The Bite of the Demagogue

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (2005)

THE BITE OF THE DEMAGOGUE


The “Red Scare” was this country’s constant companion from 1946, when we began to rail against Joseph Stalin, until 1989, when the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Soon thereafter the mighty Union of Soviet Socialist Republics cracked at its foundation, and it broke up into numerous chunks. A country that had sprawled out covering one third of the land mass of the world, tore out at the seams and returned to being a shouting group of diverse ethnic groups and several “independent” countries.

Back in the day, fear of Soviet Communism was a very real and constant danger. They craved world domination. “Better dead than red” the signs and bumper stickers proclaimed. Human nature being what it is, we have found that with fear usually comes cruelty and political machinations. Even the faintest whiff of “liberal” or “leftist” beliefs or spirited inquiries by anyone, could be used against them by power hungry politicians and ignorant bullies.

In America, leftist ideologies were more attractive during the ‘30s, during the height of the Depression —when a “Brotherhood of Man” sounded better than debtor’s prison –when a comrade’s open arms was much preferable to a cop’s baton. Many intellectuals and celebrities found dialectical materialism to be interesting –a viable alternative to the capitalist quagmire they inhabited. Then we fought WWII, and as a matter of necessity and policy, the Soviets became our Allies –for a time. But when Hitler was run to ground in 1945, Joseph Stalin began to show his true colors, and he began to push politically. Berlin was knifed in half. Europe was cut up like a barbecued animal. The Balkans became Soviet states. We began to see our new adversarial role—democracy versus communism. We became afraid –very afraid.

The word “Commie” became a slur, a label made worse because it implied treason and disloyalty. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon. In the early ‘50s, the commies became the bad guys, the villains and heavies in dozens of films. Movies like BIG JIM McCLAIN (1952), with John Wayne, with
the FBI fighting against communist cells in Hawaii . James Arness played his partner. The Duke, himself a supporter of the John Birch Society, a super patriot –was a self-professed commie-hating lover of liberty. He felt this film was “important for all Americans to see.” 1952, ironically was also the year that John Wayne starred in one of his greatest roles in John Ford’s THE QUIET MAN.

In 1947 Hollywood had been shaken to its core by HUAC [House on Un-American Activities Committee]. “Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” became an inquiry that even small companies began to feel justified in demanding to know, through their “Loyalty Oath” memorandums. It was said that Hollywood was targeted for investigation because of its high visibility factor. Witnesses called to appear in front of the Committee were either considered “friendly” or “unfriendly”. A witness either “named names” or they refused. If they refused, it was decided that they were “in contempt of Congress”, and many were actually sent to jail. Oddly, if those witnesses had refused to speak by evoking the Fifth Amendment –they could not have been held in contempt. But most of them tried in vain to present their arguments regarding free speech, and the freedom to “believe” whatever they pleased. They were shouted down instead.

Robert Taylor, Gary Cooper, and Adolph Menjou were considered “friendly” witnesses. After a time, Elia Kazan cooperated and named some names. He wanted the freedom to continue to direct politically sensitive films like VIVA ZAPATA (1951), and ON THE WATERFRONT (1954). Kazan felt that these politically conscious films were about “doing the right thing in a corrupt world.” Many people in Hollywood , still bitter about his choice to cooperate with HUAC, never got over despising Kazan . He was forced to pay a big price for his decision.

J. Parnell Thomas was the chairman of those HUAC hearings. Richard Millhouse Nixon sat there as his right hand. On October 27, 1947, thirty movie stars and other celebrities flew to Washington , D.C. to protest HUAC and its attacks on Hollywood . Aboard that plane were Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Huston, William Wyler, Edward G.
Robinson, Danny Kaye, and Herbert Biberman, with his wife, Gale Sondergarrd. The moment they stepped out on the tarmac, the press descended upon them like hungry dogs. They were humiliated and harassed. Their written statements were never heard or published. They had to fly home without accomplishing anything. Many of them, like Huston and Wyler were “sorry” for their “misguided efforts”. Bogart stated,” That whole trip was ill-advised –even foolish. I have absolutely no use for Communism.” He was forgiven, and then was free to go on and star in KEY LARGO (1948).

In 1947, 2,000 names appeared on a list called the RED CHANNELS. Hollywood was given the cruel nickname of “BOLSHYWOOD”. Many stars became blacklisted for 10-15 years –yet the “blacklist” was never officially acknowledged. Celebrities like Edward G. Robinson, Will Geer, Howard De Silva, Larry Parks, Betty Garrett, Marsha Hunt, John Garfield, Jules Dassin, Judy Holliday, Melvyn Douglas, Zero Mostel, Lee Grant, Clifford Odetts, Anne Revere, Martin Ritt, Abraham Polonsky, Pete Seeger, and Oscar winning Gale Sondergarrd. Film music composer, Jerry Fielding, was not allowed to work from 1953-1961. Burgess Meredith and Sam Jaffe had to struggle to keep working. Many of their plights were unsung –buried in the blacklist, and banned from working anywhere –not Broadway, not Regional Theatre, not even in commercials or overseas.

