Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - full transcript

In 1935 Ed Murrow
began his career with CBS.

When World War II broke out...

it was his voice that brought
the Battle of Britain home to us...

through his
"This is London" radio series.

He started with us all,
many of us here tonight...

when television was in its infancy...

with the news documentary show,
See It Now.

He threw stones at giants.

Segregation,
exploitation of migrant workers...

apartheid, J. Edgar Hoover...

not the least of which,
his historical fight with Senator McCarthy.



He is the host of our enormously
popular show Person to Person...

and tonight he is here
with his son, Casey, wife, Janet...

and all of you
who he's worked with, inspired...

lectured and taught.

Ladies and gentlemen...

the Radio-Television News Directors
Association and Foundation...

welcomes Mr. Edward R. Murrow.

[APPLAUSE]

This might just do nobody any good.

At the end of this discourse
a few people may accuse this reporter...

of fouling his own comfortable nest...

and your organization may be accused
of having given hospitality...

to heretical and even dangerous ideas.

But the elaborate structure of networks,
advertising agencies and sponsors...



will not be shaken or altered.

It is my desire, if not my duty, to try to
talk to you journeymen with some candor...

about what is happening
to radio and television.

And if what I say is responsible...

I alone am responsible
for the saying of it.

Our history will be what we make of it.

And if there are any historians
about 50 or 100 years from now...

and there should be preserved
the kinescopes...

of one week of all three networks...

they will there find, recorded
in black and white and in color...

evidence of decadence,
escapism and insulation...

from the realities of the world
in which we live.

We are currently wealthy, fat,
comfortable and complacent.

We have a built-in allergy
to unpleasant or disturbing information.

Our mass media reflect this.

But unless we get up off our fat surpluses
and recognize that television in the main...

is being used to distract, delude,
amuse and insulate us...

then television
and those who finance it...

those who look at it
and those who work at it...

may see a totally different picture
too late.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[LAUGHING]

Until a year ago...

Millie. Millie, just the person
I wanted to see. Come here.

[SINGING]

This needs to go to the top
of the Roy Campanella piece.

Give me about a half an hour.

- No, I need it quicker than that.
- Can I get a cup of coffee first?

Oh, get me a cup...

Morning, Johnny.

I have some new notes
that go with the Tito footage for Fred.

- Fred's not in for about an hour.
- I understand.

Can you just make sure
that he doesn't look at the film...

until he reads the notes? Thank you.

AARON:
Hey, Joe. Shirley.

WERSHBA: John.
- What's going on here?

WERSHBA:
What do you mean?

Two attractive people
alone in the copy room.

- Don't tell Paley, he'll fire me.
- He'll fire both of us, Shirley.

- Rules are made to be broken.
- You can afford to say that.

[LAUGHING]

Let me see this.

- It's simply a loyalty oath.
- To CBS?

And to America.

- You promise to be a loyal American?
- All of the reporters have signed this.

- Are you promising this to CBS? Paley?
- Murrow. Murrow signed it.

- Murrow signed it?
- Yeah.

"Are you now or have you ever been"...

I thought it was a joke at first,
but there's a lot of pressure.

- "On the list of subversive groups?"
- I don't know.

All right, what is it really saying?

Is it a civil liberties
issue or censorship?

- I'm telling CBS that I'm not a Communist.
- Murrow signed this?

- Yeah. And Fred and Stanton.
- Maybe you should talk to Murrow.

Maybe I should sign it.

If you don't sign this,
are you and I a target?

If I don't sign it, they'll fire me.

Sign it.

Finally we can tell everyone the truth.

KEEFE [ON TV]: If I could express it
in what's in my heart right now...

I'd do it in the terms
of the poet who once said:

Ah, 'tis but a dainty
flower I bring to you.

Yes, 'tis but a violet,
glistening with dew.

But still in its heart
There lies beauties concealed.

So in our heart.

Our love for you.

Lies unrevealed.

You know, I used to...

pride myself on the idea
that I was a bit...

tough.

Especially...

over the past...

18 or 19 months when we've been...

kicked around
and bullwhipped and damned.

I didn't think that...

I could be touched very deeply.

FRED: Okay. That's enough.
That's enough, Leo.

How long is the piece?

NATALIE: Four minutes,
but we can cut it down.

WILLIAMS: It can't stand alone,
but it might be a nice companion piece.

Let's go through this
one more time. Palmer?

