All the President's Men

"The most devastating detective story of this century."

1976 2h 18m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 2,171

DramaMysteryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

“The most devastating detective story of this century.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Dustin Hoffman
Carl Bernstein
Robert Redford
Bob Woodward
Jack Warden
Harry Rosenfeld
Martin Balsam
Howard Simons
Hal Holbrook
Deep Throat
Jason Robards
Ben Bradlee
Jane Alexander
Bookkeeper
Meredith Baxter
Debbie Sloan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Writers: William Goldman
Languages: Spanish, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alan J. Pakula, shot by Gordon Willis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert L. Wolfe shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The most devastating detective story of this century.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alan J. Pakula directs. Gordon Willis behind the camera. David Shire scores. Robert L. Wolfe cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.3× over at the box office.
250 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
4Directed by Alan J. Pakula, shot by Gordon Willis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert L. Wolfe shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The most devastating detective story of this century.".
9IMDB entry: tt0074119 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "newspaper", "journalist", "plan", "washington dc, usa".

The technical file

Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Original score: David Shire
Editing: Robert L. Wolfe
Production design: George Jenkins
Makeup / hair: Lynda Gurasich
Sound: Les Fresholtz
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,500,000
Box office: $70,600,000
Return: 831% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: All the President's Men (1976)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Production Design
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Sound
Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Alan J. Pakula

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-03
★ 8/10
Based on the true, ground-breaking, investigations by the Washington Post into the seemingly innocuous break-in into the Watergate Building; this film produces two of the finest performances ever committed to film. Dustin Hoffman already had some grittier parts in his repertoire; but for Robert Redford this is more of a departure from his usual roles and the rapport between the two, initially suspicious journalists, builds as we all begin to realise that there is a hell of a lot more to this than just some unlucky burglars. Jason Robards and Martin Balsam serve as the real life editorial leads at the newspaper, but also as characters we can all use to take stock during these rapidly advancing, and incriminating developments. Alan J. Pakula subtly and deftly takes us through the chronology in an enthralling manner; exposing crossing sub-plots and personalities - as well as demonstrating the palpable risks being taken by many to uncover the truth. We all know the ending, but this film is quite possibly the reason why many still recall this momentous story.
Filipe Manuel Neto2024-03-12
★ 9/10
Fifty years after Watergate, what have we learned? The “Watergate Affair” was fifty years ago. For those who don't remember or weren't born, it all started with the invasion of the Democratic Party offices in the Watergate Building, in Washington D.C., by a group of men, caught while trying to install bugs and copy documents. The group's connection to the CIA became obvious and, as the inquiries progressed, the story became more bizarre: after all, everything had been done under orders coming from within the White House, from people very interested in manipulating the elections that year, in which Richard Nixon was going to run for his second term against the Democratic candidate, George McGovern. The film tells us about this, but stops here, focusing on the contribution of journalists from The Washington Post, who investigated the matter and published relevant information. The film doesn't say what happened next, but as we know, Nixon was re-elected and quickly found himself under suspicion about his involvement in the Watergate break-in. Nixon refused to give explanations, hiding behind his office prerogatives, not even when it became known that there was a voice recording system in his office. With Congress demanding to hear these recordings under serious threats of impeachment, Nixon preferred to resign and, since then, “Watergate” has been an eternal synonym of political corruption at the highest level. Directed by Alan Pakula and released in the years following the events, the film would have needed no further explanation. The names of those involved and the details of the story would be fresh in everyone's memory. However, more than fifty years later, who remembers the details? As the film does not give us explanations, only people who know the subject well or have read about it will watch the film without needing to go to the Internet every ten minutes. Even I, a historian, needed to refresh my memory. Aside from this problem, the film is good and is faithful to the events and what the two “Post” journalists did. There is another problem with this film, although it is a minor problem: at this time, in the 70s, it seems that a politician was required to have bulletproof morality and a virtually untainted character. And now? We are in 2024 and democracy, instead of maturing, seems to have rotted to the point that American citizens allow a former president, who is in the grip of justice and apparently involved in a direct attack against Congress (which represents all the people) to presents himself again as a candidate without any problems, ready to be carried on shoulders to a cabinet he should never set foot in again. I am not North American, but as a European I refuse to consider such a matter a mere internal issue, taking into account the role that the USA wants to maintain on the international stage, in NATO or in the UN. Unfortunately, the degradation of democracy happens here too, and has been taken advantage of by Putin, President Xi and other enemies of the free world, a world of peace and freedom that our fathers worked hard to build together, and we are letting disappear. Returning to the film... it's worth seeing the performance of Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in two roles that helped a lot in the evolution of their careers. They are some of the best actors of that period and did a colossal job in this film. The supporting cast is equally remarkable and deserves our full attention. I particularly liked the work of Martin Balsam, Jack Warden and Jason Robards, outstanding actors who transformed three roles without much relevance into good additions to the general plot. And although we only learned more details recently, Hal Holbrook was an excellent choice to bring to life the mysterious “Deep Throat”, one of the decisive sources for linking Watergate with the White House. Technically, it is a discreet film that bets everything on the rigorous reconstruction of the settings, environments and events. There are some very good sound effects (the association of the sounds of typewriters with the sound of gunshots was intelligent and well done, for example) and the lighting effects were equally well-used. Note the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the encounters with “Deep Throat”, with the light almost reduced to what is essential. The film deservedly won four Oscars (Best Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actor) and was one of the big contenders for Best Film.