ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION 

from Santa Rosa, Ca

Woodward vowed to keep the secret until after Deep Throat died, but "In 2005, at age 91, Felt revealed to Vanity Fair magazine that during his tenure as Deputy Director of the FBI he had been the notorious anonymous source known as "Deep Throat",[1][2] who provided The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein with critical information about the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Woodward, who had long vowed not to reveal Deep Throat's identity while the source was still alive, quickly confirmed Felt's claim. Though Felt's identity as Deep Throat was suspected, including by Nixon himself,[3] it had generally remained a secret for 30 years. Felt finally acknowledged that he was Deep Throat after being persuaded by his daughter to reveal his identity before his death."

Actually, Felt came out and admitted it in 2005 and Woodward confirmed it. At the time, Felt was dealing with Alzheimers. His name had been mentioned during the scandal, but he denied it at the time. The supposed reason for his telling Woodward all of the secrets was because he was upset that he was passed over when they were searching for a new FBI director in 1972 after the death of J. Edgar Hoover.

As an official "old"... it was amazing to see this movie and the Watergate movies (another great one is: Frost/Nixon 2008) and then finding out who Deep Throat was. I wish Journalism (capital "J" intented) was still a thing.

@@bradsullivan2495 Woodward surmised that that was his motive. He didn't say that it was. He couldn't remember anything about Watergate by that time. He did tell Woodward he had always thought well of him.

monte - Truer words have never been spoken. "Money doesn't talk, it screams." Bob Dylan

1000%

Now the worst "reporters" are paid millions of dollars and a lifestyle they know they can never afford to continue with their limited skill set, so they never risk digging deep to report the truth.

True, but overstated. Watergate was not motivated by money, it was only enabled by unaccountable campaign donations. Neither was the money pivotal to the investigation. There was a time when the money trail was all that the Post and the Times had, but that trail pretty much ran dry, and it took much more information from Deep Throat to keep the investigation alive. Watergate and Washington D.C. investigations since then are not just about following the money, so that aphorism is more like 50% true and useful than 1000%.

It applies to everything in history ... every unsolved question regarding any event. Truly the root of all evil.

Shock and Awe is actually better

I was going to comment about the security guard being the actual security guard from the watergate hotel too. I hope Cassie sees your comment.

Fun fact2... In World War 2 Miami DA Dardis helped save a downed pilot from being captured. That pilot was Kenneth Dahlberg, but Dardis never knew his name, so he didn't recognize it when he saw the Dahlberg check.

Fun fact 3...Nixon absolutely despised Pierre Trudeau. 😎😃

I thought Forest Gump reported it.

Wow, I never knew this. Thanks for mentioning it!

How many Jews were involved in this lawfare? Nixon resigns for some campaign dirty tricks while Bill Clinton gets a blowjob in the office from an employee and our first Muslim president makes an unconstitutional health care mandate.

to be fair they didn't make any of the legal process happen, they just reported it.

Just too bad that spying on your political opponents is now a common thing every 2-4 years by both major parties.

Nixon brought himself down. All W&B did was good investigative reporting about it.

​@@garymussell6543 That is alot and awesome.

Dude yes!!! It's so good!!!

I think it's one of the few movies that did the book justice. It's one of those flicks where you think, "Okay, okay..." and then "What in the actual hell?" Great recommendation!

Yes! Add to that The Parallax View (same Director as All the President's Men).

Yes, it is great!

Or the Falcon and the Snowman another true story too!

Its still the same for legacy pubs like NY Times, Washington Post, but not for TV or for minor media outlets.

Minor media outlets barely have the manpower to get a newspaper out or fill a half hour of air-time nowadays, so they don't spend time on hard-hitting reports anymore. They might cover a local government meeting once in a while, but otherwise they just cover local community events and fill the rest of their paper or broadcast with either press releases or canned content from the likes of AP.

Just recommended that film and The Parallax View.

Reputable papers still require all that stuff. Many stories run with sources that are on the record but anonymous; that’s nothing new and ultimately necessary for journalism.

One of his best!!

I totally agree with you. When I saw the thumbnail and the title, my eyes got tear-eyed from joy and happiness. The editing of the reaction is top notch!

I agree! So many times the editing for reactions looks like it was done with a lawnmower. I don't know where you found the editor but good job.

Yeah, this was a great cut. I was surprised how well it actually worked..

I asked them years ago to do it

I remember thinking that this film would not be good for neophytes to watch, because it was aimed at an audience who knew the Watergate scandal to the smallest detail, thanks to a solid YEAR of constant televised coverage at the time. But watching this edit, I realize now how good the film was at distilling a very complex investigation into something that anyone could follow and at least get a general understanding of the scandal.

