Network

Plot synopsis:
The following synopsis has mostly been taken from the film's wikipedia page:Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the longtime anchor of the Union Broadcasting System's UBS Evening News, learns from the news division president, Max Schumacher (William Holden), that he has just two more weeks on the air because of declining ratings. The two old friends get roaring drunk and lament the state of their industry. The following night, Beale announces on live television that he will commit suicide on next Tuesday's broadcast. UBS fires him after this incident, but Schumacher intervenes so that Beale can have a dignified farewell. Beale promises he will apologise for his outburst, but once on the air, he launches back into a rant claiming that life is "bullshit". Beale's outburst causes the newscast's ratings to spike, and much to Schumacher's dismay, the upper echelons of UBS decide to exploit Beale's antics rather than pull him off the air. In one impassioned diatribe, Beale galvanises the nation, persuading his viewers to shout out of their windows "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) heads the network's programming department; seeking just one hit show, she cuts a deal with a band of radical terrorists (a parody of the Symbionese Liberation Army called the "Ecumenical Liberation Army") for a new docudrama series called the Mao Tse-Tung Hour for the upcoming fall season. When Beale's ratings seem to have topped out, Christensen approaches Schumacher and offers to help him "develop" the news show. He says no to the professional offer, but not to the personal one, and the two begin an affair. When Schumacher decides to end the Howard as the "Angry Man" format, Christensen convinces her boss, Frank Hackett, to slot the evening news show under the entertainment division so she can develop it. Hackett agrees, bullies the UBS executives to consent, and fires Schumacher at the same time. Soon afterward, Beale is hosting a new program called The Howard Beale Show, top-billed as "the mad prophet of the airwaves". Ultimately, the show becomes the most highly rated program on television, and Beale finds new celebrity preaching his angry message in front of a live studio audience that, on cue, chants Beale's signature catchphrase en masse: "We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore." At first, Max and Diana's romance withers as the show flourishes, but in the flush of high ratings, the two ultimately find their way back together, and Schumacher leaves his wife of over 25 years for Christensen. But Christensen's fanatical devotion to her job and emotional emptiness ultimately drive Max back to his wife, and he warns his former lover that she will self-destruct at the pace she is running with her career. "You are television incarnate, Diana," he tells her, "indifferent to suffering, insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality."When Beale discovers that Communications Corporation of America (CCA), the conglomerate that owns UBS, will be bought out by an even larger Saudi Arabian conglomerate, he launches an on-screen tirade against the deal, encouraging viewers to send telegrams to the White House telling them, "I want the CCA deal stopped now!" This throws the top network brass into a state of panic because the company's debt load has made merger essential for survival. Hackett takes Beale to meet with CCA chairman Arthur Jensen, who explicates his own "corporate cosmology" to the attentive Beale. Jensen delivers a tirade of his own in an "appropriate setting", the dramatically darkened CCA boardroom, that suggests to the docile Beale that Jensen may himself be some higher power describing the interrelatedness of the participants in the international economy and the illusory nature of nationality distinctions. Jensen persuades Beale to abandon the populist messages and preach his new "evangel". But television audiences find his new sermons on the dehumanisation of society depressing, and ratings begin to slide, yet Jensen will not allow UBS executives to fire Beale. Seeing its two-for-the-price-of-one value, solving the Beale problem plus sparking a boost in season-opener ratings. Christensen, Hackett, and the other executives decide to hire the Ecumenical Liberation Army to assassinate Beale on the air. The assassination succeeds, putting an end to The Howard Beale Show and kicking off a second season of The Mao Tse-Tung Hour.The film ends with the narrator stating:"This was the story of Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings."

Tags: comedy, avant garde, murder, dramatic, suicidal, atmospheric, insanity, humor, satire, brainwashing

Review:
I can't put it more perfectly than Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne who said "What was originally a satire is a stinging mirror of television news today." I strain to think of a film that is a more brilliant take on society, and all of the flaws it has.
Fox News, reality TV, even the OJ chase, "Network" anticipates every vile bit of it.Now, it's ridiculously overwritten -- NO ONE is as articulate as the characters in this film, and most certainly, no one who works in television is as literate as Diana Christensen (the Faye Dunaway character).
"Network" is a fantastic movie that illustrates just how the "mob" and the media can exploit even the best intentions for mutual profit.Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is an on-air personality that, after finding he is not bankable anymore, snaps and starts to speak his own uncensored, and highly inflammable commentary about the hypocrisy of modern life.In his mad-hatter routine, somehow he sparks his audience's interest, and in a twist of fame finds himself, the not bankable as prime market share for prime time television.
