Film Review
‘Good Night, Good Luck’: Great Film

By Danny Hickle (June 14, 2006)

“Good Night, and Good Luck,” the fairly recent film and very recently released DVD from George Clooney was nominated for six prestigious Oscars, and it’s not hard to tell why.  The film is not only well made in modern black and white, but also precisely represented the historical basis of the movie.

This involved the McCarthy Red Scare era, and how nearly a nation was intimidated by Communism and Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s lies and tactics. McCarthy, without evidence and through hearsay, would make erroneous and ridiculous accusations that people were involved in the Communist party, which kept people under his ignorant influence, or for lack of a better word, fear.

Many people were too scared to stand up to the powerful Senator from Wisconsin, until Edward R. Murrow, CBS broadcaster, had had enough.  Morrow believed that wrongfully accusing people of heinous involvement in the Communist Party was immoral and contradictory to the principles that America was founded on such as innocent until proven guilty, not guilty without fair trial, or guilty if you say or voice an idea different to McCarthy’s, because, well. . .it’s Communism.

This was a story of great strides in the newsroom, led by Murrow, and backed by a news team, unafraid to take a walk on the wild side. This film is not only a good history lesson, but it is enticing due to the fact that it had a great cast, and script. If you want to learn about some serious, inspirational history and be entertained at the same time, check out “Good Night, and Good Luck” on DVD.