The title was the
signature line of the primary subject, CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow. Murrow
(1908–1965) is a giant in the history of mass media, but one probably at best
vaguely familiar to the generations too young to have seen or heard his
original radio and television broadcasts, the last of which aired 45 years ago.
David Strathairn’s portrayal of the cool, intellectual, chain-smoking Murrow
(who died of lung cancer) is brilliant. For George Clooney, who directed,
cowrote, and costars as Murrow’s producer, Fred Friendly, and whose father was
a TV newsman himself, Murrow is a personal hero. His movie focuses on Murrow’s See It Now shows about Senator Joseph McCarthy in
1954; McCarthy himself is only seen in historical footage of both Senate
hearings and his See It Now
appearance that blends in with the black-and-white film. On-screen text tells
us that McCarthy had been targeting alleged communist infiltration in the late
1940s and early 1950s, a fact few who see the film won’t already know. On the
other hand, a lot of people won’t know about many other figures referenced in
the screenplay. You don’t have to know the importance of CBS chairman William
Paley in television history to follow the story, for example, but it helps.
The nearly journalistic approach
Clooney takes is both the movie’s strength and its weakness. The use of
historical footage and dialogue is a good move. The slightly archaic speech
patterns portray a time now clearly bygone. The rigorous, methodical way in
which Murrow critiques McCarthy is also clearly portrayed. His mixture of
passionate advocacy and calm logic was probably not much more common then than
now. The scenes with Paley (Frank Langella) are reminders that TV was always a
business.
What the movie I think failed to do was
make me feel the
danger that McCarthy
represented. By contrast, I was reminded of Martin Ritt’s 1976 film The Front. The Front,
which starred Woody Allen, took on the related topic of Hollywood blacklisting
and showed the effects of the “Red scare” on real people. It’s a movie I’d
recommend to anyone. Clooney’s film is worthwhile for people with an existing
interest in McCarthy or Morrow, but will probably come off as hopelessly dry to
a multiplex audience.
circulated via email 10/27/05 and posted 11/15/13
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