Still, watching some of the new and recent productions on this story, and reviewing older ones, offers some insights into those years and a reminder that Nixon’s scandals go beyond simply sending a few unfortunate thieves to the National Committee’s headquarters. The Democratic Party.
For those who might see Watergate as ancient history, these projects – involving those who have participated in and reflect on history – also highlight that this previous constitutional threat was much closer than it appears in the rearview mirror. .
As for refresher courses, here are a few options, including some that qualify as Watergate’s neighbors in terms of helping to understand or remember what happened.
Although Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are among those interviewed, there is a little more distortion in this documentary about CBS’s role as one of the few television news outlets to cover the scandal, including Leslie Stall’s memoirs of history, Walter Cronkite , who was involved in the scandal, and the great reporter Daniel Shore, who revealed on the air that he had won a place on Nixon’s list of enemies while reading the names.
Including old and new interviews, the project also captures what a huge “hit” the Watergate TV hearings were in the days when there were three networks and there weren’t many alternatives to watch.
Watergate: A Scandal Plan
A four-part documentary series currently airing on CNN, the project includes interviews with John Dean, among others.
Watergate (History, June 17)
The History channel will repeat its six-part documentary series, which premiered in 2018.
“Gazlit” (Starz)
This eight-part dramatization of Watergate has just ended, but it’s worth catching up on those who didn’t, with Julia Roberts as the revealer Martha Mitchell, the unrecognizable Sean Penn as her husband, Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell and Dan Stevens as John Dean. Exaggerated in part to the point of satire, however, this is a telling look at the scandal and its key players, including the wildly excellent Shea Wigham as G. Gordon Lydie.
“All the President’s Men” (HBO Max)
The review of the film version of the director Alan J. A 1976 book from Woodward and Bernstein’s book stands out for unforeseen reasons in certain places, such as a meeting of Washington Post editors consisting entirely of older white boys in white shirts discussing whether to stand up to young reporters. .
At its core, however, the film endures, and then little, from a study of classic leather shoe reports to frightened sources who can’t keep quiet about the corruption they’ve witnessed. Add to that the sensational performances and screenplay by Oscar-winning William Goldman, with typical lines such as Deep Throat (Hal Holbrooke) telling Woodward (Robert Redford) to “Follow the Money” and “The truth is, it’s not very smart.” boys and things got out of hand. “
The “message”
Steven Spielberg’s 2017 film offers a deeper immersion into another corner of the story, in particular the relationship between Washington Post editor Ben Bradley (Tom Hanks) and publisher Catherine Graham (Meryl Streep) and the latter’s courage. in this role, to withstand pressure from the White House to publish Pentagon documents in 1971. This tenacity would later be vital to the Post’s role in exposing Watergate.
“Mark Felt: The Man Who Took Down the White House”
This 2017 film features the best of the film, Liam Neeson as Felt, an FBI official who finally revealed that he was Woodward’s source, Deep Throat, in 2005.
Frost / Nixon
Michael Sheen and Frank Langella repeated their stage roles as David Frost and Nixon in their famous 1977 television interviews, an entertaining film defined by their outstanding performances, as much as the pressure on the interviewer and their verbal parrying, as well as his topic.
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