Good Night, and Good Luck. Page #7

Synopsis: In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history.
Director(s): George Clooney
Production: Warner Independent Pictures
  Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 38 wins & 121 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.5
Metacritic:
80
Rotten Tomatoes:
93%
PG
Year:
2005
93 min
$31,500,000
Website
3,616 Views


- It's getting fun now!

- Ed, you have a minute?

- Yes, I'll be right there.

- All right, boys. Playtime's over.

We have 4 days...

...to do a 28 minute show.

- Yeah. - All right.

All right, go ahead.

Hi, Mary.

Hello, Mr. Hollenbeck.

Mr. Murrow...

- Could you give us a moment?

- Sure.

Thank you, dear.

I have to ask you something, Ed.

It's about O'Brian.

- O'Brian doesn't matter.

- He's killing me, Ed.

He doesn't amount to that much

in the newsroom.

We've got to let that guy have it.

We're not going after O'Brian. I will

not take on McCarthy and Hearst.

I can't defeat them both.

Just don't read the papers.

Or don't read O'Brian, anyway.

Okay. I guess not.

Sorry, Don.

Although Mrs. Moss

offered to testify...

...Senator McCarthy suggested

that she was too sick.

- She agreed... - Mr. Cohn wanted

to know about Mrs. Moss's connection...

...to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth...

...so help you God?

May we get your full name

for the record, please?

Annie Lee Moss.

- M-O-S-S?

- That's right.

Mrs. Moss, let me say for the record,

for your information...

...for the information

of your counsel...

...that you are not here because...

...you are considered important

in the Communist apparatus.

We have the testimony that you are,

and have been, a Communist.

We are rather curious, however,

to know how you suddenly...

...were shifted from...

...a worker in a cafeteria

to the code room.

I am today much more interested...

...in the handling of your case...

...by your superiors

than in your own personal activities.

However, counsel will question you

about your own activities also.

- Mr. Chairman!

- We will not hear from counsel.

You have been told what the rule is.

If you have anything to say,

say it through your client.

Chairman. Did you begin work

at the General Accounting Office in...

...1945?

- Yes, sir.

And, prior to that time,

had you been a cafeteria worker?

Yes, I had.

I see. While in the Pentagon,

since 1950...

...have you had any connections

with coded messages?

Have you ever handled

coded messages?

- No more than to transmit 'em.

- Pardon me?

No more than to transmit

the message.

Than to transmit them?

Did you transmit codes?

To receive or transmit messages

was all I had to do.

And I've never been

into a courtroom in my life.

Do you know the...

...type of classification...

- Do you know if they were secret,

top secret, confidential? - No, sir.

- You wouldn't know the degree

of classification? - No, sir.

I see.

I'm afraid I'm going

to have to excuse myself, I've got...

...a rather important appointment

to work on right now...

...and I wonder if, Senator Mundt,

you would take over as Chairman?

- Chairman. Uh...

- Cohn.

I have no further questions

of this witness at this time.

We have the testimony of Mrs. Markward,

the undercover agent for the FBI...

...stating that Annie Lee Moss

was a member, a dues-paying member...

...of the Communist Party...

...the Northeast Club

of the Communist Party.

We have corroboration

of that testimony by another...

...witness who was called

before the Committee...

...and gave a sworn statement

to the effect...

...that she also knew Mrs. Moss

as a member...

...of the Northeast Club

of the Communist Party.

She's already lost her job. She's been

suspended because of this action.

I'm not defending her. If she's

a Communist, I want her exposed.

But to make these statements

as we've got corroborating evidence...

...that she is a Communist,

under these circumstances...

...I think she's entitled to have it

produced here in her presence...

...and let the public know about it

and let her know about it.

I don't like to try people

by hearsay evidence.

I'd like to get the witnesses here

and try them...

...by testimony, under oath.

The Chair will rule

that the comment of Mr. Cohn...

...be stricken from the record.

I didn't ask that, Mr. Chairman!

...whether we should try to produce

a witness in public...

...because the FBI may have

her undercover and we don't want to...

You can't strike these statements

made by counsel here as to evidence...

