Directed by George Clooney
Written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Good Night and Good Luck is a strange film. If you enjoy it enough that it inspires you to learn more about the story’s events, your research will ultimately diminish your pleasure. Although the events are accurate, the context in which they happened isn’t always, resulting in a decrease of the story’s power and the characters’ nobility.
The film is a docudrama that takes place over five months from late 1953 and into ’54 during the early days of television when CBS newsman Edward R Murrow and his staff of the documentary news program See It Now challenged the actions and statements of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was scouring the country for communists.
McCarthy, who plays himself through newsreels and kinescopes, was out of control and damaged a lot of lives with his hearings. One such man who got caught up in the maelstrom is U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Mil Radulovich, who is kicked out of the Navy because he is deemed a security risk based on some things his father and sister may have or have not done. The uncertainty stems from the fact that he is declared guilty without a trial and all the evidence is sealed. Although his bosses at CBS make clear their unease, Murrow tells the story of Radulovich on Oct. 20, 1953. This prompts a response that Murrow will be outed as a communist sympathizer if this type of reporting continues.
The threat brings Murrow and his team out swinging. With the okay from CBS boss William Paley, they put together “A Report on Joseph R. McCarthy” that airs on March 9, 1954, filled with sound bites and visuals of McCarthy in his own words that exposes him to the nation. McCarthy is offered an opportunity to come on the program and respond to any and all charges. Radulovich becomes mysteriously reinstated. Murrow is vindicated and driven to keep going.
The March 16, 1954 edition, "Senator McCarthy Against Annie Lee Moss," focuses on the hearing of an elderly black woman who works in the Pentagon code room. She is very frail and has no idea what she’s doing there. McCarthy leaves the hearing early and places it in the charge of his counsel Roy Cohn, who takes the brunt of senators’ attacks when they demand to see proof of the charges other than gossip and rumor.
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Article comments
1 - Cerulean
Many well-meaning people belonged to the communist or socialist groups at that time. There was no justification for what McCarthy did. The Soviet Union wasn't that interested in us or if they were, taking us over was beyond their capabilities. Other than that I enjoyed your article. I thought I had remembered something about how Edward R. Murrow wasn't quite such a saint as the movies would have it, not to take away from his work or his courage in speaking out.
2 - shirley wershba
You an Slate neglect to mention that there were three Annie Lee Mosses in the DC area, and to my knowledge the Annie Lee Moss pictured on the witness stand was never "proved" to be a member of the communist party.
No one denies that Murrow was not the first to speak out against McCarthy, but his impact was greater than Elmer Dav is etc because he was heard on the powerful medium of Television and because his record as an honred war correspondent was well known.
3 - farmer
I mixed this video to compare and contrast news then-and-now. We shouldn't forget the glory days and its power to do good.... but we also shouldn't confuse them with what we have today.
http://www.culturalfarming.com/Extras/Good%20Night%20and%20Good%20Luck%20Free%20Video.mov
4 - El Bicho
Just found these comments. In response:
"Many well-meaning people belonged to the communist or socialist groups at that time."
I made no mention of the well-meaning people because this film wasn't really about them.
"There was no justification for what McCarthy did. The Soviet Union wasn't that interested in us or if they were, taking us over was beyond their capabilities."
Considering there were Soviet spys in the country and we were in the middle of a Cold War, I disagree with your assessments. Unfortunately, McCarthy abused the system and was rightly punished although not as soon as he should have been. Now, I don't think we were saints. I'm certain we had our own spies in Moscow at the time.
"You an Slate neglect to mention that there were three Annie Lee Mosses in the DC area,"
While there might have been other Annie Lee Mosses, the woman who appeared before the committee worked in Pentagon code room. They didn't just blindly pick her off the street.
"and to my knowledge the Annie Lee Moss pictured on the witness stand was never "proved" to be a member of the communist party."
According to the federal Subversive Activities Control Board "the Communist Party's own records, the authenticity of which the Party has at no time disputed … show that one Annie Lee Moss, 72 R Street SW, Washington DC, was a party member in the mid-1940s."
At the very least, the coincidences raise questions, and an innocent person has nothing to fear.
"No one denies that Murrow was not the first to speak out against McCarthy"
The film doesn't make it that clear.
5 - OC
I believe the film shows the importance and the real meaning of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In which acts as a check against those who desire to gain power through the use of fear and hate. No political power should be gain through fear and hate, whether it be the use of violence or slanderous and demfamatory accusations that have no evidence. These where Hitler and countless other tyrants/demagods/dictator/kings favorite tools that allowed them into power.
It allows those few individuals to speak the truth even if it offends those who have fanatic beliefs in something that has no merit.
I am very pleased to see an effort of Hollywood to provide clarity at a time when the Islamic fanactics are trying to induce fear. That there ultimate goal is to change the United States into a police state, becoming just like them.