Most of the main characters are in fact trapped in their roles - and powerless to the bottom line, which is that media relies on advertisement and ratings to generate revenue.In fact, I believe that is what the point of "Network" is - this movie shows us, that "news" is entertainment, and how we as viewers (whichever demographic you are) are willing to suspend all common sense, class, independence, honor, integrity for a few moments of triumph or more pragmatically, how we relish tragedy."Network" is too heavy for most people - it is meant for people who do not like TV, who think that product placement is ridiculous, and in general do not like to think of themselves as a "market".
The network, UBS, has decided to fire an aging veteran news anchor, Howard Beale (Peter Finch), in an act of desperation to boost ratings.
The UBS execs, Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) and Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) decide to give Beale his own show where he complains and screams bout the problems with the world, while Beale's best friend (William Holden) feels it's inappropriate for the network to take advantage of a mentally-ill man.
Besides exploiting a mentally unstable man, the company execs also work out a weekly program with a anti-establishment African-American communist, Laureen Hobbs (Marlene Warfield) following political terrorists and their violent outbursts.The film also stars Beatrice Straight as Schumacher's boring wife, Conchetta Ferrell was an assistant working for the network and Ned Beatty who plays the sinister boss of the UBS television network who always gets what he wants.'Network' boasts one of the finest and most intricate screenplays ever written that rightfully earned Paddy Chafesky the Oscar for Best Screenplay.
Faye Dunaway gives what is perhaps her very best screen performance as the cutthroat Network executive, while Robert Duvall is just as brilliant as the ruthless Frank Hackett (which should have earned him an Oscar nomination, period!) Beatrice Straight is solid in her role (not quite Oscar-worthy if you ask me, though) and Marlene Warfield is just as great as the sassy pinko sistah (excuse me for that phrasing).
Both nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards in 1977, Peter Finch gives a startling and powerful performance as the 'mad-as-hell' (not to mention crazy-as-hell) Howard Beale, while William Holden gives a subtle but none-the-less outstanding performance as the conflicted Max Schumacher.
"I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"One of the most famous lines in film history is as impactful today as it was when it was first uttered by fictitious news anchor Howard Beale in Paddy Chayefsky's (seemingly) parody of where TV and TV news is heading, 1976's NETWORK.The astonishing thing about this terrific motion picture is how prescient it is.
Lost in the fog of time (and MOMMIE DEAREST) is the fact that in the mid-1970's, Dunaway was, perhaps, the greatest leading actress of the day and her skills are in sharp display in this film.Joining Dunaway in terrific supporting turns are Robert Duvall, following his turns as Tom Hagen in GODFATHER I and II, as network head, Frank Hackett, Ned Beatty as Ned Jennings, President of the company that owns the network - he has a speech towards the tail end of this film that is as good - both in performance and in the way that it is shot - as anything put upon the screen - it was masterful.
Lumet delicately places the blame on his audience; we are the "ratings" for which the networks hunger so fanatically, and it is the crumbling state of our own culture that fuels absurd endeavours like "The Howard Beale Show" {thirty years on, I think we can all agree that things have only gotten worse}.A perfect example of the film's style of satire can be found early on, after veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) learns that he is to be fired in two weeks' time, on account of poor ratings.
At first, there is an attempt to yank Beale from the air, but one forward-thinking producer, Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway), proposes that the network could double their current ratings by keeping him in the spotlight.Peter Finch, who was awarded a posthumous Best Actor Oscar for his performance, is simply explosive as the unhinged anchorman whose volatile outbursts of derangement are celebrated by a society which, in a better world, should be trying to help him.
It's all very seamy, very dishonorable, very shabby, and very relevant to today's world of ten thousand channels.Though most of the characters in "Network" end up being corrupted by television, Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is one who does not.
Had it not been Lumet's policy to ensure the real-world cinema screen never becomes the same as the film-world TV screen, we in the audience would be truly mesmerised by those mad prophet speeches.And thus Network delivers its message with great force and power.
The conflict is established at the very start during the drunken conversation between Howard Beale (Peter Finch) and Max Schumacher (William Holden) and intensifies during their maddening discord with a new generation of television executives such as Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway), Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall), and Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty).
