MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 100 titles—from the ’20s through the ’80s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
All The President’s Men (1976, 138 minutes)
Its title borrowed from a nursery rhyme (“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men/Couldn’t put Humpty together again”), All The President’s Men remains the most intoxicating political thriller ever made. Watching President Richard Nixon’s administration self-destruct during 1973-74 was such a powerful drug, the aftermath felt almost like withdrawal from a serious chemical dependency.
When five men were arrested in 1972 for burglarizing the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., it received scant notice in the nation’s press. Within two years, the byzantine cover-up of the incident had implicated many of Nixon’s staff, 43 of whom were convicted and incarcerated. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post doggedly unearthed the facts of this shocking story, piece by piece.
Woodward (Robert Redford), more measured in his pace, and the hyperactive Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), who drinks lots of coffee and smokes too much, make an effective pair. When Woodward, doing most of the early legwork, uncovers evidence that connects Howard Hunt, working for Nixon’s special counsel Charles Colson, to the Watergate burglars, it’s the first of many links to White House involvement.
“This isn’t a police story anymore. We need a top political writer on it,” says the Post‘s managing editor Howard Simons (Martin Balsam) to city editor Harry Rosenfeld (Jack Warden). “Woodward has busted his ass on this!” explodes Rosenfeld. “Even Bernstein’s busting his ass. They both want on this story bad. They’re hungry, Howard.”
As Woodward two-finger-types his latest Watergate piece in the Post‘s city room, Bernstein quietly walks off with each fresh page of text and takes it back to his typewriter. “What are you doing?” Woodward confronts him. “I’m polishing it a little,” replies Bernstein. “What’s wrong with it?” asks Woodward. “Nothing, nothing, it’s good,” says Bernstein. “It’s a little fuzzy. I think mine is better, but if you think yours is, we’ll give yours to the desk.” After a brief comparison, Woodward agrees, “Yours is better. I don’t mind what you did, just the way you did it.” Rosenfeld walks between the pair and barks, “Woodward, Bernstein, you’re both on the story. Now don’t fuck it up!”
Woodward meets his primary Watergate source, dubbed “Deep Throat” (Hal Holbrook), in an eerie multi-story parking structure late one night. The informant reveals himself in the shadows by lighting a cigarette. “The story’s gone dry,” says Woodward. “We’re hearing about Gordon Liddy, a lawyer at ‘CREEP’ (Committee to Re-Elect the President).” His source replies, “I was at a party with Liddy once. He put his hand over a candle until the flesh burned. ‘What’s the trick?’ someone asked. ‘The trick,’ he said, ‘is not minding.’ Forget those myths about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys. Just follow the money.”
