Classic Tuesdays: Network
R
Run Time: 121 min.
April 25, 2023 at 7pm
Main Theater
Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy
Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky
Even more compelling today than when it was first released, Network is a wickedly funny, dead-on indictment of the TV news media. Winner of four Academy Awards, it pulses with “vitality and a provocative excitement that is forever rare” (Los Angeles Times). Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall star in this searing portrait of television exploitation. When longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Finch) is fired, he suffers a violent, on-air breakdown. But when his sagging ratings are boosted by his angry rantings, he’s subsequently rehired and reinvented as the “mad prophet of the airwaves.” Of course, when the “prophet” ceases to be profitable, something has to be done about Beale, preferably on camera, before a live studio audience…
Winner of 4 1976 Academy Awards:
Best Actor – Peter Finch
Best Actress – Faye Dunaway
Best Supporting Actress – Beatrice Straight
Best Original Screenplay
“The film’s never been more timely.”
– Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
“Dunaway’s performance in Network remains among her most accomplished.”
– James Berardinelli, ReelViews