...that we're having and withholding.

You cannot strike that from the press...

...nor from the public mind

once it's planted there. That's the...

...evil of it!

- Well, I'd look at it...

- I don't think it's fair to a witness...

...to a citizen of this country...

...to bring them up here

and cross-examine them...

...then when they get through, say...

..."The FBI has got something on you

that condemns you."

- The Chair agrees...

- It is not sworn testimony...

...it's convicting people

by rumor and hearsay and innuendo.

You will notice that neither Senator

McClellan or Senator Symington...

...nor this reporter know or claim

that Mrs. Moss was or is a Communist.

They simply claimed that she had the

right to meet her accusers face to face.

They simply claimed that she had the

right to meet her accusers face to face.

One month ago tonight we presented

a report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.

We labeled it as controversial.

Most of that report consisted

of words and pictures of the Senator.

At that time, we said...

..."If the Senator believes we have done

violence to his words or pictures..."

"...if he desires to speak,

to answer himself..."

"...an opportunity would be

afforded him on this program."

The Senator sought the opportunity

after 3 weeks...

...because he was very busy and wished

adequate time to prepare his reply.

We agreed.

We placed no restrictions on the manner

of the presentation of his reply...

...and we suggested that we would not

take time to comment...

...on this particular program.

Here now is Senator Joseph R. McCarthy,

junior Senator from Wisconsin.

Good evening. Mr. Edward R. Murrow,

Educational Director of the CBS...

...devoted his program

to an attack...

...on the work of the US Senate

Investigating Committee...

...and on me personally

as its Chairman.

Now, over the past 4 years,

he has made repeated attacks upon me...

...and those fighting Communists.

Of course, neither Joe McCarthy

nor Edward R. Murrow...

...is of any great importance

as individuals.

We are only important...

...in our relation to the great struggle

to preserve our American liberties.

Now ordinarily, I wouldn't take time

out from the important work at hand...

...to answer Murrow.

However, in this case...

...I feel justified in doing so

because Murrow is the symbol...

...the leader...

...and the cleverest of the jackal pack

which is always found at the throat...

...of anyone who dares to expose

individual Communists and traitors.

And I am compelled by the fact...

...to say to you

that Mr. Edward R. Murrow...

...as far back as 20 years ago...

...was engaged in propaganda

for Communist causes.

For example, the Institute

of International Education...

...of which he was

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George Clooney

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and businessman. He has received three Golden Globe Awards for his work as an actor and two Academy Awards, one for acting in Syriana (2006) and the other for co-producing Argo (2012). Clooney made his acting debut on television in 1978, and later gained wide recognition in his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999, for which he received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. While working on ER, he began attracting a variety of leading roles in films, including the superhero film Batman & Robin (1997) and the crime comedy Out of Sight (1998), in which he first worked with director Steven Soderbergh, who would become a long-time collaborator. In 1999, he took the lead role in Three Kings, a well-received war satire set during the Gulf War. In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, the heist comedy remake Ocean's Eleven, the first of what became a trilogy starring Clooney. He made his directorial debut a year later with the biographical spy comedy Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and has since directed the historical drama Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), the sports comedy Leatherheads (2008), the political drama The Ides of March (2011), and the war film The Monuments Men (2014). Clooney won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Middle East thriller Syriana (2005), and subsequently earned Best Actor nominations for the legal thriller Michael Clayton (2007) and the comedy-dramas Up in the Air (2009) and The Descendants (2011). In 2013, he received the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the political thriller Argo. He is the only person who has been nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories.In 2009, Clooney was included in Time's annual Time 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World". He is also noted for his political and economic activism, and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008. His humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Armenian Genocide recognition, 2004 tsunami, 9/11 victims, and creating documentaries such as Sand and Sorrow to raise awareness about international crises. Clooney helped fund the March for Our Lives after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2013, Clooney co-founded Casamigos Tequila with Rande Gerber and Michael Meldman. It was sold to Diageo for $700 million in June 2017, with an additional $300 million possible depending on the company's performance over the next ten years. He is married to British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. more…

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