The most heinous and infamous infractions were done to a group of writers, producers, and directors that came to be known as “The Hollywood Ten”. Many people are familiar with their label, but are unable to name more than two of them. It is harder than trying to remember the names of all seven dwarves from SNOW WHITE, or the names of all of Santa’s reindeer. Most of the group of Hollywood celebrities was convicted of “Contempt of Congress”, and they all spent a year in prison. In alphabetical order, they were:
1. Alvah Bessie: A novelist and screenwriter.
2. Herbert J. Biberman: A director, screenwriter, producer, and husband to Gale Sondergarrd. He struggled to make the film, THE SALT OF THE EARTH (1954) as an act of defiance.
3. Lester Cole: A screenwriter, who had written the original draft for VIVA ZAPATA (1951), before John Steinbeck was brought in to “clean it up”.
4. Edward Dmytryk: A director, who after some time in prison, like Elia Kazan, returned to the hearings and named some names. Biberman was at the top of his list. Dmytryk was forgiven, and taken off the blacklist. He returned to directing, with films like EIGHT IRON MEN (1952), THE JUGGLER (1953), with Kirk Douglas, about the emergence of the new state of Israel , THE CAINE MUTINY (1955), with fellow liberal, Humphrey Bogart, RAINTREE COUNTY (1957), and THE YOUNG LIONS (1958). Again, as with Kazan , many in Hollywood never forgave him. In 1976 he became a teacher. He ended up as Chairman of the Film School at USC.
5. Ring Lardner, Jr.: A former journalist and screenwriter. He remained blacklisted until the late 1960’s. His official comeback was the script for Robert Altman’s M.A.S.H. (1970).
6. John Howard Lawson: A screenwriter and playwright. After prison, he relocated to Mexico , and continued to write novels.
7. Albert Maltz: A novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He had written THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), NAKED CITY (1948), and BROKEN ARROW in 1950.
8. Adrian Scott: A screenwriter, and producer. After prison he never worked again in the film industry.
9. Samuel Ornitz: A novelist and screenwriter, who faded into obscurity.
10. Dalton Trumbo: Perhaps the best known of the “Ten”, he had been a news reporter, editor, novelist, and screenwriter –and later became a director. He, too, had relocated to Mexico , and continued to write under the name Robert Rich. Kirk Douglas brought him home to write the screenplay for SPARTACUS (1960).

Together, these ten men wrote 159 film scripts, and not one of them contained any “communist propaganda”. There is an interesting made-for-cable film out there called ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD TEN (2000). It was fairly controversial. It was filmed mostly in England and Spain . It starred Jeff Goldblum as Herbert J. Biberman, and the fiery Greta Scacchi as his wife, Gale Sondergarrd. The last half of the movie dealt with Biberman making THE SALT OF THE EARTH (1954).

Herbert Biberman died in 1971. He had never been removed from the blacklist. In 1972, Gale Sondergarrd was taken off the list, and she was allowed to work again. I worked with her in 1973, in regional theatre, at the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Tennessee William’s CAMINO REAL. At that time I had no idea that she was freshly back to work after more than 20 years of being blacklisted.

The junior senator from Wisconsin , Joseph McCarthy, was a brute of a different color. He had a strong demagogic streak, and he found it easy to capitalize on the red scare hysteria. But he did not target Hollywood . J. Parnell Thomas had done a fine job on that. No, McCarthy targeted the Democratic Party, the government itself, and later the military. In 1946, while running for the Senate as a Republican –his campaign posters showed him in uniform –“In full fighting gear, wearing an Aviator’s cap, and belt upon belt of machine gun ammo strapped around his girth.” He claimed to have completed 32 missions during WWII. In fact he had a desk job, and only flew on some training exercises.

His first three years in the Senate were completely unimpressive. So in 1950, on the advice of a Catholic priest, he was convinced that he could bolster his image by waging a campaign against communist subversives in the Democratic Party. McCarthy became chairman of the Government Committee on Operations in the Senate. He waved his list of 57 names of known “communists” in the Democratic Party –80% of which were not subversives, just alcoholics and homosexuals who had already been weeded out on previous lists. Interestingly, McCarthy himself, as a hard drinker and sexual deviant –would have been included on the list if he had been a Democrat.

In 1952, McCarthy appointed Roy Cohn as chief counsel for the committee. Cohn had prosecuted the Rosenburgs years earlier. He was recommended to McCarthy by J. Edgar Hoover. McCarthy and Hoover had been fast friends. It was the FBI that fed Senator Joe all the data he needed –fanning the noxious flames of what would become known as “McCarthyism”. Wasn’t it ironic that McCarthy, Cohn, and Hoover , all good friends, were also all homosexual? Cohn died of Aids. McCarthy, who was an alcoholic, died in 1957 of cirrhosis of the liver –three years after President Eisenhower and the military had removed him from power.

In 1950, J. Edgar Hoover appeared in a documentary entitled, COMMUNIST TARGET –YOUTH. He was attempting to demonstrate how America ’s youth had been influenced by communists during the Anti-HUAC riots. There have been many films made that endeavored to deal with this era, and these issues.

