Good Night, and Good Luck.

Year:

2005

Duration:

93 min

Genres:

Drama

IMDB rate:

7.6

Director:

George Clooney

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 51 wins & 81 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005-11-04

Filming Locations: CBS Television City - 7800 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $7,500,000

Opening Weekend: $421,446 (USA) (9 October 2005)

Gross: $31,501,218 (USA) (12 March 2006)

Cast

Actor

Character

George Clooney

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Robert Downey Jr.

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Jeff Daniels

Sig Mickelson

David Strathairn

Edward R. Murrow

Alex Borstein

Natalie

Rose Abdoo

Mili Lerner

Dianne Reeves

Jazz Singer

Peter Martin

Pianist

Christoph Luty

Bassist

Jeff Hamilton

Drummer

Matt Catingub

Saxophonist

Tate Donovan

Jesse Zousmer

Reed Diamond

John Aaron

Matt Ross

Eddie Scott

Patricia Clarkson

Shirley Wershba

Thomas McCarthy

Palmer Williams (as Tom McCarthy)

Glenn Morshower

Colonel Anderson

Don Creech

Colonel Jenkins

Grant Heslov

Don Hewitt

Robert John Burke

Charlie Mack

Ray Wise

Don Hollenbeck

Robert Knepper

Don Surine

Helen Slayton-Hughes

Mary

Frank Langella

William Paley

Simon Helberg

CBS Page

JD Cullum

Stage Manager

Peter Jacobson

Jimmy

John Kepley

CBS Lawyer #1

David Paul Christian

CBS Lawyer #2

Joyce Lasley

Make-Up Girl

Bill Blair

TV Studio Crewman (uncredited)

Felix J. Boyle

Prominant Chicagoan (uncredited)

Roy M. Cohn

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Ray Donn

Reporter (uncredited)

Joseph Dowd

Reporter (uncredited)

Robert F. Kennedy

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Liberace

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Bruna Matsin

Sig Mickelson's Wife (uncredited)

Joseph McCarthy

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

John L. McClellan

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Katharine Phillips Moser

Jesse's Wife (uncredited)

Alexana Thomas

Senator's Wife (uncredited)

Rochelle Warner

Speech Wife (uncredited)

Joseph N. Welch

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

David Strathairn, a non-smoker, smoked pipe tobacco in his prop cigarettes to portray Edward R. Murrow.

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The band playing throughout the movie is actually Matt Catingub's band and Matt Catingub did all the arrangements. Matt Catingub produced Rosemary Clooney's last album and George Clooney (Rosemary's nephew) was so impressed, he personally asked Matt to do the music for this film.

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The man introducing Edward R. Murrow's keynote address to the 1958 convention of the Radio-Television News Directors Association cites Murrow's reporting on, among other topics, the plight of migrant workers. In fact, Murrow did not report on the conditions of migrant workers until 1960. His documentary on the subject, CBS Reports: Harvest of Shame (1960), was the last project he worked on as a CBS broadcaster.

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Goofs

It was originally thought by many viewers that the "CBS News" sign on the wall is set in Helvetica, a typeface which was first created in 1957, three years after the Joseph McCarthy broadcast. Subsequent investigation by typographers established that the typeface is actually correct and is Akzidenz Grotesk.

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Murrow is shown giving his famous speech at the RNTDA Convention. The screen to his left shows the date as 25 October 1958 whereas the actual date of the speech was 15 October 1958.

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The piano shown behind jazz singer Dianne Reeves displays the "Steinway" logo on the side - it would not have been displayed on the side of models at that time.

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Quotes

Edward R. Murrow: [about O'Brian accusing Hollenbeck of being a leftist] Oh, forget it, no one worth their salt reads O'Brian.

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Edward R. Murrow: Milo Radulovich.

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Edward R. Murrow: Funny thing, Freddie, every time you light a cigarette for me, I know you're lying.

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Faq

Q

What's the "overacting" rumor?

A

Rather than cast an actor to portray Joseph McCarthy, the film uses actual footage of the senator. It has been claimed, widely but without evidence, that test audiences, unaware that only archival footage was used in McCarthy's depiction, felt that the "performer" who "played" him was overacting. IMDb, for instance, states without attribution, "Clooney had said that when the movie had undergone test screenings, audience members felt that the McCarthy character was overacting a bit, not realizing that it was the actual McCarthy through archive footage." In fact, there are no authoritative reports of any particular such test audience reaction, and the story remains a popular but completely unsubstantiated rumor.George Clooney, while discussing the film as part of the Newseum's "Reel Journalism" series on Jan. 26, 2009, confirmed this rumor, to a degree. The filmmakers themselves decided not to cast anyone as McCarthy because anyone "playing McCarthy" would seem like they were overacting, even if they were simply mirroring McCarthy's mannerisms. The role was never cast to begin with as a result. Interestingly, Clooney also said this was the prime reason the film was in black and white -- to match the black and white footage of McCarthy.

Q

Did George Clooney really get paid only $3?

A

Yes. One dollar each for writing, directing, and acting. He received a more substantial amount by taking a cut of the profits.

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