@CDavis-wo2hp I didn't say that there aren't any good films coming out of the USA anymore. But I was born in 1962, which means that films like the one discussed were important for my development as a politically minded person. When the subject matter of a film touches a person directly, something is triggered. This goes far beyond the film. This time was extremely important and laid the foundation, whether positive or negative, for many events that still have an impact today. And yes, the volume of shit productions has increased dramatically. When I see the social developments, it's no wonder.

And writing efforts

Yea, but there sure as heck were shredders in the offices. 🙂Still can't believe, Nixon didn't destroy all the tapes.

@@Nomad-vv1gk he legally couldn't because they were protected official documents and recordings so all they could do was say they accidentally erased a portion of the tapes and blame it on a secretary.. My how times have changed.. Just ask Hillary about her emails and breaking all those devices

Don't Woodstein have the list of CRP employees copied?

kramer vs kramer is an outstanding classic. I really hope the popcorn girls watch that.

@@spextrekid9410 because of that movie I've never liked Meryl Streep 😃 ... i was like 10 years old when watched it

K v K also starred Meryl Streep as the wife. That was a brilliant movie. The kid was such a cutie and totally adorable!!!

Kramer vs. Kramer is a must watch for the channel.

Don't forget a badass math professor. "Straw Dogs" doesn't get enough love.

Each film features a person called Ben Bradlee - The one in Spotlight is Ben Bradlee Jr, the son of the person in All The Presidents Men! I love that weird link between the two stories of journalism

Great suggestion! I was actually reminded of "Spotlight" while watching this reaction.

"Spotlight" was a great film. What they uncovered was beyond horrible.

Spotlight is the best journalism movie.

YES!! Definitely hoping "Spotlight" is a film they react to, as that and "All the President's Men" are great "newspaper" movies, so to speak lol. Really getting into the process of investigative journalism and reporting.

Or ignorant

@@chalkandcheese1868 No, not at all. These events occurred nearly half a century ago; I would not expect generations Y or Z to know about them.

@@OneAndOnlyMe I'm sorry what? World War II was before my time and I know about it. I'm not even American and I've heard of Watergate, it's called reading and paying attention in class. If you're an American and you've never heard of Watergate, you're an idiot.

Remember they are Canadian and this was 50+ years ago ​@@chalkandcheese1868

@@OneAndOnlyMe To add to that, this is American history and these ladies are Canadian. They wouldn't have much reason to know the details of the Watergate incident even if they were older.

I think the 70’s was the greatest decade in film history. The 80’s was one of the worst.

@@razmo21 the last decade giving the 80s a run for its money….if I see another comic book trailer my head will explode…

Script was written by William Goldman who also wrote Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and The Princess Bride among others.

very poor storytelling, poorly constructed, poorly executed divulging of details and series of happenings Pakula doesn't know how to tell a story in the slightest (like I doubt he could even do a good job relaying a simple 3 minute thing that happened), and trying to tell a complex story with details and varying motivations seriously feels like a 10 year old trying to take on a major carpentry project seriously - just NO. and with that, this feels like middle-school boys playing at make-believe investigators and it plays like a big joke rather than heavy political 'it really happened' profound awe like it should and tries to pretend it does failed scene after failed scene after failed scene, and if you don't know anything about the subject matter or details going into it you will not come away from this knowing what the fuck any of it had to do with anything, why it mattered, what place it played in history, or anything at all (even how it affected the reporters lives, what they went through - nothing is depicted in this movie), and I'd be surprised if anyone who didn't know anything could even make it through this without complete and utter frustration (assuming they have a working brain, which is only maybe 10% of audiences these days) 3.9/10

Alan J. Pakula was the director of this minor masterpiece. Sadly forgotten today. He had a very distinct visual style, perfectly suited for these kinds of movies. His masterpiece (albeit flawed) is the 1974 film “The Parallax View”. Truly original director that died under strange circumstances in 1998. Check out his Wikipedia page for more information about him. Cheers 🍺

With the current corruption in the FBI and it clearly going back to JFK's assassination (if not earlier), I wouldn't say ANYONE isn't corrupt. When you get down to it, Nixon never admitted to anything - he resigned for the good of the country. I saw an interesting story that the whole thing was a set by the FBI because they wanted to get rid of Nixon. At this point, I'm inclined to believe it over such a ridiculously sensational story like this. In fact Woodward was trying so hard to get his glory days back, chasing down any camera that would follow him during Trump's years that I wouldn't be surprised if he helped manufacture Watergate.

