Good Night, and Good Luck is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2005.
It is about the famous American reporter Edward R. Murrow and the way in which he covered the case of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1953-1954.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: George Clooney
** Writers: George Clooney and Grant Heslov
** Producer: Grant Heslov
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 93 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** David Strathairn as Edward R Murrow (1908-1965) – a reporter – host of the CBS program See It Now
** George Clooney as Fred W. Friendly (1915-1998) – co-producer of See It Now
** Frank Langella as William Paley (1901-1990) – chief executive of CBS
** Ray Wise as Don Hollenbeck (1905-1954) – journalist for CBS News
** Grant Heslov as Don Hewitt (1922-2009) – director of See It Now
** Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born 1956) – a jazz singer
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or for practical purposes. But the basic story is true.
This movie was filmed in colour, but during post-production it was colour-corrected to black-and-white. Why? What is the reason for this decision?
George Clooney and Grant Heslov did not want an actor to play Senator Joseph McCarthy. They wanted to use archive footage of the senator and combine it with the main story.
Since the archive footage from 1953-1954 is in black-and-white, the whole movie had to be in black-and-white.
This movie is divided into three main chapters set in 1953-1954. In addition, there is an opening scene and a closing scene. Both scenes are set in 1958.
The three main chapters are separated by some jazz music and by a commercial.
The structure of the movie is as follows:
The opening scene
A ceremony held in 1958:
Edward Murrow gives a speech to a group of American TV directors
Chapter one – 23 minutes
The case of Milo Radulovich
Jazz music and a song by Diana Reeves
Commercial # 1 – Kent cigarettes
Chapter two – 23 minutes
The case of Annie Lee Moss
The case of Joseph McCarthy
Jazz music and a song by Diana Reeves
Commercial # 2 – ALCOA
Chapter three – 23 minutes
McCarthy is given a chance to respond to Murrow’s program about him
Jazz music and a song by Diana Reeves
The closing scene
A ceremony held in 1958:
Edward Murrow gives a speech to a group of American TV directors
What about the title of the drama: Good Night and Good Luck. What does it mean? Where does it come from?
These five words were always spoken by Edward Murrow at the end of his show See It Now.
It was his signature.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some results:
74 percent = IMDb
80 percent = Meta
83 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
93 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 2,100 global ratings of this product; including more than 900 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.6 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 92 percent.
As you can see, the ratings of this historical drama are very good. Almost 100 percent. Almost five stars.
What about the historical accuracy of this historical drama? This question is mentioned and discussed by several reviewers.
According to many reviewers, the historical accuracy of this drama is incredibly high.
This view is probably one of many reasons for the high ratings which this drama has received.
Is it true? Is the historical accuracy of this drama really incredibly high? Many people think so, but not all people. One notable exception is Jack Shafer, who posted a long and detailed review of the drama in which he mentioned several flaws.
When we are watching the movie, we are led to believe that Murrow is the first one and the only one who dares to speak out against Senator Joseph McCarthy. But this is not true at all.
As Shafer points out, Murrow was neither the first nor the only reporter to speak out against Joseph McCarthy.
He was, in fact, one of many and one of the last persons who spoke out against McCarthy. Many newspapers had already criticized the Senator long before Murrow talked about him on his show See It Now.
It late 1953, when Murrow joined the chorus, McCarthy
was already close to self-destruction. Murrow gave him a rope so he could hang himself.
The Senator's criticism of the US government began in 1950, when the president was Harry S. Truman, who was a Democrat. At that time, many Republicans welcomed his criticism of the Democratic administration.
But in November 1952, the winner of the presidential election was Dwight Eisenhower, who was a Republican. Eisenhower was inaugurated in January 1953.
From this moment, the leaders of the Republican party did not want to hear any criticism of the government. But McCarthy did not get this. He continued as before.
It should be noted that there was a significant difference between newspapers and television stations. Newspapers were free to criticize any person they did not like.
For television stations, the situation was different. They had to be very careful with what they said about prominent persons. They might lose their license to broadcast if they offended powerful persons.
In the movie, Paley - the chief executive of CBS - warns Murrow that he must be very careful:
If you cross the line, you may lose your program, and I may lose my station!
As Shafer points out, Paley did not need to worry so much about what would happen if Murrow spoke out against McCarthy.
Paley and president Eisenhower were friends. Paley played golf and bridge with the president. Paley knew exactly what Eisenhower thought about McCarthy.
Paley knew the president did not like McCarthy, even though he could not or did not wish to say so in public.
In the movie, Paley informs Murrow and Friendly that their show will be moved from Tuesday evening (which is prime time) to Sunday afternoon (which is not prime time).
This decision is apparently made, because Paley has to punish them, because they had crossed the line when they criticized McCarthy. But this is not true. There was no such punishment at that moment.
The show continued in the usual time slot (prime time) until 1956 and the show continued until 1958.
According to the movie, the sponsor ALCOA pulled out after Murrow criticized the Senator. This is not true. ALCOA remained as a sponsor until 1956.
Edward Murrow is known as an honest and reliable reporter who will always tell the truth, even when the truth is not always pleasant.
As Shafer points out, Murrow did not always tell the truth about himself. When he applied for a position at CBS, at the age of 27, he lied about his age. He claimed he was five years older than he really was.
He lied about his education: he changed his speech major to a major in political science and international relations.
He also claimed he had attended classes at the University of Washington and that he had earned an MA from Stanford.
These embarrassing details are never mentioned in the movie. Perhaps because the story is set in 1953-1954? Perhaps this is why there is no talk about Murrow’s educational background?
What does all this mean? What happens when we consider the information about historical accuracy presented by Jack Shafer?
In my opinion, we must conclude that this historical drama is highly overrated. The historical accuracy cannot be described as incredibly high.
As you can see, there are flaws which cannot be ignored. I have to remove two stars because of these flaws.
This drama is not great. It is not even good. It is average. It deserves a rating of three stars (60 percent).
PS. George Clooney and Grant Heskov also worked
together on the historical drama Monuments Men, which premiered in 2014. But this
time, the ratings were not as good as they had been in 2005. Here are some details:
61 percent = IMDb
52 percent = Meta
44 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
31 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
REFERENCES
# 1. Items available online
Jack Shafer
“Edward R. Movie: Good Night, and Good Luck and bad history,”
(part one and part two)
Slate
05 October 2005
Alex von Tunzelmann
“Good Night, and Good Luck: Attack on McCarthyism simplifies but satisfies,”
The Guardian
30 March 2015
This review offers two ratings:
Entertainment grade: B+
History grade: A-
Isabella B. Cho
“In Retrospect: Good Night, and Good Luck is a Timely Call for Political Accountability,”
The Harvard Crimson
03 November 2020
# 2. Books
Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy
By David A. Nichols
(2017 = hardcover)
(2018 = paperback)
Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy
By Larry Tye
(2020)
# 3. Film and video
The Real American:
Joe McCarthy
(2011)
McCarthy: Power Feeds on Fear
American Experience, PBS
06 January 2020
*****
The famous American reporter
Edward R. Murrow
(1908-1965)
*****
The controversial American politician
Joseph McCarthy
(1908-1957)
*****
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