis (‘The Godfather,’ I & II) will photograph it, William Goldman (‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’) is writing it. Budgeted at a hefty $5 million, it is to be, as paperback jackets often promise, ‘a major motion picture,’ for release next February or March.
Shooting begins in Washington on May 12 at one of various planned locations, including the exterior of the Post building at 1150 15th St. NW. Although film crews will not be permitted in the building, the movie people themselves have been in and out of The Post for months in an effort to soak up authenticity, rub elbows with newspaper people and learn the routine of a daily newspaper.”
Deep Throat said, “Your lives are in danger”:
What were the reviews like in 1976? This is what The New York Times said about the film:
“Newspapers and newspapermen have long been favorite subjects for movie makers — a surprising number of whom are former newspapermen, yet not until ‘All The President’s Men,’ the riveting screen adaptation of the Watergate book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, has any film come remotely close to being an accurate picture of American journalism at its best.
….The manners and methods of big-city newspapering, beautifully detailed, contribute as much to the momentum of the film as the mystery that’s being uncovered. Maybe even more, since the real excitement of ‘All The President’s Men’ is in watching two comparatively inexperienced reporters stumble onto the story of their lives and develop it triumphantly, against all odds.”
Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) at the Washington Post:
The Washington Post looked back at the film twenty years after its release:
“The scenes in The Washington Post newsroom were shot on a sound stage (you couldn’t expect a news operation to shut down so a few movie scenes could be shot, could you?).
The set builders actually took newspapers, trash and other objects from The Post to make the set more realistic. Those blue and orange filing cabinets in the film are no longer in the newsroom.
In her book ‘Personal History,’ Katharine Graham, who was president and publisher of The Post at this time, wrote: ‘In the end, we didn’t allow filming in the newsroom….Instead, an exact duplicate of The Post’s newsroom, including the stickers on Ben’s secretary’s desk, was created in Hollywood (for a mere $450,000 it was reported), and in the interests of authenticity, several tons of assorted papers and trash from the desks throughout our newsroom were shipped to California for props. We did cooperate to the extent of allowing the filmmakers to shoot the entrance to the newspaper building, elevators and certain production facilities, as well as a scene in the parking lot.'”
The final scene from “All the President’s Men”:
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