All The President's Men

FADE IN ON:

A TINY BLACK PIECE OF TAPE.

We see it in the center of the large, dimly lit screen. As

the tape is pressed around a door--

BEGIN THE BREAK-IN SEQUENCE.

It's a major piece of action, running maybe five minutes and

it's all as detailed and accurate as we can make it, with as

many "if only's" included as possible. ("If only" the tape

had been attached up and down instead of around the door,

Wills wouldn't have spotted it and alerted the police; "if

only" the first police car called had gone to investigate,

Baldwin, watching from the Howard Johnson Motor Inn, would

have seen their uniforms and radioed Hunt and Liddy in time

for them to have gotten to the five burglars and then safely

away.)

The break-in ends when Leeper arrests the five men. He thought

he only had one guy, so when ten hands were raised he was

surprised. The hands are all encased in Playtex rubber

surgical gloves. HOLD on the hands a moment; then--

GO TO:

A DARK APARTMENT.

The phone rings. WOODWARD fumbles for the receiver, turns on

the bed light. He listens a moment.

WOODWARD:

No, no trouble, Harry, be right down.

(he hangs up)

Son of a b*tch.

He lies back. The apartment is one room, a small terrace

beyond. Not much of a place.

WOODWARD lies still, staring at the ceiling. He blinks, blinks

again. HOLD...

CUT TO:

THE ENORMOUS FIFTH FLOOR OF THE WASHINGTON POST.

It looks, early of a Saturday morning, pretty deserted. Those

reporters that are around are young, bright, and presently

involved in nothing more taxing than drinking coffee and

thumbing through the papers.

HARRY ROSENFELD surveys the scene from his office doorway as

WOODWARD approaches, hangs his coat at his desk, not far

from where ROSENFELD is standing.

ROSENFELD:

Where's that cheery face we've come

to know and love?

WOODWARD:

You call me in on my day off because

some idiots have broken into local

Democratic Headquarters--tell me,

Harry, why should I be smiling?

ROSENFELD:

As usual, that keen mind of yours

has pegged the situation perfectly.

(chomps on some Maalox

tablets)

Except (a) it wasn't local Democratic

Headquarters, it was National

Democratic Headquarters--

(WOODWARD is surprised--

he hadn't known)

--and (b) these weren't just any

idiots, these were special idiots,

seeing as when they were arrested at

2:
30 this morning, they were all

wearing business suits and Playtex

gloves and were carrying--

(consults a piece of

paper)

--a walkie-talkie, forty rolls of

film, cameras, lock picks, pen-sized

tear gas guns, plus various bugging

devices.

(puts paper down)

Not to mention over two thousand

dollars, mostly in sequenced hundred

dollar bills.

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