Half a century on from its release, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind All the President’s Men…
Receiving universal acclaim at the time of its release and the decades that followed, by both film critics and audience members alike is no easy feat. Yet All the President’s Men has achieved exactly that. Debuting during the 70s era along with the likes of Three Days of the Condor, The Marathon Man, Taxi Driver and Rocky, the film has been acknowledged as one of the best political thrillers to tackle a watershed moment in American history. As the film celebrates its 50th anniversary we take a look back at the making of the film and the drama that transpired behind-the-scenes…
Robert Redford was interested in the “Watergate Incident” from the get-go
In a career spanning over six decades Robert Redford proved his mettle many times over in front of and behind the camera as an actor, director and producer. In the 1970s the star became a household name with lead roles in critically lauded efforts such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Three Days of the Condor, The Sting and Jeremiah Johnson. As an acclaimed filmmaker Redford earned an Oscar nomination for Best Director with his directorial debut Ordinary People, which also won the Academy Award for Best Film that year. Redford had shown interest in the Watergate saga at its very outset, ravenously reading the stories written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for The Washington Post. The actor first spoke to Woodward in November 1972 regarding his intention of producing a movie centered around the controversial incident. After receiving a favorable response from both Woodward and Bernstein, Redford bought the rights to the book in 1974 for a sum of $450,000 with the idea of producing it on a budget of $5 million.
William Goldman was hired to pen the script for the movie
The late William Goldman has often been considered one of the finest screenwriters to work in Hollywood and for good reason. The acclaimed writer has been the talent responsible for crafting the screenplays of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man, The Princess Bride, Misery and Chaplin – all of which have received much praise and recognition by film critics and awarding bodies. Having starred in, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an original screenplay penned by Goldman, Redford hired the chap to adapt Woodward and Bernstein’s book for a feature film. In interviews Goldman has revealed that while Woodward was accommodating and helpful in the writing process, Bernstein was anything but. After delivering his first draft in August 1974, Warner Bros. agreed to bankroll the movie.
Multiple rewrites were done prior to finalizing the shooting script
Although Goldman had won an Academy Award for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by that point, Redford being the perfectionist he was, wasn’t too pleased with the first draft presented by Goldman. Even Woodward and Bernstein weren’t happy with what they read. Because of this Redford asked for the duo’s creative input to improve Goldman’s draft. Bernstein stepped in and with the assistance of his then-girlfriend Nora Ephron – who hit it big with her screenplays for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle – hammered out their own script. Goldman was, naturally, livid that Redford accepted the “Bernstein-Ephron” draft and described it as a “gutless betrayal”. Later, Redford expressed dissatisfaction with the “Bernstein-Ephron” draft and described their effort as “sophomoric and way off the beat”. After director Alan J. Pakula came on board, he too requested multiple rewrites from Goldman to get the finalized shooting script he desired. Due to the supposedly extensive inputs given by Redford and Pakula during production, Redford claimed that only one-tenth of Goldman’s original draft remained in the shooting script. But despite the behind-the-scenes conflict, only Goldman received sole credit for the screenplay and the talented writer went on to win the Oscar for it the following year.
Alan J. Pakula did extensive interviews with news reporters to gain additional insight
Alan J. Pakula has often been described as one of the most gifted filmmakers to come out of the “New Hollywood” movement. His critically acclaimed “paranoia trilogy” which include the movies Klute, The Parallax View and All the President’s Men have all been called top-notch political/paranoia thrillers from the 1970s era, time and time again. His subsequent efforts such as Sophie’s Choice, Presumed Innocent and Pelican Brief have also been praised for their engaging storytelling and taut direction. When the filmmaker was hired to helm All The President’s Men, the creative held all-day sessions with producer and lead star Robert Redford to refine Goldman’s script and give the output that Redford wanted. Pakula even went to the length of conducting extensive interviews with news editors and reporters to gain additional insight into the subject he was tackling.
Al Pacino was considered first for the role of Carl Bernstein
Al Pacino was one of the most sought-after talents in the business during the time All The President’s Men was going in to production. With such critically lauded efforts as The Godfather, Serpico, Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon, under his belt Pacino was therefore the first actor considered for the role of Carl Bernstein by the producers when casting for the character was underway. However, they later decided that up-and-coming talent Dustin Hoffman would be a better fit for the role. Now, Hoffman was no slouch compared to Pacino either. At that point in time the star had received Oscar nominations for his performances in The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy and Lenny as well as winning acclaim for his work on movies like Straw Dogs, Papillon and Marathon Man. Redford and co.’s decision to go with Hoffman, all things considered, was certainly a commendable one.
