Good Night and Good Luck The Crucible of

Good Night and Good Luck: The Crucible of Our Times

2005 Recognition Ø 6 Academy Award Nominations (Best Film, Screenplay, Director, Actor, Cinematography, Art Direction) and no wins Ø Venice Film Festival: won Best Film, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best of Competition Ø Independent Spirit Awards won Best Cinematography

The Crucible for Our Times “We’re in an awkward position in this country where, as an actor or storyteller, you’re really not allowed to take on contemporary issues anymore because they’ve found a way to marginalize you if you do. So the trick was to keep the issues in a historical context…. ” George Clooney, Mother Jones interview, November 2005

The Historical Context Ø 1917 Two Russian Revolutions (see October) Ø 1919 Tensions mount in States over Communism Ø House Un. American Activities Committee (HUAC) formed in 1938; permanent committee in 1945 Ø 1947 Truman declares Cold War Ø 1947 HUAC investigates Communism in motion pictures Ø Waldorf Statement issued by MPAA November 24, 1947 -->formation of the Blacklist

Opposition Ø Hollywood 10 (1947) Ø Many feared for their careers Ø Some Protests Ø Committee for the First Amendment (Bogart, Bacall)

Mc. Carthy and the Conflict Ø In 1950 Lincoln Day speech Mc. Carthy asserted 205 Communists in State Department Ø Mc. Carthy interrogated numerous Americans about their Communist leanings on televised Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearings Ø Mc. Carthy’s bullying tactics lead to permanent changes in rules for hearings

Artistic Responses Ø Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952), written by Carl Foreman, blacklist victim, reflects the isolation of those who had been deserted by friends Ø Arthur Miller, Kazan’s former best friend and collaborator, writes The Crucible (1953), which establishes a parallel between Salem witch hunts and Mc. Carthy trials

Artistic Responses Ø Kazan’s On the Waterfront (1954) argues for the morality of informing; Kazan, one of the most influential directors of the day, “named names” Ø Chaplin’s A King in New York (1957) and Frankenheimer’s Manchurian Candidate (1962) parody Mc. Carthy

Murrow’s Response Ø Murrow CBS radio newsman Ø Reported from Austria and Ø Ø London during the raids (“This is London…”) One of first reporters at Buchenwald “See It Now” (news show) “Person to Person” (interview show) Mc. Carthy shows in 1954 The Mc. Carthy Years 43: 38

Capturing the Moment Ø Double sourced scenes for accuracy Ø Used Murrow’s actual words in speeches Ø Used real Mc. Carthy from Kinescope footage Ø A couple artistic liberties with time (for example, Eisenhower’s speech on habeas corpus was in 1953, not 1954)

Style Ø Focus on Words (Just “talking heads”) Ø Constrained Visuals-->claustrophobic feel Ø Silences Ø Greek Chorus in Diane Reeves’ jazz vocals Ø Long lenses on 35 mm film in black and white Ø Integration of Kinescope footage with modern film Ø $7. 5 million budget

Acknowledged Influences Ø Jean-Luc Godard films (too visual) Ø Fail-Safe and 12 Angry Men Ø Ø (claustrophobic feeling, silences) D. A. Pennebaker documentaries, Primary, Crisis (direct cinema) All the President’s Men (suspense) Cabaret (Greek chorus) Shots from Lumet, Nichols, Pennebaker

Clooney Raising Debate “This was a very specific moment in time. It’s one of the two great moments in broadcast journalism that actually changed policy, American policy, this and Cronkite coming back from Vietnam…. So we thought it was an interesting time to have discussion again about the responsibility of the fourth estate [the press] and to talk about the ideas of using fear to attack civil liberties and all those things. We thought without preaching if you used it sort of the way The Crucible did with Mc. Carthyism--we thought we’d use Mc. Carthyism to just bring up talk about subjects you can’t argue with fact and then we’d raise a debate. The debate to me is the interesting part, not the answers. I don’t have the answers. ”

Focus on Responsibility Ø Of the Individual Ø Of the Press (4 th Estate) Ø Of Television

On Dissent and Freedom “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. This is no time for men who oppose Senator Mc. Carthy’s methods to keep silent or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we can not escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a Republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we can not defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. ””

On Television 1958 RTMVA National Convention Ø “Just once in awhile, let us exalt the importance of ideas and information. Would this somehow blemish the corporate image? Would the stockholders rise up and object? I think not. ” Ø “If this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse, and insulate, then the tube is flickering now, and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. ” Ø “This instrument [television] can teach, it can illuminate, yes, and even it can inspire, but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends; otherwise, it’s nothing but wires and lights in a box. ”

Good Night, and Good Luck “Cassius was right, ‘the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves’”) --Edward R. Murrow