Saying Felt was not corrupt is a bit too simple. He definitely was strongly motivated by his own sense of right and wrong, and he thought of himself as virtuous, not corrupt, but he was also directly involved in black bag operations against U.S. citizens. Those operations were found to be illegal, and Felt was convicted for violating the civil rights of those Americans. He was later pardoned by Reagan.

It may have offended his sense of morality, but the major reason Felt was leaking information was that he was angry at Nixon and Haldeman for passing him up to be head of the Bureau when J. Edgar Hoover died. He thought he'd earned it; Nixon and his team had no intention of appointing a career FBI man to the post and went with a political appointment in L. Patrick Gray.

@@chrishornbostel9831 And when did he tell you that?

@@chrishornbostel9831 He was mad about being passed up but that was not the main reason he was doing it. He had a very strong sense of right and wrong. Some thought he was almost too rigid in that way. That was one of the reasons the Nixon administration didn't make him head of the FBI. They thought he was too rigid in his morality to be "trustworthy." His anger at being passed up might have played a part in having him feel no urge to be "loyal" and towing the line despite his sense of right and wrong being violated, but his sense of right and wrong being violated was his primary motive.

Great underrated character actor. A Thousand Clowns, Melvin and Howard, Max Dugan Returns etc.

So true, one of my favourite actors. He played the patriarch in a 1987-88 tv version of the "Long Hot Summer" along Don Johnson, and he was freaking excellent in that.

Jason Robards is always absolute class.

You apparently missed the fact that these reactors are to "everything is entertainment all the time". The sord "serious" is not in their vocabulary. And it's difficult to believe they aren't (still) high schoolers.

@CDavis-wo2hp Have you something to contribute other than personal attack? The flexibility in language is in part result of the fact that not all words are single-syllable. Can you DEFEND these silly teenage "reactors" who are actually old enough to realize that not everything is "entertainment"? And who cares what other films the actors were in -- isn't the actual substance of the film what allegedly matters?

Yes it is, but Costner was a fictitious character

@@surferdjnj No, in 1961 O'Donnell became President Kennedy's special assistant and Appointments Secretary. He later advised the President during the lead up to the Bay of Pigs invasion and during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.[

Yes, I’m looking forward to that reaction.

Can't wait for this reaction! There's a RU-vid channel called "History Buffs" that scrutinizes movies for historical accuracy - there is a video covering Thirteen Days and gave it a very positive review. Some dramatization as with any movie, but very accurate.

@@surferdjnjKenny O’Donnell was real. The movie overplays his role in the Crisis. It’s a pretty good trick, use an obscure participant as the viewpoint for a well known event. Gives you a bit of flexibility that you don’t get if JFK or RFK are used.

He was the President who recorded "Fire and Rain".

I thought it was president Jackson Browne.

And great direction by Alan J Pakula. For example, the opening extreme close-up of typewriter keys hitting paper with incredibly loud bangs lets you know that you are about to watch a story about the power and impact of written words, while also making you sit up straight in your seat. It's absolutely brilliant, and even more effective when you see the film in a theatre.

Mark Felt was a coward and a traitor. He put an entire nation on jeopardy only because he didn`t get the job. Nixon didn`t need to spy the democrats, he won by a landslide the 1972 Presidential election.

Or what they’ve seen on social media. 🙄

Reagan's repeal of the Fairness doctrine and enabling of corrupt anti-American immigrants like Rupert Murdoch did so much damage to the journalistic integrity of this country.

It's not just journalists. The American population overall, is less adult, less mature, less educated. Basically children, who need safe spaces and feel-good pandering.

Jason Robards won the 1976 academy award for best supporting actor for his role as Ben Bradlee in this movie

Part of the problem with misinformation is that many, perhaps most media outlets don't report the news accordingly, they in fact give commentary/opinion reporting. Also, they just make things up, take statements out of context, and convey their own agenda's, then call themselves journalists.

Great post!

Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger are the closest we have today.

Perfectly stated. I, for one, still support print journalism that is posted online as well.

The MSM has become the enemy of the people in the US. I hope you aren't part of the problem

One of my favorite lines, too.

Soooooo! Good! No music! Just acting and directing!

In the movie there is a 4-door 1972 Ford LTD which was close to my first car, a 2-door 1971 Ford LTD. My buddies used to say lines from that movie when they'd jump in that tank...

Also "Game Change" (2012) for a more modern take on what goes on behind the scenes in a political campaign.

Well, he *could* have stayed. in office and been impeached. He chose to resign rather than be impeached. Then Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon and ruined justice and accountability forever. And so here we are today.

The Senate Hearings also led to the "memes" of the day with "What did the President know and when did he know it?". It was a difficult era with a lot of deep history.

