THE TV COLUMN : TCM, Dean revisit Watergate
Posted on Sunday, November 2, 2008
Key Watergate player John Dean was in central Arkansas a couple of weeks ago to speak at the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and the Clinton School of Public Service.
John who ?
Here’s how this newspaper’s article about Dean’s appearance at UCA began.
“John Dean, whose testimony ultimately led to the resignation of then-President Richard Nixon, looked out over the small audience at the University of Central Arkansas and decided he had best define Watergate.”
For many of us who were around in those days, it’s hard to believe that an entire generation has been born and grown to within spittin’ distance of 40 since 1973. Time flies.
Dean has just turned 70, but in 1973 he was the baby-faced White House attorney who told the insider tale about the “bungled burglary” on June 17, 1972, at the Democratic Party’s headquarters at Washington’s Watergate Hotel.
Dean told his UCA audience that the burglars “were on a pure fishing expedition... trying to find out anything that might embarrass the Democrats. Here were these guys caught in business suits wearing rubber gloves like surgeons.
“ This is not James Bond. This is not even Maxwell Smart. This is why we had a Watergate break-in. This is why we had a cover-up.”
That cover-up first came to light through a series of investigative articles by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They wrote a 1974 book and the book was made into a movie.
That landmark film, All the President’s Men, starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, hit theaters in 1976 and resulted in a huge rush of students wanting to go to journalism school.
Everybody wanted to have their own Deep Throat secret source and blow the lid off of some nefarious scandal.
The identity of Deep Throat, by the way, was kept secret until 2005 when former FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt owned up.
In case you missed Dean’s local appearance, and in case you’re nostalgic for the good ol’ Nixon days, and in case you’re too young to remember Robert Redford in his post-Sundance Kid prime (he was 40 in 1976 ), here’s your chance.
Dean will sit down with host Robert Osborne to introduce a special Turner Classic Movies presentation of All the President’s Men at 7 p. m. today on TCM. Dean provides viewers an insider’s look at the scandal.
TCM programming honcho Charles Tabesh says, “Watergate was a landmark event in American history, and All the President’s Men is a riveting account of how the investigation unfolded. We’re excited that John Dean is sharing his insights about Watergate and, of course, the way the events were depicted.”
Dean, who is now a writer and lecturer (hear the speech, buy the book ), says that the movie is one of his all-time favorite films.
“It’s not the full story of Watergate by any stretch of the imagination,” Dean tells Osborne. “It’s not a documentary.”
He labels the film as “an entertaining story about a very complex topic.” Dean also agrees that the movie inspired two generations of investigative journalists.
To remind you, All the President’s Men follows the adventures of Bernstein and Woodward as they ran down what became the biggest political story of the era.
The film opens as Woodward investigates the break-in at the Democratic campaign headquarters. Two of those arrested turned out to have connections to a White House aide. Woodward smelled blood in the water.
Post editor Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards ) teamed Woodward with Bernstein and the duo started beating the bushes with help from a secret insider dubbed Deep Throat.
Before it was all over, the scandal reached to the Oval Office, Nixon’s resignation, folks going to jail, Pulitzers for Woodward and Bernstein and four Oscars for the film. Round three. The third season of Brotherhood debuts on Showtime at 7 p. m. today, followed by new episodes of Dexter and Californication.
For those out of the loop, Brotherhood is “the blue-collar saga of Providence, R. I., native sons Michael and Tommy Caffee (Jason Isaacs and Jason Clarke ).” Tommy is a politician; Michael is a criminal. There will be eight episodes.
Gobble, bam ! Are you looking to make your Thanksgiving “green ?” Me neither. But if you know someone who is, chef Emeril Lagasse will show you how at 7 p. m. on cable’s Planet Green’s Emeril Green. That’s a digital-tier channel. Emeril will use locally grown stuff to “reduce our carbon footprint.” Sounds delicious. More on the way. ABC has given Private Practice the green light for a full season of 22 episodes despite the fact that attendance is off about 2 million viewers this season. The series is pulling in about 8. 3 million viewers each week. Battlestar back. Be patient. Sci Fi has announced the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica will kick off Jan. 16. The 10-episode arc will end with the series finale March 20. It’ll be gripping. Remember, the Colonial fleet and their Cylon allies have discovered Earth and it’s a barren nuclear wasteland. What now ? The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
mstorey@arkansasonline. com
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