1 / 10 "The Candidate"

In 1976, Robert Redford starred in one of the all-time great political films, "All the President's Men," a thrilling adaptation of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's story of the investigation that broke open the Watergate scandal. <br><br>But just a few years earlier, Redford delivered an equally compelling performance in a fictional political drama. In "The Candidate," he plays Bill McKay, a long-shot contender for a U.S. Senate seat in California. Recruited by a grizzled consultant (Peter Boyle), McKay enters the political fray only when assured he will be able to speak his mind and promote his own political issues, rather than stick to conventions. But he learns that in politics, image and perception -- rather than ideas and substance -- are paramount to success. <br><br>In November, when honoring Redford with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Barack Obama called it "perhaps the best movie about what politics is actually like — ever."

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