There are those who believe that Robert Wise’s THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) was a thinly disguised warning and parable about the dangers of cold war politics. So when the massive robot, Gort, was given the message,” Klaatu Barrada Nikto” –the establishment was going to get their comeuppance. It was some brave casting to include Sam Jaffe, who was being investigated by HUAC when he was hired.

ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962) allowed director Otto Preminger to substitute a homosexual smear attack in the Senate for communist smear attacks. Preminger had been the second director to let Dalton Trumbo to use his own name on his script for EXODUS (1960) –following Kirk Douglas’s lead on SPARTACUS (1960). Kirk Douglas officially has been given credit for “busting” the blacklist in 1959 –an honor he is still proud of.

ANARCHY, USA (1966) was a tense little documentary that presented the civil rights movement as part of the communist plan for world domination. They used a lot of footage of Paul Robeson, a self-confessed leftist, whose career was destroyed in 1950. His films could no longer be shown in the United States .

THE WAY WE WERE (1973) was a slick melodrama and sad love story, with Barbra Streisand playing a Jewish reactionary lusting after the Wasp Wonder, Robert Redford. The film did show how much damage could be done with the presence of the “Red Scare” from the 1930’s-1960.

HOLLYWOOD ON TRIAL (1976) was a great documentary about the period that was narrated by John Huston –himself a former target for HUAC. There is some great archival footage in this film.

THE FRONT (1976) was directed by Martin Ritt, who had been blacklisted. It starred Zero Mostel, who had lost 15 years work to the blacklist. It also starred Woody Allen, who seemed pretty uncomfortable in it. The practice of paying a “nobody” to put their name on blacklisted writer’s scripts was common place in the ‘50s.

TAIL GUNNER JOE (1977) was a made for TV film starring Peter Boyle as Joe McCarthy. The script was shallow though, and history was not very well served by it.

GUILTY BY SUSPICION (1991) was directed by Irwin Winkler. It starred Robert De Niro as a fictitious director, who returned from filming in Europe to find himself being pressured by HUAC.

CITIZEN COHN (1992) was an HBO film that starred James Woods as Roy Cohn, and it featured Joe Don Baker as Joseph McCarthy. Its premise was that Cohn’s death to Aids was divine retribution. This theme was explored even more completely in the Mike Nichols HBO mini-series, ANGELS IN AMERICA (2003), with Al Pacino dying dramatically as the perverted Roy Cohn. It featured Meryl Streep in three roles –one of them being the ghost of Ethel Rosenburg.

CRADLE WILL ROCK (1999), directed by Tim Robbins, was the leftist musical drama based on a Marxist musical play, and it also dealt with the HUAC hearings. It featured Harris Yulin as a stand-in for Chairman J. Parnell Thomas. Ironically, Thomas himself was later convicted of fraud, and he was imprisoned in the same jail where he had sent the Hollywood Ten.

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (2005) is the second film that has been directed by matinee idol, George Clooney. Its pivotal character was Edward R. Murrow, whose real name was Egbert Roscoe Murrow. No other news broadcaster in history –not even Walter Cronkite, was ever more respected. His name is blazoned on awards given to news shows and broadcasters to this day. Murrow covered the 1938 German occupation of Austria , and he was in London covering all ten months of the Battle of Britain. He was born in North Carolina , but he grew up in Washington State . He was a graduate of WSU.

Most historians give Murrow little credit for bringing down Senator Joe McCarthy. But most certainly, he stood up to him, and in so doing he endangered the livelihood of CBS News, and several of its employees. Others, however, do feel that his exposes of McCarthy’s tactics directly brought about the Senate hearings which caused McCarthy’s censure and imminent political demise –and soon thereafter his actual demise. Probably when McCarthy took on the military establishment, he orchestrated his own death knell. Dwight David Eisenhower put into motion the seeds of McCarthy’s destruction.

George Clooney not only was the film’s director, he also wrote the first draft of the script, and helped to produce it. His father, Nick Clooney, had been a newscaster, and so George was familiar with news rooms. Nick also was a Talk Show host in Cincinnati , and from age 5 George made appearances on it. Presently Nick is a film host on AMC. George’s aunt was songstress Rosemary Clooney. This made actor Jose Ferrer his uncle, and actor Miguel Ferrer his cousin. The band playing throughout GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK was Rosemary Clooney’s band. George’s nickname is “Gorgeous George”. He is 5’11” tall. At one point he considered becoming a professional baseball player. He tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. For four years he was married to Martin Balsam’s daughter, Talia.

Clooney has had 43 film appearances since 1984. He started out on a television series called E/R (1984-85). The stars were Elliott Gould, Mary McDonnell, and Jason Alexander. Miguel Ferrer helped him get his first gig in a film, GRIZZLY II: THE PREDATOR (1987) –which is now the “lost sequel”. It featured a then unknown Charlie Sheen and a fake bear. In 1994 Clooney became Dr. Ross on ER (1994-1999), which catapulted him to stardom. Interestingly, this doctor series, as well as the first one [E/R] were both located in Chicago . He auditioned five times for director Ridley Scott for the part of J.D. in THELMA AND LOUISE (1991) –a part that went to Brad Pitt, kick-starting his film career.

