2929 Productions

Davis Films

Lionsgate UK

Participant

Redbus Pictures

Not part of a collection.

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Name: Good Night, and Good Luck.
Released: 2005-09-16T00:00:00.000000Z
Rating: 7.1

We will not walk in fear of one another.

2005 • 93 min • ★ 7.1 (1,139) • Released

Drama History

The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.

Homepage ↗ IMDb ↗

Original title: Good Night, and Good Luck.
Language: EN
Country: US
Budget: $7,000,000
Revenue: $54,600,000

Reviews & Ratings 1

CinemaSerf

May 8, 2024 · via TMDB

★ 7.0

There's a brief clip at the start of "Sink the Bismarck" (1960) that illustrates the impact of Edward R. Murrow's potent and succinct style of broadcasting that eventually led to him receiving an award from his peers at the beginning of this film. It's his acceptance speech that sets the tone for a retrospective that focuses on his time attempting to stand up for the civil liberties of many American people during the investigations by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Minnesota into the alleged infiltration of just about all aspects of society by communists and their allies. David Strathairn delivers one of his best performances here as the man whose stance earns him plaudits from some quarters, but enmity from others who accuse him of being an appeaser - or worse. Determined, he nevertheless becomes dependant on the good will of his network chief executive (Frank Langella) and stalwart producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) as he issues a challenge to the politician and risks his career. In many ways these men had similarities of character. The use of archive footage of McCarthy and the pieces-to-camera from Strathairn offers us two contrasting styles, attitudes and sets of beliefs and though clearly the editorial is pro-Murrow, it still allows us to experience and evaluate some of the frenzy that prevailed at the time when the cold war was very much at it's height. Director Clooney uses a documentary style of intense monochrome photography to quite chillingly expose us to the perils of free reporting at a time when swimming agains a tide that would stop at nothing to rubbish it's opponents was no small gamble. It packs lots to think about into ninety minutes and emphasises the still quite dangerous scenarios that dogma coupled with a strong cult of personality can deliver to an unwitting population.

User reviews courtesy of TMDB.

Keywords 13

1950s anti-communism based on true story black and white complex complicated government government witch hunt mccarthyism political activism politician telecaster tv news anchor

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Cast 32

David Strathairn

Edward R. Murrow

Patricia Clarkson

Shirley Wershba

George Clooney

Fred Friendly

Jeff Daniels

Sig Mickelson

Robert Downey Jr.

Joe Wershba

Frank Langella

William Paley

Ray Wise

Don Hollenbeck

Robert John Burke

Charlie Mack

Reed Diamond

John Aaron

Tate Donovan

Jesse Zousmer

Grant Heslov

Don Hewitt

Tom McCarthy

Palmer Williams

Matt Ross

Eddie Scott

Rose Abdoo

Mili Lerner

Alex Borstein

Natalie

Peter Jacobson

Jimmy

Robert Knepper

Don Surine

Dianne Reeves

Jazz Singer

Glenn Morshower

Colonel Anderson

Don Creech

Colonel Jenkins

Helen Slayton-Hughes

Mary

Simon Helberg

CBS Page

JD Cullum

Stage Manager

Bill Blair

TV Studio Crewman (uncredited)

Bruna Matsin

Sig Mickelson's Wife (uncredited)

Dave Thompson

News Photographer (uncredited)