Jason Robards was Robert Redford’s first choice to play Ben Bradlee
In a career that spanned close to fifty years Jason Robards has received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have won the “Triple Crown of Acting” – which included two Academy Awards, one Tony Award and a Prime Time Emmy Award. Robards started his career in theater before shifting to feature film in 1959 starring alongside Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in The Journey. Robards was Redford’s first choice to play the stern, no-nonsense executive editor Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post. The real-life Ben Bradlee personally recommended George C. Scott of Patton for the role, as he was rather unimpressed with Robards when he visited him at his offices. Even the director was skeptical that Robards would be able to accurate capture the commanding authority and easy demeanor of Bradlee, but Redford’s judgement was spot on and Robards ended up winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the veteran journalist. Other actors considered for the role were Hal Holbrook, Christopher Plummer, Karl Malden, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Gene Hackman, Robert Mitchum, Telly Savalas and Burt Lancaster.
The movie was assigned an R-rating by the MPAA prior to its release
All the President’s Men was assigned the much dreaded R-rating by the MPAA, due to its liberal use of the word “fuck” during the movie. Warner Bros. and Redford appealed to the MPAA, detailing the film’s importance from a historical perspective and the subject matter involved. In light of the appeal made by them, the MPAA decided to give the film a PG rating as the PG-13 rating wasn’t in existence yet.
Production painstakingly recreated the offices of The Washington Post from scratch
The Washington Post had very strict policies with regard to shooting the film in their newsrooms. Because of this set designers took photographs of every nook and cranny of the offices, even going to the extent of measuring the office spaces, in order to accurately recreate the entire newsroom on two massive soundstages in Hollywood’s Burbank Studios for a cost of $200,000. More than 200 work desks were procured for $500 each from the very firm which supplied the Washington Post with the above item in 1971 and painted the same color as those in the newsroom. Set designers even made replicas of outdated phone books and even had boxes of trash transported to the sets, to lend more believability to what they were recreating.
Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford shared top billing for the movie
Similar to the 1974 disaster flick The Towering Inferno that featured Paul Newman and Steve McQueen and the 1978 superhero movie Superman that was headlined by Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford too shared top billing for All the President’s Men. Redford was billed above Hoffman in the trailers and posters, while Hoffman was billed above Redford in the film itself. This way misunderstandings between actors are minimized and none would be offended.
Box-office wins, universal acclaim, awards success, and an enduring legacy
Made on a modest budget of $8.5 million All the President’s Men went on to make a respectable $70.6 million at the worldwide box-office. At the time of its debut and during the decades that followed the movie received universal acclaim, as evidenced from the approval rating of 95% based on 74 reviews on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The website’s critic consensus reads thus, “A taut, solidly acted paean to the benefits of a free press and the dangers of unchecked power, made all the more effective by its origins in real-life events”. A glowing review was written by renowned film critic Roger Ebert who gave the effort 3 ½ stars out of 4 and wrote “It provides the most observant study of working journalists we’re ever likely to see in a feature film. And it succeeds brilliantly in suggesting the mixture of exhilaration, paranoia, self-doubt, and courage that permeated The Washington Post as its two young reporters went after a presidency.”
Retrospective reviews of the movie were equally impressive with Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty writing, “It also anticipated our current WikiLeaks era, with Robert Redford (Woodward) and Dustin Hoffman (Bernstein) milking anonymous sources and burning shoe leather to speak truth to power. These films are timeless and essential, raising thorny questions we’re still struggling to answer 35 years later.” During the 49th Academy Awards ceremony All the President’s Men walked away with four Oscar wins for Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards), Best Original Screenplay (William Goldman), Best Art Direction and Best Sound. The movie lost out to the uber-popular sports drama Rocky in the Best Film and Best Director categories.
Fifty years since its release All the President’s Men’s still continues to be discussed, debated and admired; for the contribution it made to popularizing political thrillers, the realistic portrayal of investigative journalism in action and for introducing the famous catchphrase “follow the money”. To sum up, there is no doubt that All the President’s Men is certainly one of the finest efforts to debut from the 70s decade that was auteur driven cinema, which authentically portrayed a watershed moment in investigative journalism as well as American History.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
