Good luck to George Clooney

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2005)

It's no wonder Hollywood is regarded by the American Lunar Right as a propagator of evil. Here's Gorgeous George Clooney, veteran of many a popular lightweight entertainment, using his money and position to attack that misunderstood patriot, Senator Joe McCarthy, long after he has faded from the scene. The trouble is, of course, that Georges' timing for his retelling of the efforts of the country's most famous broadcaster, Ed Murrow, to expose McCarthy for what he was, could not have been better. The same question that Murrow canvasses in a 1958 speech which bookends this production faces us today  is the enormous power of the electronic media going to be used for proper public education and discussion, or just to sell soap and peddle propaganda. It has to be said, though, that the US networks, probably now more competitive than the comfortable tri-opoly of the 1950s, have been more critical of conduct of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism than they were of McCarthy when he was around.
This movie, appropriately in black and white, feels like television. Apparently the original intention was to do the piece live, as George did a few years ago with his re-make of "Fail Safe", but sensibly that was not attempted on this occasion. The sets are small and crowded and full of movement. It seems early TV studios at least at CBS in New York, were tiny and Murrow (David Strathairn) practically sits at the end of the camera lens. His producer, Fred Friendly (played by George Clooney), sits close enough to tap him in on the leg as a cue.
Their program, "See it Now", on CBS Sunday night 6:30 to 7 pm gave the viewers some pretty challenging stuff, but the ratings suggested viewers could cope. Clooney has for dramatic effect rather exaggerated the problems Murrow and Friendly had: Alcoa, a major sponsor did not pull out until at least a year after the McCarthy program, and not as a result of it, as suggested in the movie. It should also be borne in mind that Murrow, reasonably expecting that he and CBS might be next, made a pre-emptive strike against McCarthy, and the junior Senator for Wisconsin's weak, inarticulate and ineffective response lost him much support.
I was very interested in the scenes between William S Paley, the former cigar salesman who was chairman and chief stockholder of CBS, and Murrow. Paley is no Hearst or Beaverbrook, nor even a Katherine Graham, and, as played by Frank Langella, despite being an intimidating and large man comes across as rather timid, deferring, most of the time to Murrow's evident moral authority. Perhaps it is because Paley is in a licensed industry, dependent on the Government and Congress to operate, or perhaps Paley realises he can always get rid of Murrow if he has to, and in the meantime it is better to leave him alone. In the end Murrow did leave CBS and when he died of lung cancer in 1965 he was the Director of the US Government Voice of America radio service. His ideals as a broadcaster live on in National Public Radio and the PBS television network (of which Fred Friendly was a founder).
As a piece of drama, the film works very well. The atmosphere is very like that of "All the President's Men"  although we never feel for Murrow and Friendly in the way we do for those cub reporters Woodward and Bernstein. In 1953 Murrow was a national icon; the Washington Post guys were unknown. David Strathairn underplays the part beautifully, though he does not quite get Murrow's cadence. The triumph over McCarthy comes at a cost, as we see toward the end.
Anyway, more power to George. If he wants to spend his fortune on "message" pictures of this sort, he's welcome. Even better, if he can make money doing it. He might be a limousine liberal, but at least he's at the wheel with a firm idea of where he's going. Murrow might not have approved of some of the editorialising but I'm sure would have agreed with the sentiment.