WILLIAMS: Got a call from the office
of Senator Morse this morning...

interested in setting up a debate,
possibly with Senator Kerr...

over Bentsen's comments
on last night's show.

FRED: Secretary of agriculture. Good idea.
Can they do it by this week?

No, it would be two weeks at the earliest
depending on Morse's schedule.

- Still think it's a great idea.
FRED: Let's follow up on that.

The Hoover-speaks-on-Benjamin-Franklin
piece.

We're having better luck
with Mr. Benjamin Franklin...

than we are with Mr. Hoover.

It may progress better as a Person to
Person. "At home with Ben Franklin."

ZOUSMER: We've got the footage,
we just need to contact him.

See if you can get in touch with him.
He wants to do the story. Joe?

- Delbert Clark's no longer with us.
FRED: New York Times?

- Right, our friend at the Times.
WILLIAMS: When did that happen?

Yesterday morning. They're saying...

FRED: How old was he?
- 53. Illness, sudden illness.

WERSHBA: Home of a friend.
FRED: No, it's not an obit piece.

Natalie, send some flowers
over there from CBS News.

Couple things.
Case before the Supreme Court...

involving the constitutionality
of a section of the Internal Security Act.

Provides for the deportation
of any alien...

if he becomes a Communist
after entering this country.

No takers?

McCarthy interrupting his wedding trip...

to take charge of the investigation
of Communist infiltration...

FRED:
Natalie, send some flowers.

[LAUGHING]

SCOTT:
May I finish?

- It's national security.
ZOUSMER: A real ladies' man.

SCOTT:
Well, they're in love. They're in love.

FRED: We have no show for Tuesday, fellas.
So get out there and make some news.

Rob a bank. Mug an old lady.
Do something.

AARON: See the Stevens footage?
FRED: We will.

Watch it to the end. It's worth it.

Thank you, John.

There's not much there.

I can tie it to the
Eisenhower-in-the-back-of-the-train piece.

You ever spend any time
in Detroit, Fred?

Not recently.

There's a story here in the Detroit News.
Dexter, Michigan.

Kid named Milo Radulovich.

- Italian?
- Irish.

Air Force kicked him out because
his dad read some Serbian newspaper.

- His dad a Communist?
- I don't know.

- Who brought the charges?
- Air Force.

Charges were in a sealed envelope.

- Nobody saw them.
- Not even at the hearing?

He was declared guilty without a trial
and told that to keep his job...

he had to denounce his father
and his sister. Thank you, Natalie.

- His sister?
- Yeah. He told them to take a hike.

Let's send Joe and Charlie down there,
see if he's any good on camera.

Is he being brought
before the Committee?

No.

Then it's not McCarthy.

Isn't it?

Milo Radulovich.

WERSHBA [ON TV]:
What happens to your children?

Yes, if I am being judged
on my relatives...

if a... Are my children
going to be asked to denounce me?

Are they going to be judged
on what their father was labeled?

Are they going to...

have to explain
to their friends, et cetera...

why their father is a security risk?

If... If... If the thing
is let stand as it...

As the first recommendation
was sent out by the board...

I see a chain reaction
that has no end to anybody...

for anybody.

Well, that's new.

You can't call this a neutral piece.

The other side's been represented
for the last few years.

The Air Force hasn't gone on the record.

MICKELSON: You'd forego the standards
you've stuck to for 15 years?

- Both sides, no commentary.
- We all editorialize.

I'm just identifying
what you're both doing.

We gave them the information,
and asked them to comment.

Fred. Hold on, Fred.

I've searched my conscience.

I can't for the life of me
find any justification for this.

And I cannot accept
that there are, on every story...

two equal and logical sides
to an argument.

Call it editorializing if you'd like.

- It is editorializing, Ed.
ED: They'll have equal time.

Do you know the position
you're putting us in?

We are all in this together,
if the Senate...

Do me this favor, Fred,
avoid any big speeches...

about how we're all in
a big boat together, okay?

Please don't insult me.

I have to go back to Mr. Paley...

and Alcoa who sponsors your show...

and also happens to have
some military contracts...

and tell them that they're
going to be in a tough bind...

because of a beef you had
with Joe McCarthy.

- We're not going at McCarthy.
- You're starting the goddamn fire.

Excuse me, Mr. Friendly,
there's a Colonel Anderson to see you.

- Colonel?
- Yeah, he's in your office.

