The Digest Show - Network

Film Commentary · A film of monologues, and good ones too! All Characters get at least one really good mono. · Narration throughout give the feeling of a news report or a docuseries, which would air on TV · Was nominated for Best Picture with Taxi Driver and All the Presidents Men, and lost to… ROCKY · Throughout the film there is an innate emphasis on ratings o Ratings are measurement for success, but what do rating really mean? o They mean more people are watching, which means you can charge more for advertising spots, which means more profit. o Rating = Profit for TV networks · In the opening montage, the way UBS is weaved in with all of the other networks lends a sense of legitimacy or realness to the film. The experience of Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky working in television shows in the thoroughness and believability of the “behind the scenes” feel of the movie. o While filming the Howard Beale Show- they actually put on a live TV show on a sound stage in Canada- and filmed the filming of the TV show for the film. o Many of the film crew served as actors and extras in their own rolls. · Obvious that Paddy was a playwright; actors said it felt much more like doing Shakespeare than a movie. Paddy is also credited as by: instead of written by:, screenplay by:, story by:, etc… · WHAT An AMAZING ENSEMBLE CAST o Each principle was Sidney and Paddy’s first choice. o Five actors received nominations, two won o Ned Beatty was in one scene that lasts maybe 10 minutes or less and was nominated for a fucking Oscar- well deserved no doubt- but that just goes to show! He got the script and flew in on a Saturday, got the part on Sunday and filmed his scene on Monday- two days’ work and we got a nomination. o Beatrice was only in one real scene, plus a wakeup shot where she walks through the apartment and kisses Max- she won the Oscar o Finch was first posthumous Oscar for a Lead Actor o Duvall didn’t break character · Most of the people involved refer to the film as a comedy, but I’m not sure about that. It may have been at the time but now that we have Cops, and Live footage of murders, police chases and shootouts and burning buildings and car wrecks, it seems like the satire may have outgrown itself? · Paddy referred to it not as Satire but as pure Reporting, Lumet called a serious film told through the vehicle of comedy. · The cause or origin of Howards Awakening? o Was he just crazy o Was he dosed with Acid by the Network? § How is it that Howard has a breakdown and turns into exactly what Diana wants him to be, not like when he changes because of Jensen they decide to kill him. · Love the continuity with the open and close on four monitors, four news anchors. · Paddy’s meeting with VP of Business Affairs about the Howard Beale Character o Man asks, paddy walks out § The sheer irony of the situation · Lumet and the cinematographer tried to corrupt the camera as the characters in the film each get corrupted o Scenes began simply shot, simple lighting- raw, documentative o The became more complex in movement and lighting as the film progressed o Culminating in what Lumet called a “Ford Commercial” as they decide how to kill Howard outside Jensen’s office. · Shot in real location in NYC and East Hamptons o Howard Beale Show SET and CONTORL ROOM o Jensen Conference Room (NYC public library conference room) § Ned Beatty worried about being arrested trying to make Peter Finch laugh · Max & Diana: o This relationship was my least favorite part the first few times I watched, but in recent viewings I have come to think of it as a smaller scale metaphor for the news and the larger story being told. Max retains a sense of wrong doing for his affair with Diana, a stubbornness for feelings and a grounded sense of reality-while Diana is narcotic, obsessed with TV ratings, over analyzed emotionally and self-admittedly unable to love someone. Max represents his era and Diana represents hers. o Max’s wife is foxy, can’t understand why he would leave her for Diana- who doesn’t even like sex and just talks about market shares and next years’ programming during foreplay, sex, climax and snuggle. § Beatrice Straight also has a sexy voice… o CANNOT believe he strikes the relationship back up after she takes his show! o The casting of the Holden and Dunaway are great metaphors for old Hollywood and the “Golden Era” of Hollywood o Diana is TV incarnate o Max’s last monologue describes both Diana and TV Historical Material · This film is so richly scattered with examples of how greed essentially destroyed the news. And provides a glorious explanation for how we went from the likes of Murrow and Cronkite to Maddow and Cuomo o Paddy read an article about how a multi-national corporation was looking to purchase controlling stock of ABC, having worked in TV paddy new that the news was traditionally understood to lose money because it wasn’t entertainment based, and he knew that a multi-national corporation would seek to end that understanding in favor of profitable news, which would lead to entertainment based news. o Fast forward to today and you have nothing but opinion based “news” programs that pit guests or personalities against each other for entertainment. o On Dinah! In 1977, Paddy said He adores television but doesn’t trust a word he hears on it, when asked why, he says because what you see on TV makes the network money, if it didn’t it wouldn’t be on air. o This got me thinking about what happened to corrupt news to allow for this profit first mentality. Fairness Doctrine: o The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the FCC's view—honest, equitable, and balanced. The FCC eliminated the policy in 1987 and removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011.[1] o The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been considered by some to be a contributing factor for the rising level of party polarization in the United States.[2][3] Hostile Corporate Takeovers (mentioned in Howard’s 4th mono) o Hostile corporate takeovers had been in existence sense the beginning of the 20th century, however in the early 70’s they morphed from deals that were made over sherry, into what they are known as today, unsolicited takeovers accomplished by proxy fights. § Citation: above info from House of Morgan, Ron Chernow pg. 523