In 1996, Clooney made it back to the big screen as Seth Gecko in Robert Rodriguez’s FROM DUSK TO DAWN. In 1997 he became the sixth actor to play Bruce Wayne in BATMAN AND ROBIN. The same year he had success with THE PEACEMAKER (1997), working with Nicole Kidman. He made THREE KINGS in 1999. While on the set, he reportedly got into a fist fight with the director, David O. Russell. Russell had yelled at some extras, and Clooney took exception. Later Russell said,” I wouldn’t make another George Clooney movie if they paid me 20 million dollars.”

Clooney produced and appeared in FAIL SAFE (2000) for a major TV network. It was shown without commercials, and they filmed it in black and white. It was a very well done remake of the 1964 classic. He also made THE PERFECT STORM in 2000. 2001 brought him the remake of OCEAN’S ELEVEN –with TWELVE being released in 2004. He directed and appeared in CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002). It sort of fizzled. It seemed to be missing something. Perhaps parts of it needed to be filmed in black and white.

He has a reputation of being an international playboy. He owns a villa in Italy . In 1997 PEOPLE magazine voted him “The Sexiest Man Alive”. He is only the second man, after Richard Gere, to have made the cover of VOGUE. He loved the animated TV series SOUTH PARK , and he asked for a part on it, and he was given the part of “Sparky”, the gay dog. He wanted to play Jack in SIDEWAYS (2005), but director Alexander Payne felt he was already too big a star, and gave it to Thomas Haden Church . After an accident on the set of his new film, SYRIANA (2005), he suffered from severe back pain, bad headaches, and memory loss. He had gained 30 pounds for that role. After several spinal surgeries and a lot of physical therapy –he fully recovered and is now fine. Although for a time, while contemplating a lifetime of pain, there were media rumors that he had considered suicide.

Clooney said,” It is not about an opening weekend. It’s about a career –building a set of films you’re proud of. Period. 90% of all films are pretty mediocre, but they have a built in audience, and open on 3,000 screens. Now directing is really exciting. In the end it’s more fun to be the painter than the paint. I’m a hybrid. I succeed in both worlds. I hope that selling out on OCEANS 11 & 12 is not such a bad deal. The trade off is I get to make something uncommercial that probably will lose money.”

Roger Ebert wrote,” Clooney co-starred as Fred Friendly, Murrow’s producer, who remained active until the 1990’s. He also directed and co-wrote the script. Because his father was a newscaster –he knows what the early TV studio looked like –and it’s startling to see how small Murrow’s performance space was. He sits close to the camera, his famous cigarette usually in the shot. Friendly sat beside the camera –so close he could tap Murrow’s leg to cue him.
As a director, Clooney does interesting things. One of them is to shoot in black and white, which is the right choice for the material –lending it authenticity and matter-of-factness. In a way, B&W was inevitable, since both Murrow’s broadcasts and the McCarthy footage were in black and white. Clooney shoots close, showing men in business dress, talking in anonymous rooms. Everybody smokes all the time. Episodes are separated by a jazz singer (Dianne Reeves), who is seen performing in a nearby studio. Her songs don’t parallel the action, but certainly do evoke a time of piano lounges, martinis, and all those cigarettes.”

I think those scenes with the jazz band and the sultry singer did a lot more than just evoke the club scenario. It reminded us that in 1953 blacks were only allowed in those white night clubs as entertainers only. It was still more than a decade before the civil rights movement began to gain momentum. Even super star entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr., when he played Vegas and Atlantic City –had to stay in a “colored” hotel, or with a local black family. Davis began to break through the color barrier earlier than some thanks in part to the intervention of his Rat Pack buddies –Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

I find it interesting that these days black and white cinematography is considered trendy, nostalgic, and even vogue. Hollywood in it’s hey day only shot films in black and white in order to save money. Technicolor film stock, or Vista-Vision, or any of the other color processes, cost a lot more to shoot with and to make prints of. So ultimately the “A” pictures would be in color, and the “B” films, the companion features would be in black and white. That, of course, was when a double feature was the norm.
Some of the greatest Noir films were done in B&W, and we would not have wanted to see them any other way. If an “A” film was a crime thriller, and it was supposed to be gritty, like THE NAKED CITY (1948), and DETECTIVE STORY (1951) –then it too would be shot in black and white. Elia Kazan must have been shooting on slim budgets, because most of his early films were done in black and white. I always felt that VIVA ZAPATA (1952) would have been better in color. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) worked well in black and white as urban drama.

But somehow after 1960, any film that was shot in black and white was only done so by design. When we consider classic films like THE MISFITS (1961), LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962), THE LONGEST DAY (1962), THE PAWNBROKER (1964), IN COLD BLOOD (1967), and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), it seemed essential to film them in black and white. When IN COLD BLOOD was remade for television in 1996, with Eric Roberts as Perry Smith, and Anthony Edwards as Dick Hickok, seeing the story in color seemed odd. Similarly, the new film, CAPOTE (2005), with Philip Seymour Hoffman, was shot entirely in color, and some of the scenes begged to be done in black and white.

