Every once in a while there’s a movie that Hollywood produces that is an instant classic. This particular film is not only that, but it still resonates. When it was released it was honored, hailed, and proclaimed just that, A Classic. Looking at it last night, I realized how absolutely true that all is. The thought that the American public would obsess over Television shows that include radical leftist commies, insanity and mental declining health in an honest, hard working average Joe, and the exploitation of a random lesbian in love with her bosses secretary….all of them real, live people….back then,, was unthinkable. It was unthinkable that people would actually tune in to watch normal Americans suffer through their lives and put in dire or embarrassing positions very close to complete and utter humiliation for our enjoyment.

And now, it’s on nightly on almost every, single channel.

However, this particular movie is written, acted, and directed so brilliantly, it never makes the mistake of confusing itself with a documentary. It is “movie-like”, yet so true and honest, it’s almost uncomfortable to watch. I am in awe of this film and everyone involved with it. Even the first time I saw it, the feelings of mania and joy are still with me. I remember distinctly sitting in the dark theatre and seeing this for the very first time. When I saw it again, I felt the exact same way.

Here’s what I remember:


-The story William Holden tells in his office as he’s clearing out his desk. It’s one of the few joyous moments in the film.

-Of course, and without question, Peter Finch’s “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore” speech. He’s been walking in the rain all night long and walks back onto the set dripping wet in his pajamas. As his monologue begins, he is already in a state of mind that is completely off the map. He’s not crazy. He doesn’t play “crazy”. He is simply Angry. He is at his wits end and is trying his hardest to convey that, and save us. It is a magnificent 5 minutes, and a magnificently written monologue.

-Faye Dunaway making love to William Holden all the while talking at breakneck speed about work and what’s going on at the station.

-The scene between Loraine Hobbs and The Great Ahmed Kahn when she’s raging about her distribution charges. Then the gun shot happens.

- “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!!!”

- Beatrice Straight. Period.

-”Because you’re on Television, dummy.”

- Faye Dunaway’s stunning speech at the podium. A miraculous performance.

-I’d like to say a word about Peter Finch. His performance here could have gone so far over the top, it could have branched out into camp. Easily. Thanks to the wonderful Sydney Lumet and that Cheyevsky writing, he is comfortably cushioned in a nice, large safety net. He never telegraphs anything. I absolutely buy everything he is. I never once see him acting. Never.

- The great. Great. Great scene between Holden and Dunaway in her apartment when they discover their affair isn’t working. They have an unreal scene in the kitchen that goes from Holden kicking and cursing his supposed autobiography, to he and Faye having a quiet conversation with her holding a tea cup.

- “I think we should fire Howard.”

- The actual scene where the people from New York are hanging out the window , some on balconies, some in the street, but everyone while it’s storming, raining, pouring outside and yelling at the top of their lungs: “I’m mad as hell…” The way the scene is shot and the way the storm progresses as the voice rise up and out of the screen is movie making at it’s zenith.

- Loraine Hobbs and her afro.

- The narrator of the movie. People forget that the entire movie is narrated. Like a story. Like some odd, fractured fairytale. Amazing.

-“Music up with a swell, final commercial, and here are a few scenes from next week’s show.”

- Ned Beatty’s odd, off color, completely insane scene in the board room where he chastises Finch’s character. The way he walks over to Finch like God and preaches the word from the mountain is really frightening.

- “I’m Loraine Hobbs. A bad-ass Commie Nigger.”

- I’ve done a lot of quotes for this movie and for good reason. As I said, it’s not only great acting at work here, the words are the other character at work here. It’s more like a great play really. The words are so succinct and so right they reinforce what’s happening on screen. The actors merely have to fill in these people with reality. The words are imperative. Very rare. In any movie.

- The board meeting where they decide to kill Howard Beale.

- Robert Duvall and his hair pulling moment when he finds out he might be fired: “…and now, I’m a man without a corporation!!”

- The moment Howard Beale is shot. Music stops. He is shot, and he falls. Dead. We wait. As the camera pans slowly toward him. Lumet at his best. And then the commercials come up. Including one with “Mikey”.

- “This is the story of Howard, the first known story of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings.”