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Network (1976)

R  121 min  -  Drama   -  27 November 1976 (USA)
8.2
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Ratings: 8.2/10 from 47,309 users  
Reviews: 265 user | 105 critic

A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor's ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writer:

Paddy Chayefsky (by)
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Top 250 #187 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 19 nominations See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Faye Dunaway ...
William Holden ...
Peter Finch ...
Robert Duvall ...
Wesley Addy Wesley Addy ...
Ned Beatty ...
Arthur Burghardt Arthur Burghardt ...
Bill Burrows Bill Burrows ...
TV Director
John Carpenter John Carpenter ...
George Bosch
Jordan Charney Jordan Charney ...
Harry Hunter
Kathy Cronkite Kathy Cronkite ...
Mary Ann Gifford
Ed Crowley Ed Crowley ...
Joe Donnelly
Jerome Dempsey Jerome Dempsey ...
Walter C. Amundsen
Conchata Ferrell ...
Barbara Schlesinger
Gene Gross Gene Gross ...
Milton K. Steinman
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Storyline

In 1975 terrorist violence is the stuff of network nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS television network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network. Written by Bruce Janson <bruce@cs.su.oz.au>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Rating | Television | News Anchor | Ranting | Media  | See more »

Taglines:

"NETWORK"... the humanoids, the love story, the trials and tribulations, the savior of television, the attempted suicides, the assassination -- it's ALL coming along with a galaxy of stars you know and love! See more »

Genres:

Drama

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Poder que mata See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$3,800,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$23,689,877 (USA) (1977)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

To celebrate Faye Dunaway's first Oscar victory, husband-to-be photographer Terry O'Neill arranged to meet her at the Beverly Hills Hotel at 6:30 am the morning after the Academy Awards for a photo shoot. What transpired was the famous image of a listless Dunaway, reclining beside the tranquil hotel swimming pool with her Oscar statuette standing upright on the table beside her. Thrown in for good measure were various newspapers scattered on the ground and table, the headlines of which mostly echoed the previous night's festivities. Dunaway had not slept since her win and so appears totally fatigued, prompting O'Neill to title his photograph "The Morning After" shot. See more »

Goofs

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Howard's first on-air meltdown, as Max and the other network executives sample the reaction from other networks, they watch the other newscasts from a bank of three sets, each tuned to a different channel. As Max says he is not surprised each of the other networks is leading with the Beale story, he lowers the volume of each set in turn. The volume drops before Max's hand reaches the dials. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: This story is about Howard Beale, who was the news anchorman on UBS TV. In his time, Howard Beale had been a mandarin of television, the grand old man of news, with a HUT rating of 16 and a 28 audience share. In 1969, however, his fortunes began to decline. He fell to a 22 share. The following year, his wife died, and he was left a childless widower with an 8 rating and a 12 share. He became morose and isolated, began to drink heavily, and on September 22, 1975, he was fired, effective in two weeks. The news was broken to him by Max Schumacher, who was the president of the news division at UBS. The two old friends got properly pissed.
Howard Beale: [on the street] I was at CBS with Ed Murrow in 1951.
Max Schumacher: Must've been 1950 then.
[Beale nods]
Max Schumacher: I was at NBC, uh, associate producer. Morning News. I was just a kid. 26 years old.
[Not interested, Beale wanders off, until Schumacher stops him]
Max Schumacher: Anyway... anyway... they're building the lower level of the George Washington Bridge.
[Interested, Beale listens]
Max Schumacher: We were doing a remote from there.
Howard Beale/ Max Schumacher: [start to laugh and snicker in unison]
Max Schumacher: And nobody told me!
[Beale keeps laughing, very interested]
Max Schumacher: Ten after seven in the morning, I get a call, "Where the hell are YOU? You're supposed to be on the George Washington Bridge!"
[Beale and Schumacher exchange laughs]
Max Schumacher: I jump out of bed, throw my raincoat over my pajamas. I run downstairs and out into the street...
[Schumacher runs into the street]
Max Schumacher: ...hail a cab, and I say to the cabbie, "TAKE ME TO THE MIDDLE OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE!"
[Beale laughs]
Max Schumacher: And the cabbie turns around and he says...
[giggles]
Max Schumacher: ...he says "Don't do it, buddy! You're a young man! You got your whole life ahead of you!"
Howard Beale/ Max Schumacher: [shriek in hysterics, as Beale gives Schumacher a hug]
Max Schumacher: Didn't I ever tell you that one before?
See more »

Connections

Featured in 'Network': The Cast, the Characters (2006) See more »