Generally, Clooney received kudos for opting to use archive footage of Senator Joseph McCarthy instead of using an actor to portray him. Clooney reported that when the movie had its test screening, several audience members felt that the “McCarthy character” was overacting a bit –not realizing the McCarthy character was archival.

James Berardinelli of REEL VIEWS wrote,” It is astonishing that a treatment of a factual incident from five decades ago could have such resonance today. This is not a movie of grand melodrama –but of quiet understated moments. Its power is in the absence of manipulation.
This film appeals primarily to the intellect. In the way it looks back at events with an unblinking eye. The film offers a glimpse of times gone by. Let us hope that it is not peering into the future (just substitute terrorism for communism). This is a fascinating and compelling piece of filmmaking, and its impact is enhanced by the style in which it is presented. Part docu-drama, part-thriller, and part cautionary tale –the movie offers something to everyone who craves more than escapism from the cinema. Clooney is using history to remind us of the precipice upon which we stand.”

A few weeks ago an Army Colonel was mysteriously found dead in Iraq . He had been investigating Haliburton. We know that a lot of money is being made in the Middle East by American corporations. Perhaps this Colonel discovered something that cost him his life. We have to face the fact that our President has immersed us into the nightmarish world of the New Millennium Crusades. We have kicked the sleeping bear of Islam, and there is no turning back. My God, have we learned nothing from history? Has the 58 year running battle that continues to furrow scars and bodies into Israeli soil taught us nothing? George Clooney would like us to think about it some.

David Edelstein of SLATE wrote,” Clooney’s straight forward message –the movie’s raison d’etre –that “We should not confuse dissent with disloyalty” –seems especially vital. Today any opposition to U.S. Policy is essentially considered “treasonous”. Bill O-Reilly declared any critic of President Bush was,” an enemy of the state.” Author Ann Coulta wrote,” Most Democrats are guilty of treason.” “

Edward R. Murrow was quoted to say:
We will not walk in fear, one of another.
The Republic can not endure very long as a one party system.
The terror is right in this room.
Our history will be as we make it. It will go on as we are; the history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us.

Mick La Salle of the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE wrote,” Clooney’s point will not please everybody. He is suggesting that the fear McCarthy was trading in is pervasive today –that the spirit of McCarthy, an authoritarianism disguised in patriotic language –lives on –and that our TV news is no longer a match for it. At a time when most movies are straining to be innocuous, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK is a bold entry, to say the least.”

I wonder who will go out and see this film? It only opened on two screens in Tacoma for the whole South Sound area. Critics for the most part, praised it highly. Soren Anderson of the Tacoma News Tribune gave it 5 stars. Yet my wife disliked it. She said,” I don’t go to the movies to have to think. We get enough of that just watching the nightly news.” But dear wife is that completely true? Do our media serve the “truth”, and report things as they truly are, or do network moguls and politicians use the tube as their personal platform and favorite tool of manipulation?

Todd McCarthy of VARIETY wrote,” Strong critical responses will translate into enthusiastic audience embrace in specialized release –although the pic’s small scale and period setting will test Warner’s independent’s ability to muscle such a film through to the general public.”

I think it may win some Oscars, but I doubt it will make much money –maybe even lose money as Clooney has suggested. CHICKEN LITTLE (2005) that opened the same weekend nationally has already out grossed it ten to one. This is a small claustrophobic film with a huge message, but who will receive the message? Ah, there’s the rub.

Pam Grady of REEL.COM wrote,” The film ends in 1958, when Murrow gives a speech that warns about the direction of TV journalism. In this day and age, all his worst fears have come true. While the Red Scare eventually lost traction –destroying one’s enemies by attacking their patriotism or political bone fides, is still a favorite game among the unprincipled. This paean to Murrow and excellence in journalism is filmmaking at its best.”

Adolph Hitler taught us how to use the media to strongly and effectively deliver a political message –to overwhelm the confused and the weak-willed with finger-pointing platitudes. Leni Riefenstahl’s TRIUMPH DES WILLENS or TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1935) was a great cinematic achievement, a great film artistically –presenting the Nazis as literal gods on earth –giving totalitarianism just the right spin. So will the general public be receptive to GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK? I seriously doubt it. Michael Moore used actual archival footage of George W. Bush in FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (2004), alerting the public as to exactly what Junior was up to prior to the national elections. Did America receive that film and that message open-mindedly? Hell, no. It was dismissed by the bulk of the citizenry as leftist Democratic skullduggery –and Junior was re-elected. America –where are your eyes? Does no one ever watch the History Channel? Are there lessons to be learned from history? Yes, and yes, and yes again. Or we find ourselves being confronted in our own homes by Homeland Security forces, our front doors caved in, and our liberties discarded as superfluous.

