Network (1976) with Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch

Not since the dawn of time has America experienced a man like Howard Beale!

In what perhaps in retrospect seems like a poor decision, 1976’s Network wasn’t named Oscar’s Best Picture at the 1977 ceremonies, with that honor going to the boxing drama Rocky. Though intended when released as a satirical and even perhaps cynical look at the world of modern media, few movies have so accurately (if perhaps unintentionally) predicted the future.

Well known by now the plot is the story of a struggling new network fighting for ratings against the big three established networks of ABC, NBC and CBS. They’ve decided in a bit of a ratings ploy to fire veteran newsman Howard Beale (Peter Finch). But rather than go quietly into the night, Beale announces on air that he’s been let go and will summarily kill himself. When the network (UBS) realizes that his ravings actually increased ratings, they decide to give him his own show to rant and spout off on most any topic he wants. He’s a hit for a short time until the novelty of this too wears off and in order to maintain sensationalism UBS executives Diana Cristensen (Faye Dunaway) and Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) summarily decide that it’s finally time to the used up, manic and clearly mentally unstable Howard Beale to make the ultimate on air sacrifice.

The only moral compass is Beale’s old friend Max Schumacher (William Holden), who after expressing doubts about profiting off another man’s decline is also dismissed. As opposed to the remainder of the characters, Max is a fully formed. He’s clearly in the middle of a mid-life crisis, not only losing his job but also his wife as he enters into an unsuccessful affair with the cold, scheming and self absorbed Diana. Holden’s performance, his face weathered by life and his own penchant for self-abuse, is strikingly good. More striking still is that it isn’t the best performance in the picture. His scene in bed with Diana is perhaps the most unerotic (intentionally so) in history, with Diana talking about work and ratings the entire time. As Max comments later to her, he’s her only connection to real people.

The balance of the characters and the strong cast collected to portray them are all extremely and intentionally “to type.” It’s clear that these executives and even Beale himself are all just seen as cogs in a machine to be used up and discarded when their worth is exhausted. Max is the only one who realizes this, telling Diana that he gives her one year- perhaps two- before she ‘cracks up’ and is out of the business.

That honor clearly goes to the first lead, Peter Finch. Though many passed on the role (including Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott and Walter Cronkite), Finch immediately knew he wanted the role, offering not only to pay for his own airfare to New York for testing but also providing a recording to demonstrate that he could effectively lose his Australian accent. Finch ultimately won the Academy Award for his portrayal, becoming the first posthumous winner.

Network is insanely well written, though much of the dialogue is perhaps too prosaic and high-brow to be believable. It was likely a deep film when released, but over the years it’s become even deeper as most all of what it foretold has come to pass. Society’s attention span is decreasing and we’re collectively saturated with reality TV, Jerry Springer and everyone clawing for their ten minutes of fame- regardless of who gets used up or destroyed in the process.

Sadly as a result, Network has gone far beyond being a simple “purely outrageous motion picture.”
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