Good
Night, and Good Luck
Good Night,
and Good Luck (stylized as good night, and good luck.) is a 2005 historical
drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the
movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey
Jr., and Frank Langella as well as Clooney himself. The film was co-written by
Clooney and Grant Heslov, and it portrays the conflict between veteran
journalist Edward R. Murrow (Strathairn) and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of
Wisconsin, especially relating to the anti-communist Senator's actions with the
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Although
released in black and white, it was filmed on color film stock, but on a
grayscale set, and was color-corrected to black and white during
post-production. It focuses on the theme of media responsibility, and also
addresses what occurs when U.S. journalism offer voices of dissent from
government policy. The movie takes its title (which ends with a period or full
stop) from the line with which Murrow routinely signed off his broadcasts.
The film was
a box office success and received critical acclaim for Clooney's direction, the
writing, cinematography, production design and performances (particularly
Strathairn's). It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture,
Best Director and Best Actor for Strathairn.
Plot
On October
25, 1958, at a gathering entitled 'A Salute to Edward R Murrow', Ed Murrow
delivers a speech where he mentions Senator McCarthy among others. The film
then reverts to October 14, 1953, in the CBS Studios, with on-screen titles
explaining that McCarthy has claimed that there are over 200 Communists in the
US government.
Fred
Friendly and the news team discuss the latest news stories for the forthcoming
episodes, and Murrow declares that he wants to go after the American military,
who have tried and convicted a member of the Air Force, Milo Radulovich,
because his sister and father have been accused of being communist
sympathizers. Murrow mentions that the charges against Radulovich were in a
sealed envelope and that nobody saw them, suggesting that they investigate the
story to see if it is worth covering.
Five days
later Friendly, Murrow, and Mickelson, CBS director, watch footage of CBS
correspondent Joseph Wershba interviewing Milo Radulovich; Mickelson criticizes
the report as being unbalanced and accuses the reporter of editorializing.
Military men come to Friendly's office, attempting to persuade him not to
broadcast the story, but CBS goes ahead and the segment features on Murrow's
show See It Now. The focus of the news team shifts to going after McCarthy
himself. In one clip, McCarthy accuses a man who was provided with an attorney
by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1932 of being a communist.
During the
segment on McCarthy, Murrow personally invites the Senator on the show to
defend the claims made about his corrupt influence. As the story continues,
Murrow challenges McCarthy's questioning techniques, and the untruths he
espouses in his hearings. Murrow notes that the ACLU is not on the list that
McCarthy claims it to be, and that it has in fact been commended by several
U.S. presidents.
Shirley
reads out mostly favorable reports from the newspaper, but one journalist,
O'Brien, accuses Hollenbeck, a CBS journalist, of being a "pinko",
meaning a communist sympathizer. The team is informed that the Air Force has
reinstated the wrongfully terminated Radulovich.
McCarthy
appears on the show on April 6, 1954, and addresses the camera directly without
interruption, accusing Murrow of being a communist, something that Murrow
suspected would happen. In the proceeding show, Murrow gives his response,
where he unequivocally denies the accusation that he was a member of the
Communist party and highlights that anyone who criticizes or opposes Senator
McCarthy's methods is accused of being a communist. From this point on, the
tide turns on McCarthy and he himself is investigated, due to charges the Army
has made against him and his Operation. John Aaron later announces this in the
newsroom, but the celebration is cut short when a phone call to Friendly
informs the news team that Hollenbeck has committed suicide by gassing himself.
Footage is
shown of the Army–McCarthy hearings, where a lawyer questions McCarthy's sense
of decency. Shortly after, CBS chief executive Paley speaks with Murrow and
Friendly in his office and tells them they have lost one of their major
sponsors, and as a result, he will only give them five more one-hour episodes
and also move their slot from Tuesday night to Sunday afternoon. Paley speaks
to Friendly privately and informs him that he needs to fire some people. At the
same time, Mickelson calls Wershba and Shirley to his office: He knows they are
secretly married, in violation of CBS's policy forbidding marriage between
colleagues. With layoffs coming, he asks that one of them choose to be laid off
to save face. Wershba volunteers to be let go.
Murrow
finishes his speech from the opening scene, extolling the importance of ideas
and information, and that television's potential of informing and enlightening
its audience shouldn't be discounted, else it will become "merely wires
and lights in a box." Murrow concludes his speech with his iconic
catchphrase "Good night, and good luck."
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