Top 100 #47: Network

103.  INT. THACKERAY'S OFFICE - STATIONS RELATIONS

HERB THACKERAY on the phone, staring up at HOWARD
BEALE on his wall monitor --

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)
-- First, you have to get mad.
When you're mad enough --

Both THACKERAY'S SECRETARY's office and his own office
are filled with his STAFF.  The Assistant VP Station
Relations, a 32-year-old fellow named RAY PITOFSKY,
is at the SECRETARY's desk, also on the phone.  Another
ASSISTANT VP is standing behind him on the SECRETARY's
other phone --

DIANA
(shouting to THACKERAY)
Whom are you talking to?

THACKERAY
WCGG, Atlanta --

DIANA
Are they yelling in Atlanta,
Herb?

HOWARD (ON CONSOLE)
-- we'll figure out what to do
about the depression --

THACKERAY
(on phone)
Are they yelling in Atlanta,
Ted?


104.  INT. GENERAL MANAGER'S OFFICE - UBS AFFILIATE - ATLANTA


The GENERAL MANAGER of WCGG, Atlanta, a portly
58-year-old man, is standing by the open windows of his
office, staring out into the gathering dusk, holding
his phone.  The station is located in an Atlanta
suburb, but from far off across the foliage
surrounding the station, there can be heard a faint
RUMBLE.  On his office console, HOWARD BEALE is
saying --

HOWARD (ON CONSOLE)
-- and the inflation and the oil
crisis --

GENERAL MANAGER
(into phone)
Herb, s0 help me, I think they're
yelling --


105.  INT. THACKERAY'S OFFICE

PITOFSKY
(at SECRETARY's desk,
on the phone)
They're yelling in Baton Rouge.

DIANA grabs the phone from him and listens to the
people of Baton Rouge yelling their anger in the
streets --

HOWARD (ON CONSOLE)
-- Things have got to change.
But you can't change them unless
you're mad.  You have to get mad.
Go to the window --

DIANA
(gives phone back to
PITOFSKY; her eyes
glow with excitement)
The next time somebody asks you
to explain what ratings are,
you tell them:  that's ratings!
(exults)
Son of a bitch, we struck the
mother lode!


106.  INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM

MAX, MRS. SCHUMACHER, and their 17-year-old daughter,
CAROLINE, watching the Network News Show --

HOWARD (ON THE SET)
-- Stick your head out and yell.
I want you to yell:  "I'm mad
as hell and I'm not going to
take this any more!"

CAROLINE gets up from her chair and heads for the
living room window.

LOUISE SCHUMACHER
Where are you going?

CAROLINE
I want to see if anybody's
yelling.

HOWARD (ON TV SET)
Right now. Get up. Go to
your window --


107.  INT./EXT. MAX'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM

CAROLINE opens the window and looks out on the
rain-swept streets of the upper East Side, the
bulking, anonymous apartment houses and the occasional
brownstones.  It is thunder dark; a distant clap of
THUNDER CRASHES somewhere off and LIGHTNING shatters
the dank darkness.  In the sudden HUSH following the
thunder, a thin voice down the block can be heard
shouting:

THIN VOICE (O.S.)
I'm mad as hell and I'm not
going to take this any morel

HOWARD (ON TV SET)
-- open your window --

MAX joins his daughter at the window.  RAIN sprays
against his face --


108.  MAX'S P.O.V.

He sees occasional windows open, and, just across
from his apartment house, a MAN opens the front door
of a brownstone --

MAN
(shouts)
I'm mad as hell and I'm not
going to take this any more!

For those of you who have seen That Moment, the one hour documentary on Magnolia, then you will know that one of the movies he screened for the crew was Network. A film in which he touted as having the best script. Paddy Chayefsky comes from a theatre background. Thus he lends his style to These are 4 page dialogue scenes that allow the actor to interject every nuance of their craft into their character.

For my money, the premier female performance of that 70's was that of Faye Dunaway as Diane Christensen. When given a script, an actor's job is to devote him or herself to the role and eventually mine specific details for more depth. It's not so much as what Dunaway does do as what Lumet specifically tells her not to do with the character. She has no vulnerability. Nor is she explained haphazardly. It's a ballsy move in a film already cluttered with ballsy moves from every performer. Peter Finch's several brilliant lightning rod speeches, Ned Beatty's "Meddling with the primal forces of nature" monologue, Beatrice Straight's "demand for respect" speech to Holden, Duvall's acting that gleefully straddles the line between comedy and fierceness.

Her performance culminates in a dialogue scene between Holden & Dunaway in the third act.



Music up with a swell. Final commercial. "And here are a few scenes from next week's show."

These types of performances, along with Lumet's direction and Chayefsky's writing are responsible for creating one of the most relevant satires of America. 

For a look at the full script of Network, walk this way ---> http://sfy.ru/?script=network