#87. Network (1976)

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch


Tag line: "Prepare yourself for a perfectly outrageous motion picture!"

Trivia: According to Sidney Lumet the "Mad as Hell" speech was filmed in one and a half takes. Midway through the second take, Peter Finch abruptly stopped in exhaustion. Lumet was unaware of Finch's failing heart at the time, but in any case did not ask for a third take

I’ve always been a sucker for smartly-written characters, and Network, penned by Academy-Award winning screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, has them in spades. 

The film features a handful of fascinating individuals, and, thanks to Chayefsky, every single one - no matter how insignificant their role may seem - plays a part in this story of TV ratings and corporate vice.

UBS, a television network that’s consistently at the bottom of the ratings chart, has decided to make a few changes. To start with, they fire their long-time news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch), giving him just two weeks to clear out. 

As you might imagine, Howard doesn’t take his firing very well. In fact, during his very next broadcast, he announces that he will commit suicide on live television in exactly one week. 

His producer and best friend, Max Schumacher (William Holden), thinks Howard should be committed to a hospital for his own safety, but the new chief of the news division, Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway), sees Beale’s outburst as something more than the ravings of a madman; to her, its ratings gold! 

While Max tries his best to convince everyone Howard needs professional help, the network executives are publicly canonizing Beale as the ‘prophet of the airwaves’, giving the anchorman carte blanche to say or do whatever he wants. 

Every step Howard takes towards the edge translates into one more ratings point for UBS, but it’s anyone’s guess as to when he’ll finally go off the deep end for good.

In conjunction with Peter Finch’s mad prophesizing, Faye Dunaway’s callous pursuit of ratings, and William Holden’s moral conscience, Network features a bevvy of fine supporting players. Robert Duvall’s Frank Hackett is a volatile executive who has set his sights on the top spot. He’s as anxious to succeed as Dunaway’s Diana, yet has a much different agenda. 

Beatrice Straight won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Max’s dutiful wife, Louise, despite the fact she has only two significant scenes in the entire film. One of those scenes, however, in which Louise reacts to the news that Max has been having an affair, is easily one of Network’s most poignant moments. 

Then there’s Ned Beatty, who makes a rather brief appearance as Arthur Jensen, the CEO of UBS’s corporate entity. Without elaborating, I can safely say that, If Finch’s Howard Beale is indeed the “Prophet of the Airwaves”, Arthur Jensen is the wrath of God on a corporate level.

Its humorous moments aside, the basic premise of Network is the need people have to hear someone speak the truth. Howard Beale was declared a television prophet because he was honest, and gave voice to what others were feeling. In the film’s best sequence, he proved to millions of Americans that they, too, were mad as hell, and they shouldn’t take it anymore. Howard used television to spread his word around, and the viewers loved him because he provided an outlet for their own pent-up frustrations. 

When Howard Beale spoke, people listened, and thanks to the public airwaves, he was pretty much guaranteed an army of followers.

Well, at least until he slipped below a 48 share in the ratings.