Sam Ervin was a (D) not and (R). The Minority Co-Chair was Howard Baker (R) From Tennessee.

@@steveperkins8748 Yep, you are correct. My bad. Thanks.

The Watergate Hearings started in 1973.

Deep throat’s identity was only released after he died a few years ago.

Yes, my dad was a city editor at a mid-size city paper in the 60 s to the 80 s, and this all brings back memories of when they were doing a big investigative story. The news room is also conveyed very accurately.

Spotlight is an awesome film but VERY hard to watch.

Why did they do that? wondering

@@surferdjnj The film is about Woodstein breaking the initial story, not about the entire Watergate scandal. Besides, the film came out in 1976, so the details shown on the teletype at the end would sitll be fresh in most people's minds, so there was no need for the film to cover that ground.

@@RichardDicksondlyrch68 Exactly. Everyone had just lived through it. The only part they hadn't seen play out in their living rooms was the WoodStein/Deep Throat story.

@@surferdjnjThe book and film are about how the Washington Post broke the story. It skips over some details of how the New York Times also published significant stories in the early part of the Watergate investigation, but by the time the story broke big (i.e. about when the movie ends with the teletype headlines), Woodward, Bernstein and the Washington Post were far from the only ones covering and writing important stories about the investigation, coverup, congressional hearings, Supreme Court decisions, etc. In other words, the story could no longer be told completely and convincingly from the perspective of Woodstein and the Post, so the movie fast forwards through how the rest of the Nixon story played out.

@@markhamstra1083 When watching the documentary "Third rate burglary" which details the whole event, you have the Watergate Tapes which proved that Nixon knew all about it and the coverup, and that came out in the hearings. I thought that would have been in the film as well, but I do see the way they went with Breaking News and how to report it well.

Always wondered was that a story to put off Woodward or if true

Always wondered what that had to do with Dahlberg. If HIS wife was kidnapped, I get it. I don't even know my neighbor's name (new guy), so if his wife was kidnapped, I wouldn't treat it as a personal crisis.

Yes, it's true. It was a footnote in their book at that point of the story.

...and, not as illustrious, "The Pelican Brief"..but still exciting.

​@@goodowner5000 yes I agree. Not quit up to the standard of the other 3, but Pelican Brief is none the less a good film, with a terrific cast, and wonderful score by James Horner.

The movie covers almost two-thirds of the book. The last scene of the movie with Woodward and Bernstein occurs on January 20, 1973 with Nixon on tv taking the oath of office in the background. Nixon’s second inaugural goes unmentioned in the book, which is instead focused on the trial of the burglars, Hunt and Liddy, which ended on January 30 with all seven men either pleading guilty or being found guilty. That’s the end of Chapter 11, so the movie covers ten days short of eleven chapters while omitting the last six, but the teletype headlines at the end of the movie cover most of the important events that occur in the last six chapters of the book, and then go further to cover the remainder of Nixon’s presidency. The last chapter of the book ends with Nixon’s State of the Union address in 1974, so a little more than a year after the end of Chapter 11.

Much better than the set built for "The Post".

Another highly recommended movie for review!!!

Brad Pitt was also in A River Runs Through It, directed by Redford, and then there's Moneyball and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, where he's very deliberately echoing Redford. They have one of those special bonds between Hollywood legends.

That phone call!

The beauty of the film is The Story, not by fancy fluff to make it sparkly and such. It deals with hard facts, and Life as it pretty was, back in early 1970's. That is the main point of it. Telling how it went down, and that works so much better than so many films of today.

@@jaquesshugossen9398 yes, filmmakers should take notes.

Yeah when I heard it won Oscars I thought it would have a lot more flair to it. It's really straightforward.

I think James Taylor was married to or living with Carly Simon??? She would have been a popular singer in the 1970s as well. "You're so vain" came out in Nov 1972

@@francescathomas3502 I think that song is about me.

@@francescathomas3502 Carly Simon = the lady with the three cock mouth.

James Taylor's album called 'Mudslide Slim' was one of my favourite albums at the time, especially the song 'You've got a friend'. Some songs never seem to age.

@@francescathomas3502 James Taylor was married to Carly Simon from 1972 until 1983. They are rock royalty. Carly is now 80 years-old and Taylor is 76 years-old.

It was shown in my AP US History class.

My junior year US history teacher showed it to us

The fact that he was the number 2 guy at the FBI came out after the events of the movie, yes. It almost sounded like you were saying this, the movie, came out decades after the events IRL. ;)

A good follow up to this movie!

Yep! He was Salieri in "Amadeus", and the primary villain Ru'afo in "Star Trek: Insurrection".

