Dive into the shadows of corruption and conspiracy with these must-watch Watergate masterpieces.
White House Plumbers (2023)
White House Plumbers explores the surreal and staggering story of a team of bumbling ex-CIA and FBI spies who break into the Democratic National Committee HQ in Washington, D.C. in 1972. Ex-CIA officer E. Howard Hunt (played by Woody Harrelson) and former FBI Agent G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) are hired by Richard Nixon's White House to investigate the Pentagon Papers leak (hence the name 'plumbers') and conjure up an illegal plan to spy on rivals. What could possibly go wrong? (HBO)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Unmissable. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) research the botched 1972 burglary of the Democratic Party HQ and stumble on a cover-up in All the President’s Men. With the assistance of ‘Deep Throat’ (Hal Holbrook), they follow the money to the White House. Winner of four Academy Awards. (YouTube, Prime Video, Vudu, iTunes, and Google Play).
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
Dive into the shadows of corruption and conspiracy with these must-watch Watergate masterpieces.
White House Plumbers (2023)
White House Plumbers explores the surreal and staggering story of a team of bumbling ex-CIA and FBI spies who break into the Democratic National Committee HQ in Washington, D.C. in 1972. Ex-CIA officer E. Howard Hunt (played by Woody Harrelson) and former FBI Agent G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) are hired by Richard Nixon's White House to investigate the Pentagon Papers leak (hence the name 'plumbers') and conjure up an illegal plan to spy on rivals. What could possibly go wrong? (HBO)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Unmissable. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) research the botched 1972 burglary of the Democratic Party HQ and stumble on a cover-up in All the President’s Men. With the assistance of ‘Deep Throat’ (Hal Holbrook), they follow the money to the White House. Winner of four Academy Awards. (YouTube, Prime Video, Vudu, iTunes, and Google Play).
Oliver Stone’s biographical examination of Nixon (Anthony Hopkins) explores the president’s personal and professional life, touching on his youth and political triumphs/failures leading up to the infamous Watergate scandal. Roger Ebert’s four-star review calls it the story of a “brooding, brilliant, tortured man, sinking into the gloom of a White House under siege, haunted by the ghosts of his past”. (Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft, and Sky Store)
Secret Honor (1984)
Robert Altman’s Secret Honor is a one-man drama starring Philip Baker Hall as Nixon battling his thoughts, a tape recorder, a bottle of scotch, and a loaded pistol. In this fictional account, Nixon reveals the ‘true’ reason for the Watergate break-in. (YouTube,iTunes, and Prime Video).
The Final Days (1989)
The Watergate story is front-page news and Nixon faces impeachment in The Final Days. As the president enters his last few months, his web of lies unravels. Nixon becomes even more isolated - even suspicious - of his attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, and chief of staff, Alexander Haig.(YouTube and Amazon Prime)
The Postfocuses on the Pentagon Papers whistleblower and the events leading up to Watergate.Post publisher Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) must race to catch up with The New York Times and expose a massive government cover-up spanning three decades. (YouTube, Prime Video, AppleTV, and Google Play)
Frost Nixon (2008)
It is 1977, three years after the scandal that ended Nixon’s presidency. Nixon (Frank Langella) selects British interviewer David Frost (Michael Sheen) to conduct a one-on-one exclusive, hoping to mislead Frost but what unfolds is an unexpectedly candid interview. The film ranks at 93% on the Tomatometer. (Prime Video, YouTube, GooglePlay, and Apple TV)
Mark Felt, The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)
The story of Deep Throat Mark Felt, the deputy FBI chief who lost a promotion and embarked on a mission to expose corruption at the highest levels of the US government. It is a story seen through only one viewpoint, however, bringing criticism from some quarters, but Neeson is eminently watchable and Felt’s story is an important chapter in Watergate’s history. (Netflix in some countries, YouTube, Prime Video, GooglePlay, and Apple TV)
The Martha Mitchell Effect (2022)
The ‘mouth of the south’ is the subject of Netflix's documentary The Martha Mitchell Effect. The wife of US Attorney General John Mitchell blew the whistle on corrupt government practices and paid a high price for speaking out. Martha was a political gossip making the rounds on talk shows until the establishment turned against her. (Netflix)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009)
Vietnam War strategist Daniel Ellsberg concludes in 1971 that America's role in the conflict is based on decades of lies. Ellsberg becomes a whistleblower, leaking 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, an act that will lead directly to Watergate and President Nixon's resignation. (Prime Video and Roku)
Our Nixon (2013)
Super 8 film shot by Nixon’s aides - H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and Dwight Chapin - was initially seized by the FBI during the Watergate investigation and filed away at the National Archives for almost four decades until Penny Lane turned the footage into a compelling, intimate documentary about the US president in Our Nixon. Variety calls it ‘brisk’ and ‘eye-opening’. (iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Vudu, and GooglePlay.)
Gaslit (2022)
Gaslit focuses on the scandal’s forgotten characters including Nixon’s subordinates and the tragic whistleblowers. Martha Mitchell (played by Julia Roberts) is the first to speak out against Nixon’s crooked administration and, as a result, subjected to a vicious smear campaign involving her husband (Sean Penn). Keep an eye out for hotshot White House lawyer John Dean, played by Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens. (Starz and Amazon Prime)
Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)
The Company, written by Nixon’s close aideJohn Ehrlichman, is based on the events leading up to the Watergate cover-up and serves as inspiration for the six-part series Washington: Behind Closed Doors. Starring Cliff Robertson as William Martin and Jason Robards as President Monkton. (Prime Video)
Blind Ambition (1979)
Martin Sheen stars as John Dean, special counsel to Nixon, in the Blind Ambitiondocu-drama tracing Dean’s career highs and lows and his relationship with the most powerful leader of the free world. Rip Torn has a star turn as Richard Nixon. (YouTube)
Watergate (2018)
Charles Ferguson’s documentary series Watergate - starring Douglas Hodge as Nixon - draws from 3,400 hours of audiotapes, archival footage, and declassified documents. The series includes flashbacks from Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, and John Dean. Rotten Tomato critics gave it a score of 100%. (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon, and Google Play)
Watergate (1994)
This joint BBC-Discovery documentary series offers a comprehensive look at the Washington scandal with interviews including aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, campaign intelligence head G. Gordon Liddy, and James McCord, one of the Watergate Hotel break-in ‘plumbers’.Definitely a film for serious Watergate followers. (YouTube, BBC, and Internet Archive)
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
Gadgets & Gifts
Put your spy skills to work with these fabulous choices from secret notepads & invisible inks to Hacker hoodies & high-tech handbags. We also have an exceptional range of rare spy books, including many signed first editions.
We all have valuable spy skills - your mission is to discover yours. See if you have what it takes to be a secret agent, with our authentic spy skills evaluation* developed by a former Head of Training at British Intelligence. It's FREE so share & compare with friends now!
