Good Night And Good Luck Film Analysis

Good Night, and Good Luck

Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney is a mostly historically accurate film of the timeline of McCarthy’s communist ‘witch hunt’ taken from the point of view of the famous news show, CBS News. The movie follows the story of Edward Murrow, the host of the show See It Now, and his coverage of McCarthy and his pursuit to eliminate communism in America. After analyzing the film, one can find little anomalies in the events showed during this historical movie. This includes the use of characters, props, and music during the film.

One of the most interesting choices of the movie is how Joseph McCarthy’s impact on America is portrayed. For one, Clooney did not cast anyone to play the role of Senator McCarthy.

Any scenes or news clips of McCarthy in the movie are actual video clips of McCarthy speaking. This gives for an authentic picture of what Senator McCarthy’s personality was like and how his presence stunned all those who watched him. McCarthy’s terrifying impact is shown all-throughout the film, even in the very beginning of the film when Edward Murrow is talking to his coworkers to see if anyone is related to communism in any way. If one person was found to be correlated with being communist in any way, the whole news show would be jeopardized. Unfortunately, Palmer Williams, played by Thomas McCarthy, admits that his ex-wife had some views on communism and posed a small threat to the operation if he was ever investigated.
The real severity of being accused of a communist though is shown with Don Hollenbeck, a journalist for CBS News that is accused of being a “pinko”, someone who is sympathetic to communism, by the press. By using slang of the time period and the beautiful acting of Hollenbeck’s response, the accusation feels all the more real and creates a strong feeling of empathy as if we are right there with him; feeling all of his anguish, confusion, and stress over a news article that could jeopardize Hollenbeck’s entire life. Clooney’s choice of having Ray Wise play Hollenbeck was a great one, but the same cannot be said for Robert Downey Jr. who plays Joseph Wershba.
Downey is known in many of his films for playing the same kind of character: a smooth-talking smart aleck, who always has this air about him that he’s better than everyone else. The role of Joseph Wershba is no exception to this correlation and is the only character that feels out of place throughout the entire movie. Downey provides a modern feel when he acts in the movie, including how he talks and interacts with other actors, whereas his fellow actors and actresses are more immersed in the time period than he is. He is not acting as Joseph Wershba but Downey’s version of Joseph Wershba. Besides this awkward acting, other factors such as fellow actress Patricia Clackson, who plays Shirley Wershba, make up for the modernized feel of Downey’s screenplay.
The Wershba’s role in the film is not one of great importance, but is key for explaining many stereotypes of the movie’s time period.

Joseph and Shirley’s relationship shows how difficult it was to be married coworkers, especially during the 1940’s, as many workplaces did and still don’t allow for relationships between coworkers and are promptly told they will be fired at the end of the film due to many layoffs occurring in the corporation and speculation that the two were together. Shirley does not wear her wedding ring whilst at work and talks to Joseph in a polite matter. Mr. Wershba on the other hand, is not as careful and still makes sly comments if the couple is ever alone together in a room. This shows how women were expected to act proper and work well despite any outside conflict (emotional distress, hormones, etc.), whilst men were given lenience on these policies. Women are also shown to be given easier tasks than the men in the film, such as being secretaries and running information around the office for the male journalists. The film keeps with the fashion of the time period as well, showing women in short-sleeved dresses and simplistic makeup and men with suits and slicked-back/gelled hair. These male and female stereotypes are not the only time period generalities depicted

though.
Cigarettes and ashtrays were the most common prop to be found in the film. Almost every character could be found on screen at smoking a cigarette; more than once for some such as Murrow himself. Edward Murrow was known to smoke up to 3 packs of cigarettes a day and he is portrayed just as such in the movie. From talking to coworkers, to speaking on live television, Murrow is always seen smoking a cigarette besides a few small scenes. After World War II, consumerism was high and the long-term effects of smoking weren’t advocated yet so it is accurate to see smoking all throughout the movie; no matter the character or setting they are in. Also to this era, social media is still mundane and all reviews and information the character receive is through some televised events, in the newspaper, or witnessed in person.
The only noticeable inaccuracy that can be found in this film are the songs sung by Dianne Reeves. These jazzy songs are played throughout the movie as an intermission between Murrow’s news stories. Even though this wonderful music fits the time period, Dianne Reeves herself was not born until 1956. This means the songs did not exist when these historical events occurred and therefore could not have been played on CBS News or See It Now. Besides the soundtrack, there is one other inaccuracy that many would not notice unless researched.
The entirety of Good Night, and Good Luck is in black and white, showing no color whatsoever. In the first couple seconds of the movie, a line of text appears on the screen saying, “CBS Studios – New York October 14, 1953”. This signals the start date for the timeline of the movie. However, by the 1950’s, Technicolor films had been invented and were on the rise. As the film takes place in 1953, it would be more appropriate for the movie to have been filmed in Technicolor rather than just black and white.