A short documentary on the making of "All the President's Men." | dG1fQmJpM3RnT1FpbWc
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 I was at a Knicks game in New York,
00:03 and Redford was there, and he leaned over,
00:06 and he said, "Do you want to play Carl Bernstein?"
00:09 There was something about Dustin, I knew him a little bit,
00:12 we were both Knicks fans.
00:13 What I knew about him was this nervous energy,
00:16 very, very perfectionist, and neurotic, and funny, and smart,
00:20 and put all that into his work.
00:22 These are the notes?
00:23 Yeah, I got stuff on napkins, because I'm writing in the bathroom,
00:25 while she's getting the coffee, I'm at work in the litter basket.
00:27 Could you give me something I can get down?
00:29 It's rare when you get a chance to do a movie that's based on a real person,
00:33 and it's even rarer when you get a chance to play someone
00:36 with a screenplay coming from a book,
00:38 because it tends to be more layered and richer.
00:41 An added bonus for the actors was the opportunity
00:44 to spend time with the real-life people they would be playing on screen.
00:49 First thing I wanted to do was meet Carl Bernstein.
00:51 He invited me to his parents' house for Seder.
00:55 He was going to pretty much live with us for a number of months.
00:59 We did get to know each other very well.
01:01 I liked him. He was charming.
01:03 He looked New York, but he didn't sound it.
01:06 It sounded almost like a Southern accent.
01:08 I gave him my wallet, as I remember, and he used my wallet,
01:12 but also I gave him my watch that I wore during Watergate,
01:16 which was a high school graduation present.
01:19 Dustin was extraordinary. He could imitate anybody.
01:23 I could follow up Woodward posing as Bernstein
01:25 and have a conversation with him.
01:27 What I learned is that Woodward was the didactic one.
01:30 A leads to B, B leads to C,
01:32 and you get confirmation on two sources for each one,
01:35 and Carl was the opposite.
01:37 A goes to B, and then F, and then L.
01:42 And at times it may have driven Woodward crazy,
01:45 but he turned out to be right.
01:47 He just made leaps.
01:49 I think you have some idea what's in the papers
01:51 when the Attorney General comes into the office
01:53 when it's taking place at the committee to re-elect,
01:55 and he's got a raincoat over his head.
01:57 It could be raining is what could happen.
01:59 And I moved to Washington, D.C., before the film started,
02:02 and I went to the Washington Post every day.
02:04 I met the people. I hung out there.
02:06 I was there for about 2, 3 months. I didn't want to leave.
02:10 [whooshing]
02:12 [music fades]
02:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]