I remember back in the ‘60s, when jack-booted thugs who called themselves policemen, used to wade into groups of us who were practicing dissent and free speech. Heads were cracked, and innocent people were beat down, handcuffed, and hauled off to jail. We used to warn others that if we were not careful, American could breed its own brand of fascists –that if we did not stay alert, we could sacrifice our liberty. I wrote some of my thoughts down at the time.

SON OF CAIN

The Man,
The Man,
Always the Man,
Everywhere.
That blind deaf-mute of discipline;
The bully boss,
The chief Honcho
Top dog badass.
The club in your stomach,
The shotgun at your head,
The glare off a badge;
Rat saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth,
His tiny red weasel eyes
Full of hate,
As he snarled something
About breaking the rules,
And demonstrated his righteousness
By strangling your liberty.

Beware of the Man,
My brothers;
Do as he says.
Stay in your cubicle
And in your neighborhood.
Go on green,
Stop on red;
Drive slow,
Drive fast,
And never forget
To put the proper coin in your breath-o-meter.

Do not forget your number.
Do not lose your spoon.
Do not talk loudly.
Do not talk at all.
Do not drink too much.
Do not speak your mind.
Do not enjoy yourself to excess.
Walk on and tow that line.
Once the parameters are set,
Do not step out of them.

Respect the Man,
Fear his might,
His brutish power,
His shiny boots,
His starched pleated shirt,
And his great silver spurs.

Blend, you bastard, blend,
Or the Man will turn
His considerable wrath
On you;
And from the intestines of Hell,
From the dankness of dungeons,
From shallow unmarked graves,
Will be heard the cries
Of those destroyed;
All mingled into
A single wailing.

These were men
Who stood up to the full blast.
Men whose words
Are lost in the wind,
Men without epitaphs.
And when you really hear
What they are trying to tell you,
When your heart is battered
By the hammer blows of their despair,
You will weep,
And maybe you
Will join them.

Glenn Buttkus 1968

Michael Atkinson of the VILLAGE VOICE wrote,” If this film only functions as a kind of mini-realist, moral-minded History lesson for today’s principle-free media circus and giga-shopping news victims –that alone would make it a landmark in the new millennium Hollywood. On the other hand, Clooney’s brilliantly orchestrated and seriously respectful movie can be seen as a grim shoulder tap, lamenting the social irresponsibility of what Gore Vidal likes to call, “The United States of Amnesia”.”

The film was written mostly by George Clooney. He was assisted by Grant Heslog, who also was one of the 15 producers for the film –that included Steven Soderbergh. Heslog has only written one other film script. It was for WAITING FOR WOODY (1998), a 30 minute short film he appeared in –as did George Clooney. Mostly Heslog is considered an actor. He has had 28 film appearances since 1984.

The cinematography was done by Robert Elswit. The movie was shot on color film stock on a gray scale set, and then it was color-corrected in post-production. Elswit has frequently worked with director Paul Thomas Anderson. He has been head lenser on only 5 films since 1980, and he has been cameraman on a few others. Movies like THE SURE THING (1985), PARIS, TROUT (1992), with Dennis Hopper, THE RIVER WILD (1994), with David Strathairn, BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), with Mark Wahlberg, MAGNOLIA (1999), with Tom Cruise, and RUNAWAY JURY (2003), with Gene Hackman.

Clooney was able to put together a marvelous cast –one of the most important contributions a director can give to any film project. The cast was spearheaded by David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow. Without his participation, this film would have been only as mildly interesting look back at some perilous times –but with his participation the film is elevated to classic, even cult status. He was able to capture the pure essence of Murrow, internalizing the mannerisms and speech cadences, studying the back story until he could breathe like the man. He portrayed Murrow as an intelligent, brave, moral broadcaster –who could be both fearless and foolhardy as he taunted dangerous demagogues. Like Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote, Strathairn inhabited Edward R. Murrow.

Some historians felt that it was Murrow’s exposes of Joe McCarthy’s tactics and abuses that directly brought about the Senate hearings –which ultimately caused his censure and demotion. Others felt that McCarthy had already taken on the Democratic Party, and by 1954 he had begun to harangue the Military. It was one of Murrow’s SEE IT NOW broadcasts that investigated the causes of airman Milo Radulovich forced discharge from the Air Force –discharged without a trial, and based on “sealed evidence”. It was March 9, 1954, when Murrow did the broadcast that confronted McCarthy. But even by that time, President Eisenhower had become incensed with McCarthy’s tactics and accusations. Once the President got involved, the wheels of “justice” began to turn.

When the heat came down on William Paley, Murrow’s boss at CBS News, several sponsors pulled out before they could air the McCarthy rebuttal broadcast. To make sure it happened, Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly took on the costs personally.

Murrow: We’ll split the advertising –Fred and I. He just won’t have any presents for his kids at Christmas.
Sig Mickelson: He’s a Jew.
Murrow: Well, don’t tell him that. He loves Christmas.

