All the President's Men

All the President's Men (1976)

Timing: 2:18 (138 min)

7.66/10
2040

7.471/10
12260

7.9/10
136000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 105

Actors and characters

Release date

1976-04-09

Country

United States

Production

Wildwood Enterprises

Genre

Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller

Budget

$8 500 000

Revenue

$70 600 000

Website

Director

Alan J. Pakula

Actors

Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Meredith Baxter, Ned Beatty, Stephen Collins
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Walter Coblenz

Operator

Gordon Willis

Composer

David Shire

Artist

Robert I. Jillson

Audition

Alan Shayne

Editing

Robert L. Wolfe
All team (56)

• The film is based on the eponymous non-fiction book by journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who investigated the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post newspaper in 1973.
• Frank Wills (1948-2000), the security guard who first raised the alarm about the intrusion of strangers into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington on June 17, 1972, was fired a few days later without explanation. He remained unemployed for three years until he played himself in this film (shooting took one day). After that, Wills never worked again and died in 2000 at the age of 52.
• In one scene, Robert Redford's character talks on the phone continuously for six minutes. The scene was shot in one long take. Towards the end, the actor forgot and addressed the person on the other end by the wrong name, but he didn't notice it himself, remaining fully in character. As a result, the final edit used this particular take.
• Both lead actors memorized each other's lines, allowing them to interrupt each other mid-sentence without breaking character. This made it difficult for the other actors, but created an unparalleled atmosphere of realism.
• Hal Holbrook (1925-2021) was the first and only actor the filmmakers envisioned in the role of the informant known as “Deep Throat.” Holbrook initially refused the offer to play the part, considering it insignificant, and was only persuaded by Robert Redford. He personally went to Holbrook's home and convinced him that audiences would remember his character better than anyone else.
• Robert Redford believed that filming him as Bob Woodward would lead all the attention in the film to focus on his character, unless he had a co-star of equal stature. That's why he approached Dustin Hoffman with the offer to play Carl Bernstein (he made the offer to Hoffman during a basketball game).
• When Robert Redford's character received a call from Kenneth Dahlberg (1917-2011) informing him that his wife had been kidnapped, this was not a fabrication by the filmmakers. On July 27, 1972, a few days before the call to Dahlberg, Virginia Piper, the wife of a prominent businessman in the state and a good friend of Dahlberg, was kidnapped from her home in Minnesota. A couple of days later, her husband paid a $1 million ransom, and the woman was released.
• In preparation for filming, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman visited the Washington Post newsroom for several weeks, observing journalists and attending editorial meetings every day. One day, a group of high school students on a tour appeared in the lobby and, upon seeing Redford, began filming him. At that moment, Bob Woodward walked by. Redford told the students, “Here comes the real Bob Woodward, whom I’m playing. Maybe you should film him instead?” – but the students didn’t film Woodward. Hoffman later recounted that he was once mistaken for one of their own in the newsroom and was asked to run and get some office supplies. He had long hair at the time, dressed simply, and was mistaken for a courier.
• The sounds of typewriters at the beginning of the film were created by layering the sounds of gunfire and whip cracks onto the sound of a typewriter. The scene symbolized the film’s main message: words are weapons. Hence the final scene, in which the teletype prints headlines with the sound of artillery fire (the sound of a 21-gun salute was used here).
• Every detail and nuance in the screenplay was meticulously checked and rechecked.
• Screenwriter William Goldman (1931-2018) had to make several changes to the lines of editor Harry Rosenfeld. He believed that otherwise the audience would find it implausible, and that possessing Goldman’s sense of humor was simply impossible.
• The names of both lead actors were presented as follows: Redford’s name appeared above Hoffman’s on posters and in trailers, while Hoffman’s name came before Redford’s in the film itself.
• In preparation for filming, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman visited the Washington Post newsroom every day for several weeks, observing journalists and attending editorial meetings. One day, high school students on a tour appeared in the lobby and, upon seeing Redford, began filming him. At that moment, Bob Woodward walked by. Redford told the students, “Here’s the real Bob Woodward, whom I’m playing. Maybe you should film him instead?” – but the students did not film Woodward. Hoffman later recounted that he was once mistaken for one of their own at the newsroom and was asked to run and fetch some office supplies. He had long hair at the time, dressed simply, and was taken for a courier.
• While preparing for filming, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman visited the Washington Post newsroom every day for several weeks, observing journalists and attending editorial meetings. One day, a group of high school students on a tour appeared in the lobby and, upon seeing Redford, began to film him. At that moment, Bob Woodward walked by. Redford said to the students, “Here comes the real Bob Woodward, whom I am playing. Maybe you should film him instead?” – but the students did not start filming Woodward. Hoffman later recounted that, while in the newsroom, he was once mistaken for one of their own and asked to run and fetch some office supplies. He had long hair at the time, dressed simply, and was taken for a courier.