NETWORK

Screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky
Directed by Sidney Lumet
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Faye Dunaway
William Holden
Peter Finch
Robert Duvall
Ned Beatty
Beatrice Straight
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Premiere date: November 27, 1976
R
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Howard Beale, the dean of newscasters at the United Broadcasting System, is put out to pasture because he "skews old." Network executive Max Schumacher, Howard's best friend, is forced to deliver the bad news. Beale can't stomach the idea of losing his 15-year post as anchorman simply because of age, so in his next broadcast he announces to the viewers that he's going to commit suicide on his final program. Network head Frank Hackett is all for kicking Beale out then and there, but when it looks as though the UBS is going to have its greatest ratings ever on the night of Beale's self-destruction, ambitious programming exec Diana Christensen talks Hackett into treating that fateful final telecast as a special event. Naturally, Beale doesn't go through with it - but he does begin rambling about the horrible state of the world in general and television in particular. He concludes his tirade by admonishing his viewers to "Go to the window and shout as loud as you can: 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'" With that, Howard Beale becomes the hottest TV personality in America, and Diana becomes the network's fair-haired girl. She draws up plans to treat the nightly news broadcast as garish entertainment (complete with a psychic), all built around the rants of Beale, billed as "The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves."

10 Academy Award Nominations, 4 Wins
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor - Peter Finch (posthumous)
Best Actor - William Holden
Best Actress - Faye Dunaway
Best Supporting Actor - Ned Beatty
Best Supporting Actress - Beatrice Straight
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography