Watergate film coming to Harbor Theater
Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in a scene from the 1976 film, “All the President’s Men.” See it at the Harbor Theater in February. Courtesy of the Harbor Theater
Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in a scene from the 1976 film, “All the President’s Men.” See it at the Harbor Theater in February. Courtesy of the Harbor Theater
In July of 2019, the Harbor Theater put out a call for subscribers to the Classic Film Series to vote for six films from a list of 50 that they would like to see in the 2019-2020 season. Films had to be made between 1930 and 1980. The top films chosen included “Out of Africa,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “My Fair Lady,” “Chariots of Fire” and “The Quiet Man.”
As the Trump impeachment trial continues, how timely that February’s film is “All the President’s Men” (1976). Screenings will be held on Thursday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. Series subscribers are free; tickets at the door are $10 ($8 for members), with free popcorn and water before the show, and a glass of wine afterwards. The film is rated PG and is 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Viewers will get a chance to re-visit the story of the Washington Post journalists who, in 1972, uncovered and exposed the Watergate scandal that two years later led to the House Judiciary Committee’s bi-partisan vote approving three impeachment articles against President Richard Nixon: Obstruction of Justice, Abuse of Power, and Contempt of Congress.
In 1974, the final blow was the discovery of tapes that exposed Nixon’s deep involvement in the cover up of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee office in the Watergate complex. President Nixon lost the confidence of Congress and party officials urged him to resign before a House impeachment vote could be initiated. Richard Nixon was never impeached, but he was the first and only president to resign from office because of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of justice.”
The film stars Robert Redford as Post reporter Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as his colleague Carl Bernstein. The cast also includes Jason Robards as Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat, the whistleblower of Watergate.
New York City’s magazine, Time Out, said “It worked both as an effective thriller (even though we know the outcome of their investigations) and as a virtually abstract charting of the dark corridors of corruption and power.”
For background on the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation: www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm
The Harbor Theater is at 185 Townsend Ave. in Boothbay Harbor. For more information about the theater and what’s coming up, visit www.boothbaycinema.org
Event Date
Address
185 Townsend Avenue
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
United States
