Hello "Good Night and Good Luck"
We attended a showing of "Good Night and Good Luck" at the Guild 45th Theater in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood (i.e., our neighborhood theater) at 7:20 on the first Friday night when it was out, and it wasn't sold out. Given our neighborhood is about as liberal as a neighborhood can be, the film had been well-reviewed in our local papers and there was a dearth of movies for anyone over 20 recently, this was surprising. Mind you, it was busy, just not sold out. The two seats next to us weren't occcupied, which was actually rather convenient.
I had read an article in Slate a couple of weeks ago trashing the film for historical mistakes. The particular claims were that the film made too much of Edward R. Murrow's role in bringing down McCarthy and didn't make the point that Murrow was late to the game.
Not guilty.
The film makes quite clear that Murrow was late to the game in the anti-McCarthy crusade. Indeed, the film begins by making the point that Murrow had signed a loyalty oath that more left-wing members of his staff were hesitant to sign. The whole point of the movie is that Murrow was a man who answered directly to William Paley, the president of CBS, and, together with Fred Friendly, was responsible for the jobs of the entire staff of two shows. As a result, he agreed to host "Person to Person", holding his nose when interviewing the likes of the child Liza Minnelli and Liberace, and he was hesitant to rock the boat further than he thought Paley would let him. The ambivalence this created in both his relationship with Paley (who never told him no) and his staff (who worshipped him but knew he had clay feet that kept theirs out of the fire) are important themes of the film.
As to the role in bringing down McCarthy, the movie makes clear that there were cracks in his armor before the broadcast and that it was the Army hearings, and Joseph Welch, that really brought him down. So I don't know what the fuss was really about.
As to the movie itself, it was good cinema. David Straitharn, last seen snogging Carmela Soprano, did a fine Murrow impression. The cinematography is great and the sets really take you back to the fifties (my parents will love the modernist furnishings in the CBS corporate offices; it's just like what I grew up with). George Clooney makes a fine Fred Friendly and Frank Langella gives Paley some humanity instead of making him the big corporate heavy.
The one thing that was missing was Murrow when he wasn't at the office. They showed other characters, particularly the Wershba's, at home, but not Murrow. If he was off on a crusade that put his livelihood at risk, it would have been nice to see what he was putting at risk, i.e., his family.
Nonetheless, it's good, quick movie, that makes its point and gets over with it
I had read an article in Slate a couple of weeks ago trashing the film for historical mistakes. The particular claims were that the film made too much of Edward R. Murrow's role in bringing down McCarthy and didn't make the point that Murrow was late to the game.
Not guilty.
The film makes quite clear that Murrow was late to the game in the anti-McCarthy crusade. Indeed, the film begins by making the point that Murrow had signed a loyalty oath that more left-wing members of his staff were hesitant to sign. The whole point of the movie is that Murrow was a man who answered directly to William Paley, the president of CBS, and, together with Fred Friendly, was responsible for the jobs of the entire staff of two shows. As a result, he agreed to host "Person to Person", holding his nose when interviewing the likes of the child Liza Minnelli and Liberace, and he was hesitant to rock the boat further than he thought Paley would let him. The ambivalence this created in both his relationship with Paley (who never told him no) and his staff (who worshipped him but knew he had clay feet that kept theirs out of the fire) are important themes of the film.
As to the role in bringing down McCarthy, the movie makes clear that there were cracks in his armor before the broadcast and that it was the Army hearings, and Joseph Welch, that really brought him down. So I don't know what the fuss was really about.
As to the movie itself, it was good cinema. David Straitharn, last seen snogging Carmela Soprano, did a fine Murrow impression. The cinematography is great and the sets really take you back to the fifties (my parents will love the modernist furnishings in the CBS corporate offices; it's just like what I grew up with). George Clooney makes a fine Fred Friendly and Frank Langella gives Paley some humanity instead of making him the big corporate heavy.
The one thing that was missing was Murrow when he wasn't at the office. They showed other characters, particularly the Wershba's, at home, but not Murrow. If he was off on a crusade that put his livelihood at risk, it would have been nice to see what he was putting at risk, i.e., his family.
Nonetheless, it's good, quick movie, that makes its point and gets over with it
posted by Rick at 8:19 AM
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