Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Good Night and Good Luck *the movie

This was the era before I was born, 1958. But even so, I watched with awe. The film certainly did justice to the man as I understand him, as well as the time period. Visually I thought it was stunning. And you can tell instantly that Murrow was a man with a great ability to communicate reason when unreasonable accusations of communism were being made by McCarthy. Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly got the job done, exposed the lies and championed the underdog.

The film was cast perfectly. Although whenever I see David Strathairn I think of a wonderful TV show from the late eighties called ‚“The Life and Times of Molly Dodd‚”. I loved that show.
I found a sight about Murrow recounting the same time frame involved in the movie. It‚’s written by Joseph Wershba, who I believe first worked with Murrow during the Korean War sometime in the 1950‚’s then went on to work with him through the CBS ‚“See It Now‚” days and who eventually went on to produce 60 Minutes for 20 years, from 1968-1988.
It was Wershba and his camera man who dispatched Murrow the footage on Lieutenant Ragulovich who was being accused of communist activities resulting in him being labeled a threat to security and ultimately relieved of his post in the military. McCarthy then aimed his sights squarely at Murrow. Murrow beat it down, but paid the career price.

A great story, excellently portrayed and realized in this cinematic endeavor by George Clooney.

No comments: