Remembering Robert Redford
On Monday, September 15th, 2025, I sat down to watch “All the President’s Men” starring Robert Redford for the first time. I put it on late, on a Blu Ray I borrowed from the library, so I only got about halfway before I got tired and went to bed. The next morning I woke up to the news that Robert Redford had passed away.
Robert Redford died at the age of 89. He acted in all-time classics like “The Sting,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and even appeared in “Avengers: Endgame.” He directed his way to an Oscar win for 1980’s “Ordinary People,” upsetting Martin Scorcese’s “Raging Bull.” His list of acting and directing achievements goes on and on - “The Natural,” “A River Runs Through It,” “Quiz Show,” “The Great Waldo Pepper,” “The Candidate,” and more.
Redford also founded the Sundance Film Festival. Since 1981 Sundance has premiered independent films from around the world and is regularly considered one of the most competitive film festivals for high quality documentaries. Countless classics and award winners have premiered there - “Reservoir Dogs,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Whiplash” and “Boyhood” were all Sundance premieres.
Today, the impact of Sundance has never been broader. In 2021 the festival went entirely virtual because of COVID. It opened up these movies, many of which wouldn’t be available to wider audience for months or years, to anyone who had $20 to spend on a virtual screening from their couch.
This January, the in-person festival will be held in Park City, UT for the final time before moving to Boulder, CO in 2027. For now, the virtual component remains, making it by far the most accessible international film festival for regular people.
On the day Robert Redford died I finished watching “All the President’s Men.” I was distracted in the final scene by how Redford’s character was typing - using one finger on each hand, “hunt and peck” style. I wondered if he was a bad typist or if he went the extra mile and researched exactly how Bob Woodward typed. Of course, it turns out it was the latter.
Rob Reed was born and raised in Emporium, currently residing in Lancaster. His love for movies was sparked by childhood visits to the Emporium and St. Mary’s Theaters, as well as countless trips to local video stores.
