Good Night and Good Luck

A dark blemish in an age known for its perceived contentment during the decade of the 1950s was the witch hunts that came to be known as “McCarthyism” where prejudices and fears of Communism allowed a junior Senator from Wisconsin to manipulate the public for his own advancement.  Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to know a number of Communists who had infiltrated the United States government, preying on the public’s fears during the Cold War years that Communism would violently overthrow democratic governments both in Europe and at home.   Senator McCarthy single-handedly caused the fear of Communism to grow into an epidemic; however, due to the actions of a reputable news correspondent, Edward R. Murrow, Senator McCarthy was eventually exposed as the self-serving, slimy politician that he really was.

Released in 2005, over fifty years after the height of McCarthyism, Good Night, and Good Luck stars Hollywood actor George Clooney who also co-wrote this excellent portrayal of the events surrounding Murrow’s broadcasts on See It Now, his weekly news commentary show, regarding Senator McCarthy.   Good Night, and Good Luck has a documentary feel to it, filmed in black and white, lending an air of authenticity to the final product.  The music also sets the mood of the early 1950s, playing strategically in the background to bring us back to the days of the big band sound.  David Straithairn plays Murrow brilliantly with Clooney as his friend and producer, Fred Friendly.  Together, they challenge McCarthy on the same medium McCarthy himself used to gain publicity, the newly popularized television.  Making this film even more real, clips of McCarthy’s Senate hearings as well as clips from the See It Now broadcasts are intertwined into the film.

The movie opens with The Radio Television News Directors Association and Foundation saluting Murrow for his entire career of news broadcasts at a dinner reception on October 25, 1958.  Murrow begins his speech at this event, and then the film’s audience is brought back to 1953 when Murrow and his staff are putting together their next See It Now show.  Murrow and Friendly discuss the possibility of airing a story about a recently dismissed Air Force Lieutenant who refused to denounce his family for alleged Communist ties.  Lieutenant Milo Radulovich from Dexter, Michigan, was a casualty of McCarthy in Murrow’s eyes as he was tried and found guilty by the Air Force of being a security risk because his father reads a “Serbian newspaper.”  However, executives at Columbia Broadcasting System have reservations about the story, including the specific fear of losing their corporate sponsors.  Murrow and Friendly, in turn, due to their fierce belief that this story must be told, agreed to pay the $3,000 in lost revenue for that evening’s broadcast.  Murrow’s commentary sums up the unfair treatment of Radulovich: “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, even though that iniquity be proved, and in this case, it was not.”  Murrow further questions at what extent individual rights must be sacrificed in the name of national security, which is a question we still ask today.  In his commentary of the McCarthy story, Murrow states, we “cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home,” highlighting the importance of abiding by the very basic rights instilled by our country’s founding fathers.  The Radulovich story was the first of several aired by Murrow questioning Senator McCarthy’s methods, and it was groundbreaking for CBS as it was the first broadcast as an editorial rather than a neutral news story.  Surprisingly to all involved, public opinion seemed to support Murrow’s exposé, which allowed Murrow and Friendly to continue their attack on McCarthy.

            The film depicts the behind the scenes production of both the broadcast shows and the executives’ reservations.  It is important to note that the executives were concerned about the price the station would pay for airing this type of biased commentary, especially against a United States Senator.  Bill Paley, head of CBS, confronted Murrow several times about the airing of these segments, however, to his credit, he never directly told Murrow that he was forbidden to do the shows.  Unfortunately, after the McCarthy stories aired, See It Now was all but cancelled.  Murrow’s show was moved from prime-time Tuesday evenings to Sunday afternoons, and was not even aired weekly as it had been previously.  Paley justified the move by explaining it away as loss of advertisers due to the public desire for entertainment rather than “civics lessons.”

On a more personal note, the film also portrays victim Don Hollenbach, played by Ray Wise, the CBS news anchor who was labeled a Communist by newspaper reporter Jack O’Brian.  Hollenbach, colleague and friend of Ed Murrow and Fred Friendly, succumbed to the pressure of being labeled and, after the McCarthy show aired, committed suicide, depicting the personal toll taken by McCarthyism victims.  It is important to remember that each victim was an individual whose life was inadvertently affected by the accusations of that junior Senator, especially those made without merit.  Don Hollenbach’s tragic story is a perfect reminder of the ultimate price paid by a victim of unfounded accusations.  In fact, Murrow himself is accused of Communist ties by McCarthy in his rebuttal which seems to be McCarthy’s response to anyone who criticized or opposed his methods, which Murrow points out in one of  his See It Now broadcasts.

Edward R. Murrow was a hero, going up against a United States Senator who he saw as a terrorist against the better judgment of CBS executives and exposed a monster who exploited the public’s fear of Communism to further his own career.  Murrow was a genius in using McCarthy’s own words in his broadcasts and allowed McCarthy to “hang himself.”   Good Night, and Good Luck ends where it began, at the Salute to Murrow in 1958.  We could learn a great deal from this reputable news commentator as he reminds us in his speech that we need to remember to use television as a source of illumination and inspiration, and not merely as entertainment.    If it had not been for See It Now and the bravery of a man named Edward R. Murrow, Senator McCarthy may have been seen as the hero.  Murrow would be proud of Clooney and Good Night, and Good Luck for illuminating us as to the early days of television, the true nature of a man named Senator Joe McCarthy, and the importance of news commentaries like See It Now.