FILM
1757: THE POST
TRIVIA:
In all of the scenes depicting President Nixon on the phone in the Oval Office,
Nixon's actual voice is heard from White House tapes.
In
scenes involving the Pentagon Papers, the actual Daniel Ellsberg's
original documents were used as genuine props, including the pages that were
scattered over the floor of Benjamin C. Bradlee (Tom Hanks)' home.
In
his memoir, the real Daniel Ellsberg claimed that walking out of RAND with the
Pentagon Papers (and returning them) over the course of months was a calculated
risk, since he had never had his bag checked by security, but he did not know
for sure if it was not policy to do so.
Steven Spielberg wanted
to have his film released as quickly as possible given the parallels between
its theme and the burgeoning political 'fake news' climate in the U.S.
According to Meryl Streep, the physical shoot started in May (2017) and
finished at the end of July (2017) and Spielberg had it cut two weeks later, an
unprecedented feat. The gestation from script to final cut lasted a modest 9
months.
Never
having previously collaborated with director Steven Spielberg in
a director/actor capacity, Meryl Streep was flabbergasted to learn that Spielberg
never rehearses with his actors. Co-star Tom Hanks was
well aware of this idiosyncrasy but decided, in gleeful anticipation of a
'diva' reaction, not to tell Streep. Despite her initial shock, Meryl and
Steven got along extremely well during the shoot with Spielberg being so
impressed with her character transformation, he had difficulty restraining
himself from constantly complimenting her every take on set.
Benjamin
Bradlee (Tom Hanks character) in real life had a son named Ben Bradlee Junior
who is depicted in the film Spotlight (played by John Slattery). The film is
based on the true story about about the Boston Globe newspaper uncovering a
major scandal.
The
Post is dedicated to Nora Ephron, once married to Carl Bernstein who
with Bob Woodward uncovered
the Watergate scandal in 1972 as reporters for The Washington Post.
Tom
Hanks has a connection with both of the film's main characters' real-life
individuals. Hanks actually personally knew Ben Bradlee (who Hanks portrays in
the film), and he met Kay Graham (who Meryl Streep portrays in the film) the
day before she died.
Coincidentally, Benjamin C. Bradlee and
wife Sally Quinn were
Long Island neighbors of Steven Spielberg for many years, and they knew each other
socially.
With
this film, his fifth collaboration with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks broke
his tie with Harrison Ford to be the actor that Spielberg has directed
the most times. Ford has also been directed by Spielberg five times, but his
scene in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was cut from the final
film.
Michael
Stuhlbarg is in three of the movies nominated for best picture Oscars: The
Shape of Water, Call Me By Your Name, and The Post, but he was not nominated
himself.
The
Post marks the 28th collaboration between Williams (composer of the film's
score) and Spielberg. The score uses a combination of both orchestral and
sparse, light electronic elements throughout.
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