FRED: All right.
- There's two of them.

Maybe they liked the transcript,
and wanna compliment us on it.

Excuse me.

Go after Joe Kennedy. We'll pay for it.

ED:
I've got a great story about Hoover.

You know how many Person to Persons
you have to do to make up for this?

Judy and her daughter Liza next week.

MICKELSON:
No. You're interviewing Rin Tin Tin.

I'll talk to Mr. Paley.

Alcoa won't pay for the ads.

And we probably won't either.

- But nobody will stop you.
- How much are the ads?

Three thousand.

I'll split it with Fred.

He just won't have Christmas presents
for his kids this year.

- He's a Jew.
- Don't tell him that, he loves Christmas.

FRED: You did speak with the lawyers?
- Yes, we did. And we read the transcript.

We've not been allowed
to see the footage.

Charlie Mack is on a plane right now
with the rest of the interviews.

- We'll be going right down to the wire.
ANDERSON: Your show airs tomorrow.

How can we possibly approve
and check the story that you are running...

in the limited amount of time
you have given us?

With due respect, you have been invited to
participate in this piece, not to approve it.

We are going with the story
that says that the U.S. Air Force...

tried Milo Radulovich
without one shred of evidence...

and found him guilty
of being a security risk without...

And you who also
have not seen the evidence...

are claiming he's not a security risk.

Wouldn't you guess...

that the people who have seen
the contents of that envelope...

- Who?
- Might have a better idea...

of what makes someone
a danger to his country?

- Or should you decide?
FRED: Who, sir?

Who are the people? Are they elected?

Are they appointed?
Do they have an ax to grind?

Is it you, sir? Or you, Colonel Jenkins?

Do you know the contents
of that sealed envelope?

Mr. Friendly,
we have been a friend and ally...

of both Mr. Murrow
and CBS News for many years.

The story you are going to run tomorrow
is without merit.

So before you take any steps
that cannot be undone...

I strongly urge you
to reconsider your stand.

These are very dangerous waters
you are attempting to navigate.

As a matter of fact, we had no hearing.

We have had no day in court.

In all the 32 years that I have been
a practicing attorney in Detroit...

I have never witnessed such a farce
and travesty upon justice...

as this thing has developed.

Eddie, take the first reel.

- Tell John I left five seconds extra leader.
- Five seconds. I got it.

- Palmer. Where's Joe?
WILLIAMS: On his way to the control room.

We have to do the voice-over live.

- Natalie, I need a booth with a live mic.
NATALIE: It's already set.

We didn't have time to sync it up.

HEWITT:
That's not what I asked for.

It's front-loaded about five seconds.
Voice-over's missing on the last piece.

Don, there's a commercial in the booth.

MACK:
Two minutes to air, fellas.

HEWITT:
Get him out of the booth. Out of the booth.

You can't have a mic set up here.
Do it in the booth.

- Two and a half minutes on the Ed piece.
- We've got three minutes on the bottom.

HEWITT:
Fellas, keep it down. It's a little loud.

Two minutes to air, fellas.

Charlie, let me borrow your lighter.

FRED: Thanks.
WILLIAMS: I swapped those pieces...

of parents on the end...
ZOUSMER: As long as he talks fast.

WILLIAMS:
He will talk fast.

FRED:
We got the film.

- Will it be ready?
FRED: You bet.

Funny thing, Freddy.

Every time you light a cigarette for me,
I know you're lying.

You know, it occurs to me
we might not get away with this one.

- Ten seconds.
- You fellas ready? Okay.

Ready on camera one.

FRED:
Five...

four, three, two...

HEWITT:
Pan camera one.

Good evening.

A few weeks ago there occurred
a few obscure notices in the newspaper...

about a Lieutenant Milo Radulovich,
a lieutenant in the Air Force Reserves.

And also something about
Air Force regulation 35-dash-62.

That is a regulation which states that a
man may be regarded as a security risk...

if he has close and continuing
association with Communists...

or people believed
to have Communist sympathies.

ED [ON TV]: Lieutenant Radulovich
was asked to resign in August. He declined.

A board was called and heard his case.

At the end it was recommended
that he be severed from the Air Force...

although it was also stated
that there was no question whatever...

as to the lieutenant's loyalty.

We propose to examine insofar as we can
the case of Lieutenant Radulovich.

Our reporter, Joe Wershba,
cameraman, Charlie Mack.

