Assignment 17: Maggie Anderson

I watched All the Presidents Men and The Post. They both portray the Washington Post’s coverage of major news stories during the presidency of Richard Nixon. The former is about two reporters covering Watergate and is based on a book written by the reporters directly after. The latter was made recently and tells the story of the Washington Post’s coverage of the Pentagon papers.

            The biggest difference between the two movies is the focus of the movie. During All the President’s Men the entire movie is spent following the two reporters as they write the story, talk to editors, or interview people. There is no time spent on other people or other situations. In The Post, however, the focus is more split. Part of this is due to the separation of the main characters. Woodward and Bernstein work together throughout their move, but Kay Graham is more removed from the newspaper, causing the movie to have to shift back and forth. This provides for more interactions with other people as well as a variety of events and situations.

             The cast is also larger in The Post, as the plot revolves around an effort by the entire staff, particularly at the upper levels. All the President’s Men revolves around an effort solely by Woodward and Bernstein, and the rest of the staff, with the exception of Ben Bradley, barely make appearances, and they hinder as much as they help. There is also absolutely no mention or appearance of Kay Graham in All the President’s Men even though it is set less than a year after The Post. This could partially be due to her being less involved in Watergate than she was in the Pentagon Papers, as the paper didn’t seem to care about that coverage at the time as much. The decision to run publish the Pentagon Papers was a potentially illegal act that required judgement calls by anyone with any power at the Washington Post, as the New York Times had already been to stop by a federal judge. The coverage of Watergate was much less contested, partially because the White House was denying involvement, partially because nobody but Woodward and Bernstein thought there was anything worth reporting, and partially because the newspapers had won their Supreme Court case after the Pentagon Papers, giving them an assured legal right to print whatever they felt it necessary to print.

            Smoking also play a large role in both movies, but movies, but I perceived it in a different way. As both movies are set in the late 60s/early 70s there is a great deal of smoking, realistically portraying the behaviors of the time. However, I found that it came more naturally in All the President’s Men. There was definitely more casual smoking, which is a shock to somebody living in today’s anti-smoking culture. But it seemed to fit perfectly and didn’t continuously stand out. This could partially be due to the fact that it was made at the time, so the actors and director didn’t have to try so hard to insert it. They probably smoked throughout the making of the movie, on and off camera. The Post, however, doesn’t achieve this level of nonchalance. There is less smoking, but every time it seems to stand out more and seems artificial, like it was put into the scene by somebody trying to make a point about how much people smoked then. It probably was. One part of The Post that seems most realistic is a scene in which the editors have met at Ben Bradley’s house to go over the recently acquired Pentagon Papers. After having spent the morning isolated in his closed off living room, Mrs. Bradley comes to bring them lunch. She opens the door to a gray cloud made by about five people smoking throughout several hours. It is an extreme example, and is mostly in the movie for laughs, but it seem like the most natural, and realistic, evidence of smoking in the movie.     

            Overall, I preferred The Post. It was aimed more at the modern public. As All the President’s Men was created shortly after Watergate, it doesn’t hold up as well, though I found both movies to be quite excellent.