Network

• Directed by Sidney Lumet
• November 27, 1976

The story of a last place television network and its struggle to overcome low ratings.

Like most people all I really knew about Network is the ‘mad as hell’ bit. It is a genuinely classic cinematic moment. I went into this completely blind other than it’s considered a classic largely (from my impression) because of that one moment. I even thought it was much more of a drama than a satire or even black comedy. Writer Paddy Chayefsky had a dim view of television, and it only got worse as he worked on the movie based on the end product.

It’s weird that Network’s most famous scene is right at the opening but it’s most important and shocking moment is at the very end. By then Howard Beale is broken in every way possible. Spiritually, mentally, and emotionally by the system that he was a part of. And by the end he feels hopeless and powerless but keeps on preaching his message and then is shot over ratings. 

This is a satire of media in general and the general cynicism behind network news or network programming. It’s about ratings grabbing at the cost of actually informing the public. The viewer is taken on a ride as UBS, after the unexpected success of The Howard Beale Show causes the network to take an ever increasing lowest common denominator approach to their programming. They even start The Mao Tse-Tung Hour which is a docudrama about the crimes of a terrorist group called the Ecumenical Liberation Army.

Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is a newscaster that has been poop canned because he’s not bringing in the ratings for the evening news of a last place network. On the evening of that announcement he lets loose with what he really thinks and accidentally becomes relevant again. They bill him as “the mad prophet of the airwaves” and push his populist message until the ratings plateau.

UBS executives Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) and Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) use an obviously sick man to make a hit. They are opportunists who care only about career advancement and making another dollar. In perhaps a prescient moment The Howard Beale Show becomes a mockery of the current primetime opinion show masquerading as news.

This has a lot of long winded speeches or general rants by the characters. There are not many moments where dialogue is actually exchanged. That should make this message film an unendurable lecture but no. It serves to get the point of the moment to the audience as well as convey the message of the story.

Normally long diatribes is an indication of an actor trying to justify their part in the movie. But rather it’s just a way of getting the message across. These dramatic lectures work because there are no pretenses about this being anything other than a film with something to say. It mixes that with good direction and genuine comedy like the scene with the executives negotiating over the coming season with the Ecumenical Liberation Army.

There are no good people. There are only ‘okay’ ones at best. Max Schumacher (William Holden) as Beale’s best friend is the finest of the bunch but even he ends up cheating on his wife (Beatrice Straight) with Diana Christensen. Schumacher realizes it is nothing more than a TV plot but participates just the same. Why? Most likely because Faye Dunaway was nothing to sneeze at.

For the purposes of the main story this romance did not matter. It just showed Diana to be a cold monster that cared more about ratings than other people. I’m not sure if that was needed since in her last scene she and Frank Hackett as well as others are plotting the murder of Beale to solve their ratings issue. That is enough to make a person evil.

Network is about how it’s all empty calories and getting eyes and not actually informing. Nothing is truly independent. To get the point across to the audience this mixes in mentions of real things with its fiction. Popular programming of the time gets name dropped with appearances in the beginning of real news anchors. Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army is replaced by the aforementioned Ecumenical Liberation Army.

Network is a great satirical black comedy. Well-acted, well directed, and just nearly perfect all around. It says something that’s probably as timely today as it was when it first came out. Well worth your time to check out.