Network (1976)
One of the greatest films ever made, thanks to Paddy Chayefsky’s outstanding screenplay (Oscar winning…one of the finest ever penned); director Sidney Lumet’s incisive direction and career best performances from William Holden, Faye Dunaway (Best Actress Oscar winner), Peter Finch (Best Actor Oscar winner), Robert Duvall and a supporting cast that is stellar across the board. Network is as timely, funny, angry, dangerous and frigtening as when it was released in 1976.
Howard Beale (Finch) is a low rated newscaster, an alcoholic, depressed, alone…on the verge of a breakdown. With the ratings down, Beale is set to be fired, so on the night before his final broadcast he announces on the air that he plans to blow his brains out in his final on-air appearance the following evening. Unexpectedly, the ratings for the broadcast skyrocket, but it gets even better when Beale goes on the air again to say exactly what is on his mind, invoking the now famous line, ”I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore”. Howard Beale is about to become a star.
Beale is exactly what driven producer Dianna Christensen (Dunaway) is looking for and she proceeds to turn Beale into a star as the ”mad prophet of the airwaves,” venting the frustrations that every day people have about government, sex, religion, etc. He’s the first real reality television sensation.
Beale’s longtime friend and head of the news division, Max Schumacher (Holden), is not thrilled though, thinking that his friend is coming off like a fool, but the higher ups, which include Frank Hackett (Duvall) are loving it as ratings continue to rise, which means money in their pockets….until Beale gets out of control, starts making statements that begin to affect the stock and the special interests of the stockholders.
How do think Beale is dealt with in the end?
Chayefsky, who died in 1981, never lived to see the advent of reality television, as it exists today.
That’s probably a good thing.
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NETWORK, produced by Howard Gottfried; written by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Sidney Lumet. Cast: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch. Robert Duvall, Beatrice Straight, Ned Beatty, Wesley Addy
I agree that this is one of the greats. Chayefsky writes the best dialogue. Holden was superb in this burned out journalist role. Lumet was one of the great directors, and it’s sad that he is gone. The scene where the conspiracy about Beale’s fate is hatched has the characters in shadows that mirrors the darkness of their deeds. The one with the revolutionaries, who supposedly are against capitalism, discussing their subsidiary rights is hilarious.