Superb performances from the entire cast and Paddy Chayefsky's bold social commentary were a match made in Heaven.Chayefsky, who earned a considerable reputation in stage, film, and television writing, coined up 'Network' as a parable on broadcasting industry trends: Nielsen ratings becoming the wherewithal for a television show's existence, television entering the hands of corporate powerbrokers, and the absolute flattening of integrity for monetary gain.
In no time, Christensen has UBS on par with the other three networks and takes almost full control of the company's news division from Max Schumacher (William Holden), subordinating it to a 'for profit' role.Chayefsky, not Beale, should be hailed as a social prophet.
1- It is one of the most sarcastic, darkest comedies ever made.2- It is brilliantly acted, with amazing performances of Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Peter Finch.3- The screenplay is one of the best ever written, mixing very well dark comedy and personal dramas.4- It discusses some main subjects, as ethics, and makes an acid critic to the TV.5- It doesn't only care about this, but also to each character.
His "mad as hell" speech is one of the greatest in all of film but Faye Dunaway, Ned Beatty and William Holden, in his last excellent role, give superb performances as well.
Actor's director Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, The Verdict) fine tunes the cast so well that actress Beatrice Straight makes the most of the five minutes of screen time she has with an Academy Award performance.Network is a superb confluence of script and performance flawlessly presented by all involved.
In fact, what may have seemed excessive back then has mostly come true, and that's the beauty of reintroducing this modern classic in a bountiful two-disc DVD package in 2006.Set in the fictitious offices of the ratings cellar-dwelling UBS network, the multi-layered story initially focuses on Howard Beale, the aging anchorman of the evening news.
In what turned out to be the best of his late career performances, William Holden guides the only moral conscience the network seems to have, even as he gives into the temptations of a younger woman who only lives for and through television.Ideally cast, Faye Dunaway uses her cool, collected beauty to great advantage here.
The second disc has an 85-minute, six-chapter documentary produced specifically for the DVD, "The Making of Network", which includes participation from among others, Lumet, Dunaway, Beatty, producer Howard Gottfried and Walter Cronkite's daughter Kathy (who had a bit part as a Patty Hearst-like character in the movie).
The ratings soar right through the roof, inspiring the two top people at UBS (Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway) to give Finch his own show--a deal that is sealed when Finch urges his audience to open their windows and yell, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"Back in 1976, of course, NETWORK was so outrageous that everyone in television dismissed it as a joke.
Howard Beale, basically, is like one of those ultra-symbollic (but relatable) characters in movies, in a demented way like Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where the truth has to be spoken by someone, but who in America will listen (or, ironically, who won't if it's shelled out right in front of the cameras).In other words, this is one of those films that does ask a viewer to think about what is being shown- an 'informed' public (which is growing less and less as the media becomes smaller and more controlled via government and regulations)- while still providing acting that sticks and lines of dialog that are among the best in 70's films.
Made in 1976 with no-nonsense old-school direction from Sydney Lumet and a so-good-it's-almost-sick script from Paddy Chayefsky, this is not only the second best film satire ever made (behind only "Dr. Strangelove" in my book) but also a simplistic hologram of what every great film, no matter what the genre, should be: a stone-cold acting, writing, and directing tour-de-force.Faye Dunaway (Oscar winner) is icy perfection as the programming exec who will put anything on TV for higher ratings.
This is a film not only of great lines (like "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!") but also of grandiose, verbose, and articulate dialogue (take any of the Dunaway-Holden scenes or the Beatty/Finch showdown of apocalyptic proportions).
The film does ride the line between the ridiculous (or satiric) when urban terrorists become producers of this show, and make demands of the TV suits with wild rants and violence, and when mad-as-hell news anchor Howard Beale (played by a thinner, edgier Peter Finch) turns his authentic one-time rant against all that is wrong with life into a production where he "faints" at the apex of his Dennis Miller-meets-TV evangelist soliloquies.Watch Network to be wowed by the language of the characters.
But the ratings are huge and network execs Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) and Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) will do anything to keep him on the air--despite his sanity.Paddy Chayefsky's attack on the TV industry seemed like a wild black comedy/fantasy back in 1976.
His scene with Peter Finch where he explains the facts of life to the now demented Howard Beale is the best in the film.Network is a great film, both entertaining and thought provoking..
While Howard Beale's first couple of ravings would undoubtedly raise people's interest (the `I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore' scene is as great as it is famous), but I doubt the television show that is developed for him, which apparently airs five days a week and runs for many months before the film ends, would ever attract an audience of any kind, except maybe a small bit who have a taste for public access television, which is what it seems like.
