Today, we look at Paddy Chayefsky and Sidney Lumet’s 1976 diatribe of the television industry, Network. The cast won a multitude of awards including the Oscar for Best Actress won by Faye Dunaway and the Oscar for Best Actor won by Peter Finch— who won over another nominee for the same film: William Holden. Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress for only five minutes and two seconds of screen time— the shortest performance to win an Oscar. And Ned Beatty was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for pretty much one scene. So, what was Lumet doing to elicit such brilliant motion picture acting?
This video essay was written, edited, and narrated by Tyler Knudsen.
Sources:
“Mad As Hell” by Dave Itzkoff
Blu-ray Commentary
Under the Influence: Sidney Lumet and Network by Kevin Lewis – http://bit.ly/2yDeoEs
“Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet
“The Lumet Method” by Martha Pinson – http://bit.ly/2zJP553
Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayevsky’s ‘Network’: The Grim Prophecy that Was Once Just Brilliant Satire – Cinephilia & Beyond – http://bit.ly/2kbQDyR
Network: The Cast, The Characters
Network: The Experience “The Agonies of a Screenwriter” by Robert F Moss – http://bit.ly/2yCPqVM
Music:
“Thing With Thing” by Drake Stafford
“Devil Man” by Drake Stafford