Roger Ebert wrote,” Murrow is played by David Strathairn –that actor of precise inward silence. He has mastered the Murrow mannerisms, the sideways glance from beneath lowered eyebrows, the way of sitting perfectly still and listening and watching others, the ironic underplayed wit, and the unbending will. He does not look much like Murrow, but he creates his character from the inside, concealing behind famous mannerisms the deliberate actions that impose his will.
The movie is entirely, almost claustrophobically about politics, and the news business –about the inner life of CBS News. The movie is not entirely about the abuses of McCarthy –but about the process by which Murrow and his team eventually brought about his downfall (some say his self-destruction). It’s like a morality play, from which we learn how journalists should behave. It shows Murrow to be fearless, but not flawless. Strathairn is a stealth actor, revealing Murrow’s feelings almost in code. Clooney, by contrast, makes Fred Friendly an open forthright kind of guy –a reliable partner for Murrow’s enigmatic reserve.”

Todd McCarthy of VARIETY wrote further,” From the first moment he’s on the screen, David Strathairn is Edward R. Murrow. From the lean physique and dark features to his taciturn air, imperturbable disposition, and implacable directness of address, the habitually understated actor entirely inhabits the biggest screen role of his career. In a piece not intended as a psychological study, Strathairn quietly suggests the ways in which Murrow’s challenge of McCarthy tested the depth of his character’s nerve, resolve, and self-certainty. It is a tour de force performance of great subtlety in a deliberately narrow range.”

James Berrdinelli of REEL VIEWS added,” In recreating Murrow, David Strathairn made a careful study of his subject, and has reproduced Murrow’s style down the smallest gesture. Yet Strathairn’s work goes beyond imitation and impersonation; he creates an intensely passionate individual who is driven by an inflexible code of ethics. Like other actors who successfully create a cinematic doppelganger of a real person, Strathairn gets under the character’s skin.”

Scott Rosenberg of the SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER wrote,” David Strathairn, who has shined in films such as 8 MEN OUT (1988), and LA CONFIDENTIAL (1997) has cemented his standing as an Oscar-hopeful –going way beyond just playing Murrow –but rather becoming him.”

Frank Langella played Murrow’s boss at CBS News, William Paley. An imposing actor, at 6’4”, he has been equally at home on stage and screen. His Paley was a complex characterization. He was authoritarian and powerful –all business, and yet he seemed to have faith in Murrow and his gang at SEE IT NOW. He understood that he needed to placate the sponsors, as well as the CBS Board of Directors –and yet he stood up for Murrow and his controversial broadcast battles with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Langella keeps up guessing as to his character’s motives.

He was a Broadway actor first in his career, winning a Tony for his role in Edward Albee’s SEASCAPE. Then he had great success with the stage production of DRACULA. He repeated that role for the film that was done in 1979, and became an international star. Secondary to that role, he was included in layouts in PLAYBOY for their “Sex Stars of the Cinema for 1979”. So even though he has appeared in 53 films since 1970, most of his work has been in the theatre. In the late ‘90s, he lived with Whoopi Goldberg. I don’t know if that was before, or after Ted Danson romanced her. Langella was featured in DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (1970), and he was good in Mel Brook’s THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1970), with Ron Moody. He sparkled as Harry Crystal in the theatrical comedy, THOSE LIPS, THOSE EYES (1980). I loved hating him as Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander in DAVE (1993), and hissing him as Dawg Brown in CUTTHROAT ISLAND (1995).

The real William Paley had a collection of microphones in his office. The crew put a microphone that George Clooney had used in O BROTHER, WEHRE ART THOU? (2000), on the set of Paley’s office –as a surprise for Clooney.

Robert Downey Jr. played Joe Wershiba. He was fine as Joe, showing us the barely in control maverick and liberal spirit of the man, as he was threatened with termination if he did not sign a Loyalty Oath. He and Patricia Clarkson, who played his wife, had some nice scenes together –but their characters did not really seemed very involved in the primary action; those broadcasts that would ultimately bring Joe McCarthy to his knees.

I think that Downey is a very talented actor who has been attracted to some bizarre film projects. He was raised in the business, much like Clooney. He has appeared in 62 films .At age 5 he was in his father’s film, POUND (1970), and then did cameos in two more of his Dad’s films, GREASER’S PALACE (1972), and UP THE ACADEMY (1980). In the early ‘80s, for several years he lived with the up and coming actress, Sarah Jessica Parker. One of the first big roles he had was in WEIRD SCIENCE (1985), with Anthony Michael Hall. He was quite good in THE PICK-UP ARTIST (1987), TRUE BELIEVER (1989), and AIR AMERICA (1990), with Mel Gibson. Then he was truly brilliant as, and in CHAPLIN (1992), and he received an Academy Award nomination for the role. He was in Oliver Stone’s NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994), played the gay outspoken brother Tommy in Jodie Foster’s HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1995), did a nice period turn as Robert Merivel in RESTORATION (1995), played a strange serial killer IN DREAMS (1999), with Annette Bening, was a very convincing homosexual writer’s agent on the make for Toby McGuire in WONDER BOYS (2000), and he was incredibly interesting as Dan Dark in the American version of THE SINGING DETECTIVE (2003), with Mel Gibson. [Michael Gambon starred in the BBC British mini-series version of the Dennis Potter musical detective thriller/drama/comedy.] He is very busy presently, having 6 films in post-production for 2006.

