On June 17th, 1972 a security guard (Frank Willis) discovered a small piece of tape covering the latch on the basement door of the Headquarters of the National Democratic Committee in Florida. Calling for the police, they quickly arrested five well dressed burglars, one with $800 in his wallet. What few people knew was that these individuals would become the foundation of a massive conspiracy which involved the entire Federal community including the F.B.I, C.I.A. and other agencies working for the President of the United States. Attending the burglars at their court arraignment, rookie reporter Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) is astounded to learn one of the burglar's previously worked for the C.I.A. in the White House. The senior reporter who is later paired with him is 14 year veteran Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman). What transpires in the next three years will illuminate the secret illegal activities, covert operations and deep paranoia of the Nixon Administration. In this movie, audiences are privy to the workings of The Washington Post and the enormous efforts of these two Pulitzer Prize winning journalists. Jack Warden plays Harry M. Rosenfeld the Metroploitan editor who despite his own doubts believes in the future of the promising investigative journalists. Martin Balsam is Howard Simons and Jason Robards plays stanch Ben Bradlee, the Executive Editor of the Post. Even though they realized the risks involved, they stood their ground and allow the citizens of America to see the importance of a free press. In retrospect, America also learns of the immense risk and hazardous undertaking assumed by Woodward's 'invisible' source by the then Assistant Director of the F.B.I. 'Mark Felt' who has come to be known as "Deep Throat." (Hal Holbrook) With his invaluable help, Americas' press reveals how even a man so powerful as a sitting President must not be allowed to believe he is above the law. The film is a great example and tribute to men of the Forth Estate. Today it stands as a Classic movie in it's own right. ****

... I'm not sure about that since I was in high school when the Watergate scandal unfolded so the first time watching this I already knew who the players were and what had happened. The names - Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Colson - are tossed around without much explanation. I don't think that even Bill Bradlee is ever introduced as the executive editor of the Washington Post in this film, maybe because that would have seemed too cheesily Hollywood, or maybe because in 1976 everybody watching this film would know who he was. The story follows, in semi-documentary format, two junior reporters on the Washington Post who start out covering what appears to be a routine burglary at the Watergate Office Building which turns out to be a scandal that ultimately causes President Nixon to resign.

This is a really good look at journalistic integrity and just good journalism in general at a time when office technology consisted of Xerox machines. Just look around the news room - no computers! No phones! Well there was the dial up type, but you couldn't carry one down the street with you. You want to look something up, go to the library. But the up side of this lack of technology is that Woodward and Bernstein are used to talking to people in person, and this helps them build trust.

It's interesting how Woodward and Bernstein - who have a bit of a rough start - build a story. If somebody says they won't talk to you then you say sure and just hang around. And guess what - they eventually do talk to you. You get another name or names from them and then you go to the next person and so on. They bounce ideas off of one another as to what the next step should be.

The entire time the reporters face the credible question - WHY would the Republicans do this and expose themselves to criminal charges if discovered? George McGovern, the Democratic presidential nominee, was beating himself. He didn't need any help. The answer was - This entire operation was about making sure that somebody completely beatable such as McGovern won the Democratic nomination in the first place. The entire effort to prevent Muskie - a credible threat - from getting the Democratic nomination began a year before the break-in at the Watergate.

This is definitely a well made film and worth your time, but if you are under 50 you might want to familiarize yourself with the central figures of the Watergate scandal before you watch.

"All the President's Men" is a film that would have played much, much better back in the 70s when it debuted. That is because most of the audience would have known who many of the folks were who were involved in the Watergate break-in and the subsequent attempt to derail the investigations. As a history teacher, I have a much better than normal knowledge of these people and events. But for the average viewer who isn't in their 60s, much of the film will be foreign to them and the names relatively unimportant. Now this does not mean it's a bad film for most viewers--but its impact is less-- especially since nowadays the idea of politicians being this corrupt is old news!

The film has a lot of high-powered actors--not just Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford (who, by the way, looks NOTHING like Bob Woodward) but the stellar supporting cast. Additionally, the film is appropriately tense and well directed. The only negative I felt that existed in the film is the montage-like ending which just felt a bit like a tack-on and could have been stronger. Still, well worth seeing.