Network [Blu-ray]

Overview

When anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to his viewers that he's going to commit suicide on his final program. When his announcement looks like it will improve the ratings, the entire event is turned into a garish entertainment spectacle.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/15/2011
UPC:	0883929160730
Original Release:	1976
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00

Special Features

The Making of Network 6-part documentary; Vintage Paddy Chayefsky interview excerpt from Dinah!, hosted by Dinah Shore; Commentary by director Sidney Lumet; Private Screenings with Sidney Lumet: Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne interviews the director; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Peter Finch	Howard Beale
Faye Dunaway	Diana Christensen
William Holden	Max Schumacher
Robert Duvall	Frank Hackett
Wesley Addy	Nelson Chaney
Ned Beatty	Arthur Jensen
Beatrice Straight	Louise Schumacher
Arthur Burghardt	Great Ahmed Kahn
Bill Burrows	TV Director
John Carpenter	George Bosch
Jordan Charney	Harry Hunter
Kathy Cronkite	Mary Ann Gifford
Ed Crowley	Joe Donnelly
Jerome Dempsey	Walter C. Amundsen
Conchata Ferrell	Barbara Schlesinger
Gene Gross	Milton K. Steinman
Stanley Grover	Jack Snowden,Caroline Schumacher
Darryl Hickman	Bill Herron
Mitchell Jason	Arthur Zangwill
Paul Jenkins	TV Stage Manager
Ken Kercheval	Merrill Grant
Kenneth Kimmins	Associate Producer
Lynn Klugman	TV Production Assistant
Carolyn Krigbaum	Max's Secretary
Zane Lasky	Audio Man
Michael Lombard	Willie Stein
Pirie MacDonald	Herb Thackeray
Russ Petranto	TV Associate Director
Bernie Pollack	Lou
Roy Poole	Sam Haywood
William Prince	Edward George Ruddy
Sasha von Scherler	Helen Miggs
Lane Smith	Robert McDonough
Theodore Sorel	Giannini,Giannini
Fred Stuthman	Mosaic Figure
Cameron Thomas	TV Technical Director
Marlene Warfield	Laureen Hobbs
Lydia Wilson	Hunter's Secretary
Michael Lipton	Tommy Pellegrino
Lee Richardson	Narrator,Narrator
Bernard Pollock	Lou
Lydia Wilen	Hunter's Secretary
Ken Kimmins	Associate Producer
Todd Everett	Reporter (uncredited)
Lance Henriksen	Lawyer (uncredited)
Elliot Lawrence	Composer

Technical Credits

Paddy Chayefsky

Sidney Lumet	Director
Paddy Chayefsky	Screenwriter
Howard Gottfried	Producer
Jack Fitzstephens	Sound Effects
Juliet Taylor	Casting
James Sabat	Sound/Sound Designer
Richard Vorisek	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Part of a cycle of 1970s conspiracy films and a sharp satire of the TV business, Network bitterly critiques corporate culture's impact on the spread of information and the resulting cult of the TV guru. As directed by Sidney Lumet and scripted by Paddy Chayefsky, Network takes a relatively straightforward approach to its outrageous acts, even those of Faye Dunaway's ambitious programmer, lending a disturbingly matter-of-fact tone to the corporation's most venal and dehumanizing machinations. The mad ravings of Peter Finch's messianic Howard Beale become an almost sane response to the systemic rot, but the corruption is too deep and the TV audience too fickle. A popular and critical hit, Network was praised for wittily yet somberly tapping into the mid-'70s mood of cultural disaffection, providing the perfect catch phrase for any and all frustrations, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Nominated for ten Oscars including Best Picture, Network won four awards, including Best Screenplay, and three out of the four acting awards: Best Actress for Dunaway; Best Supporting Actress for Beatrice Straight as William Holden's bitterly wronged wife (at that time, the briefest Oscar-winning performance in history, since bested by Judi Dench's role in Shakespeare in Love); and a posthumous Best Actor for Finch. While journalists in 1976 howled about the film's inaccurate absurdity, the continuing conglomeration of the media and resulting excesses of infotainment ensure Network's continuing sting.