My junior year English teach showed up Forrest Gump in class and then he gave us a list of events/historical things that occurred in it and we had to pick one and write a research paper on it and I chose to do mine on watergate!

Not to mention the arresting officer at 4:09: F. Murray Abraham, aka Salieri from “Amadeus.”

Jason Robards also played "Cheyenne" in Once Upon a Time in the West, very very good character in one of the best westerns ever made. Also worth mentioning, Jack Warden was in my fav comedy Used Cars where he played two brothers.

@@killroy23 yep but I was trying to limit myself to just listing those films they’ve watched on the channel.

Ned Beatty ... They are overdue for Deliverance.

Jason Robards was one of those actors who was always ~present~ in the background of my childhood... in so many things (like Gene Hackman), but I personally remember him most fondly in "Max Dugan Returns", because I loved that movie as a kid.

I’d also add that KLUTE was first in Pakula’s “Paranoia trilogy”

Yes, Pakula was a great director with a unique style. I hold “The Parallax View” to be his definitive film. It is flawed yet perfect. The use of liminal spaces in the film makes it both jarring and dark (Gordon Willis and Pakula had a great working relationship). Cheers 🍺

And in another such film starring and directed by Clint, _Absolute power,_ a burglar sees the President murder his mistress and... well, just watch the movie!! Also, 1805movie, thanks for using italics for the title of a movie. You and I, I fear, are a dying breed, those who know that this is the correct thing to do.

I think she reacted to it about a year ago.

She has already seen In the Line of Fire.

Bulldozed. That's a good word for it.

Kind of wish the movies on the channel flowed into each other a little better. Like Frost/Nixon would be the perfect follow up to this instead of five months down the line.

Must've been weird having everyone and their grandmother saying 'Deep Throat' all the time. Lol. Unfortunate code name imo.

@@ct6852 Yeah. It was also the name of an adult film at the time.

If he was remembered for only one movie in his career which do you think it would be?

@@ct6852 Hmm. Probably The Natural, followed pretty closely by All The President’s Men & Jeremiah Johnson Sound right?

@@jakehawke8196 Ohhh yeah The Natural. Keep forgetting that one. Maybe this one just because of the Oscars and historical tie-in. He's definitely like Leo DiCaprio in that it would be super hard to choose just one.

I also like him in The Hot Rock.

The Hot Rock, Sneakers, Spy game, The Sting, and many other films. He directed Quiz Show as well.

A good movie. I think Marissa Tomai did it after My Cousin Vinny.

Great suggestion! I loved that movie.

I loved this movie.

"The Post" is excellent. Agreed.

And the Trump-Russia Hoax was far worse than Watergate.

Keep in mind, when the Hearings started in 1973, all combat troops had been removed from Vietnam.

@@Nomad-vv1gk Audiences in 1976 would have been well aware of that fact, as the specter of Vietnam still pervaded American life. Many Americans wanted Nixon to be impeached for his war crimes in SE Asia; getting him to resign for Watergate was like getting Al Capone for tax evasion, but so much worse.

What about Spotlight. That was the Boston Globe. The investigation started shortly before 9/11.

He was a personal friend of JFK. He didn't like their investigation of the Teddy Kennedy involvement.

ah yes the good old days when the white pages were available at every public phone booth. the white pages your name address and phone number and nothing else was available to everyone everywhere and no one said boo.

They'd do a great reaction to "Heartburn", ha! The pizza scene! "The Candidate" is a good one too.

I also found that so adorable when surprised about the Phone Book directory. In some countries you also had "Yellow Pages" only for companies. It is a very good film to show what life was like, especially in journalism, back in the day, when internet wasn't around and you couldn't google everything.

That always amazes me too. In the old days, the only thing the whole public had access to was an address and phone number. Nowadays, we just give it all away, in exchange for "free" internet and apps.

@@jillk368That is the way one grew up in the old days... also phones were plugged into a wall, or the ground as in something called a Payphone, or Phonebooth. It does also make one rethink "The Terminator"... Wouldn't the T-800 have had access to the addresses of the future via the Internet as in today? 🙂

That's millennial logic - - everything is a conspiracy, all the time; if it disagrees with your politics.

@@jillk368 Clam down.

@@jillk368 They were joking around.

She slept with Ron, BTW.

I forgot Goldman scripted this. Thanks for reminding me.

The complete sentence: "Nothing's riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country."

Yes -

Director Alan J Pakula overlaid the sound of gunshots over the news blotter.

@@tremorsfan As in "putting the nails in the coffin" of Nixon's political career.

Was it more practical in the 80's ?