His biggest demon as an actor and as a person has been his addiction to drugs. He stated,” It’s like I have a loaded gun in my mouth, and I like the taste of metal.” For the past decade he has been in and out of Rehab, and has been incarcerated. He had a great role on the television series, ALLY McBEAL. He won a Golden Globe for playing it. But he was fired for drug abuse in 2001. He is a pal of Mel Gibson’s. In LA, a few years ago, he rehearsed HAMLET, with Mel Gibson directing it. Something went wrong, and it never opened.

Downey said,” A lot of my peer group [the Brat Pack] think I’m an eccentric bisexual –like I may even have an ammonia-filled tentacle or something, somewhere in my body –and that’s okay.”

The very talented Patricia Clarkson played Shirley Wershiba. She was given even less to do than Downey , but she did it very well. She looked right at home in the period clothes and hairstyles, and she convinced me that she could smoke with the best of the men. She has appeared in 46 films since 1987, when she was in Brian De Palma’s THE UNTOUCHABLES. She was Rose in ROCKET GIBRALTER (1988), the warden’s wife in THE GREEN MILE (20020, working with James Cromwell, was one of the uptight bittys in FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002), mining another ‘50s role. She was Vera, herded her pack of off spring in DOGVILLE (2003), and was simply wonderful as Olivia in THE STATION AGENT (2003). She had been a regular on FRAZIER (2001 season), and HBO’s SIX FEET UNDER (2002-2005).

Ray Wise played the doomed newscaster Don Hollenbeck. He is perhaps best known as Laura Palmer’s father/killer on the TV series, TWIN PEAKS . As Hollenbeck he was very convincing as a man who always spoke too soon and too loudly, and had to be held accountable. He has appeared in 90 theatrical plays, and works a lot in the Regional Theatre circuit. He has found time to be in 56 films since 1969. He was in SWAMP THING (1982), was a regular on DAYS OF OUR LIVES (1982-83), KNOT’S LANDING, DALLAS , and TWIN PEAKS . He was in BOB ROBERTS (1992), POWDER (1995), and was quite effective as the monster hunter in JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 (2003).

Jeff Daniels played Sig Mickelson, one of the CBS company men. He did well with what was essentially an unsympathetic role. He has appeared in 52 films since 1980. His breakthrough role was the weak husband, Flap Horton in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983). He was hero Tom in the Woody Allen opus, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985). Michael Keaton had originally been cast as Tom –but dropped out of the project.
He was good in SOMETHING WILD (1986), with Melanie Griffith, in ARACHNOPHOBIA (1990), with John Goodman, as Colonel Chamberlain in Ted Turner’s GETTYSBURG (1993), as Harry in DUMB AND DUMBER, with Jim Carrey, as the Dad in FLY AWAY HOME (1996), repeating his role as Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Ted Turner’s GODS AND GENERALS (2003), with Robert Duvall, as the Blue Man in THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN (2004), with Jon Voight, and this year as the stressed-out husband in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005).

He is the founder of THE PURPLE ROSE THEATRE COMPANY in his home town of Chelsea , Michigan . His father owns the Chelsea Lumber Company, and he donated all the lumber for the theatre. Daniels won an Obie Award in 1982 in New York City , for his one man performance of JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN. It is said that he also played guitar on Don Johnson’s album, LET IT ROLL.

David Edelstein of SLATE wrote,” It is a damned fine movie –a passionate and rousing piece of filmmaking –a civics lesson with the punch of a good melodrama. It feels electrified. It has the chain-smoking jitterness of its protagonist. You don’t have to be told that Murrow perished from lung cancer.
But not all of the film clicks. I found the moody interludes between acts –smoky jazz numbers, often ironic in context –and a mite self-conscious. A subplot featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson seems shoehorned in. As much as I liked Strathairn’s crisply understated performance; saints don’t do much for me. I could have done with at least the suggestion that some rational people at that time believed that Soviet Communism was a threat, and that there might have been spies in the State Department.”

This is a film that all of America should see –but probably won’t. There are no car chases. There is no nudity, no flashing and discharging of handguns or rifles, and no cinematic grand vistas to feast one’s eye upon. Rather we are cramped into a period shoe box, drenched black and white in world of many yesterdays –where ethical and intelligent men found themselves standing up to behemoth bullies –staring into the camera live with clear eyes, mouthing clever well-written rhetoric, and quoting Shakespeare on a regular basis. For those of us that actually watched Edward R. Murrow on our fine 12” perfectly oval black and white screens, it is an accurate reconstruction of the times, and the stress imposed by that HUAC goliath that snuffed out careers and blighted lives for decades to come. For those younger audience members, hopefully the film will promote interest in the period, suggesting some research for you to do to fill in the missing pieces.

Roger Ebert wrote in conclusion,” Clooney’s message was clear. Character assassination is wrong. McCarthy was a bully and a liar, and we must be vigilant when the emperor has no clothes and wraps himself in the flag.” I liked this film very much. I would rate it at 4.5 stars.

Glenn Buttkus 2005




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