With top-notch performances from every big-name performer involved, things get rolling when long-time UBC anchor Howard Beale (the late Peter Finch, who received a posthumous Oscar for Best Actor) soon learns from the top brass that he is being fired due to low ratings.
And the genius of the film doesn't rely only on the screenplay but also on the performances of the characters, from Holden to Dunaway and Beale, and with the extraordinary cast of supporting characters : Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, this film is a real acting lesson."Network" a brilliantly intelligent satire of the business world with the script as the surplus value..
After Beale hits the roof with his famous "I'm as mad as hell" speech, he has his own show in Hollywood where he preaches about the truth from television, commerce, etc,.The film was often noted as a satire with Roger Ebert, years later, calling it a prophet saying that without this movie or Beale's messages that the WWF, Jerry Springer or football games wouldn't exist on television.Or in this generation: Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Disney Channel, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, Are you smarter than a fifth grader?, etc.It's true!
Made in 1976 when watching it you can certainly say the film was made ahead of it's time, as clearly we see today how TV has turned into propaganda and a media circuit that dominates culture it even influences our political beliefs, eating habits, and social decisions.Long before the FOX News Channel, or Bill O' Reilly who reminds me some of lead character newsman Howard Beale(who tells it like it is and he's mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!)this film would show and prove that the news had the right to ask questions and fight the powerful.
Yet thru it all it also shows the dirty side of the network brass proving they will go to any lengths and measures for ratings at the same time corruption happens just like with any other business.The story based loosely like a satire is well directed by Sidney Lumet and the acting is top notch with an all pro cast of Dunaway, Holden, Finch, and Duvall.
Newcaster Howard Beale(an over the top performance from Peter Finch who was the first ever actor to win a posthumous Oscar) has been on top of the news ratings for UBS for years.
This deal is done with office and corporate politics from executive Frank Hackett(Robert Duvall)who replaces popular and traditional news division head Max Schumacher(William Holden)with the younger and more upbeat and sexy power driven and ratings money hungry entertainment chair Diana Christensen(Faye Dunaway a role she played with passion).
The performances - mainly from Finch, Faye Dunaway as the Vice President of Programming for the fictional UBS network and William Holden as the head of the news department were convincing in a satirical sort of way, meaning they're not to be taken too seriously except as caricatures of what they represent.
I am sure everyone must have had similar thoughts when watching one news story or the other these days but I didn't realize this had started way back then to even make a satire of a feature film.Howard Beale, a legendary news anchor who has donned the seat for a certain network for a few decades has a mental meltdown on live television after knowing that his show is going to get canceled due to poor ratings.
It is hard to think of any of any film which had such great cast and performances as Peter finch, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty and Cindy Creamer.
Well this and one of Sidney Lumet's best.The script and dialogues are so powerful that they alone are capable of bringing this film to the top,but what elevates the movie further is the acting.Well deserved Oscar for Peter Finch,Faye Dunaway and I am not that impressed by Beatrice Straight, whose performance is the shortest ever to win an Oscar.Robert Duvall is spot on here and so is Ned Beatty whose character makes the most important point of the filmThe best part of the movie as told before is that,the movie will be relevant as long as Humans exist.And with every passing day it will become more relevant,more liked and more darkly true.Do yourself and others a favor,watch it..
So yes Howard Beale and those in today's ilk.."we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore..." And when they use the term the "Arabs" and their involvement in the media ..it sends cold chills down your spine considering our current war in the Middle East.Perhaps NETWORK should be required watching prior to entering our voting booths in November and see the results.But all in all, I would love a script of the entire dialog to ponder and reflect on ....Paddy did a helluva job and Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Peter Finch made it a cinematic gem not to be missed!.
Are you fine with that?"Network" with its startling performances (Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, William Holden, Faye "television incarnate" Dunaway), the shockingly dark and cynical script and splendid all around direction is as relevant today as ever, and it's the ultimate film about the amorality that permeates TV business.
After his rage-filled cry to the viewers telling them to cry out of their windows "I'm Mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" he becomes a superstar, boosting UBS into a top-rated network, inspiring it to create even more wild programs, though their only real interest is high ratings, and if they go down for any reason...William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Beatrice Straight, and Ned Beatty are all superb, but it is Peter Finch as the "mad prophet of our times" Howard Beale that steals the film.