Good Night and Good Luck: Something never done before on TV
A story still relevant 70 years after it happened
There have been few Edward R. Murrows in the history of journalism.
His determination, style, intellect, work ethic, and willingness to hold people of power accountable for their actions were unusual, if not unique.
The world saw all of that on display Saturday evening via CNN’s first-in-the-history-of-TV live telecast of an entire Broadway play with an audience of 1,500 people at the Winter Garden. Ninety minutes of uninterrupted theater with actor George Clooney in a Tony-nominated role as Murrow. The production, Good Night and Good Luck, was truly something special.
The title of the play was Murrow’s trademark signoff from his TV commentaries. It was adapted first as a 2005 film by the same name, directed and co-written by Clooney. Clooney, interestingly, was the son of a local TV news anchorman in Lexington, Kentucky.
He has recalled that his father, Nick Clooney, used to stand on a chair at home, reciting from memory some of Murrow’s 1950s commentaries about the evils of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. Nick Cloney later was a morning TV variety and talk show host in Columbus, Ohio, then Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Good Night and Good Luck presentation on CNN was an amazing undertaking. It required 20 TV cameras and more than 350 people to produce.
The story, stunningly written and powerfully presented, proved to be every bit as relevant in today’s political environment as it was 70 years ago when it all happened, when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin sought to end the careers of Americans who ever in their lives had read or thought about communism or had a relative or close friend who did so.
Full disclosure: I had a cousin who was married to a playwright, whose career was seriously damaged by McCarthy’s efforts.
Inez Garson, of Ithaca, New York, was my father’s first cousin. Inez married Arnold Perl, who was blacklisted because of his dissenting political views as a result of McCarthy’s efforts.
Arnold Perl wrote a little play in the 1950s, Tevye and His Daughters, later adapted by Jerome Robbins as – yes – Fiddler on the Roof.
Following his years-long blacklisting, which interrupted his writing career, Arnold Perl wrote for such TV shows as Naked City, N.Y.P.D, and East Side/West Side. He co-wrote the screenplay for the film Cotton Comes to Harlem. He died in 1971 while collaborating with James Baldwin on the Oscar-nominated documentary film Malcolm X.
Murrow’s career began in the 1930s in Europe, covering Hitler’s rise to power and then the fall of Europe in ways that never had been done before. He introduced live radio broadcasting of the war in Europe – from the rooftops of London, and the American aircraft fighters and bombers that went on assault.
After the war, he made the transition from radio to television, where he also crafted coverage that no one else was doing as he did what others were afraid to do in taking on McCarthy.
Good Night and Good Luck begins with the story of how a required loyalty oath in a news organization can destroy the work being done. It ends with the downfall of a man who, for a time, was one of the most feared public officials in America.
One of the many symbols in the production is Murrow’s always-present Camel cigarette. He is reported to have smoked 60 to 65 of them a day, more than three packs a day for years. The photos and films of Murrow almost always include a cigarette in his hand or mouth – except when he was on set.
In the end, it could be viewed as a symbol of many things – an unfortunate sign of the times, of course. But also, you could see him thinking as he smoked, and it was a symbol of unity as others around him smoked as much as he did.
But also in the end, he died of lung cancer at age 57 in 1965, a year after the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on smoking, which was the beginning of the end of smoking for most people in America.
George Clooney, portraying Murrow on Broadway, now is seven years older than Murrow was at his death.
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Thanks Arnold, Sorry I do not have CNN so you review is helpful. The connection of your relative to history is another "small world" example. Being that Joseph McCarthy and I have the same last name, I have studied him. A story. When I was in grade school I learned of Wisconsin Senator McCarthy. History as well as current events have always been favorite "subjects." During a Sunday visit to my grandparents' farm, I asked my grandfather if we were related to Senator McCarthy as we did have McCarthy family in Wisconsin. TZ McCarthy, my grandfather was addressed as TZ by his wife, children, grandchildren, family and every farmer in Union County, SD. TZ had a colorful and clever way of speaking. He pondered my question and his response came with a blurt, "Hell no we are not related to that xxxxxxx. I would claim Charlie McCarthy before that Joe McCarthy." OK, my question was answered. However, I did not know who Charlie McCarthy was. On the way home, my father told me what Charlie McCarthy was and my mother said to never talk like TZ. Well, through time I have gained a TZ vocabulary Also, I have always been relieved that I was not related to Senator McCarthy.
My wife and I watched last evening and the production was powerful and poignant. At any moment one could trade the name of one crusading tyrant for another, McCarthy with Trump, and the show wouldn't have missed a beat.