JOE [ON TV]: This is the town
of Dexter, Michigan. Population: 1500.

This statue is at the end
of Ann Arbor street...

What did the general tell you yesterday?

It was a colonel,
and there were two of them.

- That makes a general.
- They weren't too pleased.

You're gonna get audited this year.

Not me. You.

I told them I didn't wanna do the story.

- You always were yellow.
- Better than red.

FRED:
In 10 seconds.

This is the sister,
Margaret Radulovich Fishman.

She neither defends
nor explains her political activities.

MARGARET [ON TV]: I feel that my
activities... Well, be they what they may...

or my political beliefs,
are my own private affair.

MILO [ON TV]: Are my children
going to be asked to denounce me?

Are they going to be judged
on what their father was labeled?

Are they going to have to explain
to their friends, et cetera...

why their father is a security risk?

Uh, I see absolutely
that this is a chain reaction.

If the thing is let stand as it...

The first recommendation
was sent out by the board...

I see a chain reaction that has
no end to anybody, for anybody.

Perhaps you will permit me
to read a few sentences just at the end...

because I would like to say
rather precisely what I mean.

We have told the Air Force that we will
provide facilities for any comment...

or corrections it may wish to make
in regard to the case of Milo Radulovich.

We are unable to judge the charges against
the lieutenant's father or sister...

because neither we, nor you, nor they,
nor the lawyers, nor the lieutenant...

know precisely what was contained
in that manila envelope.

Was it hearsay, rumor, gossip, slander...

or hard ascertainable facts
that could be backed by credible witnesses?

We do not know.

We believe the son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father.

Even though that iniquity be proved,
and in this case it was not.

But we believe too...

that this case illustrates
the need for the Armed Forces...

to communicate more fully
than they have so far done...

the procedures and regulations
to be followed...

in attempting to protect
the national security...

and the rights of the individual
at the same time.

Whatever happens in this whole area...

of the relationship between
the individual and the state...

we will do it ourselves.

It cannot be blamed on Malenkov
or Mao Tse-tung or even our allies.

And it seems to us,
that is Fred Friendly and myself...

that this is a subject
that should be argued about endlessly.

Good night, and good luck.

And we're out.

[SINGING]

May I tell you something
about yourself...

as a member of
the Person to Person audience?

Based on audience research studies...

you are well above average
in education and intelligence.

Your interests are wide,
from world affairs and science...

to sports and show business.

And you have one characteristic
that's rather encouraging to me...

and that's the fact that you
are not easily persuaded by advertising.

Now, the makers of Kent
considered all these characteristics...

when they chose Mr. Murrow's program
to tell you about Kent.

Of all leading filter cigarettes
Kent filters best.

Now, if you'll try Kent
with that in mind...

I think you'll agree with many other
thinking people who have changed to Kent.

They find that it makes good sense
to smoke Kent...

and good smoking too.

AARON:
Did you get the change on that?

No.

- You there? Okay.
HEWITT: We got it.

Not since the silent movies
and the idols they produced...

has Hollywood witnessed the sort
of pilgrimage that is now going on.

Each day oblivious to time, weather
and the state of the world...

sightseers head in the direction
of California's San Fernando Valley.

For there at the end of the tourist line
is Sherman Oaks...

and the home Liberace has built
for himself and his mother.

ED: This is the front, and nobody knows
how many people have seen that view.

This is the back of the house,
and that's Liberace's bedroom.

- Good evening, Lee.
LIBERACE [ON TV]: Good evening, Ed.

- What are you doing?
LIBERACE [ON TV]: I'm just dictating...

my weekly
syndicated newspaper column...

and on my trusty tape recorder here...

I also am dictating a book.

It's an inspirational book.

Have you given much thought
to getting married...

and eventually settling down?

LIBERACE [ON TV]:
I've given a lot of thought to marriage...

but I don't believe in getting married
for the sake of it.

I want to some day
find the perfect mate...

and settle down to what I hope will be
a marriage that will be blessed by faith...

and will be a lasting union.

In fact I was reading about lovely
young Princess Margaret...

and she's looking for her dream man too,
and I hope she finds him some day.

Uh-huh.

Well, Lee, thanks very much for letting us
come and visit you. It's been very pleasant.

And say good night
to the rest of your family for us.

LIBERACE [ON TV]: Certainly.
- Thanks a lot.

LIBERACE [ON TV]: Good night, Ed.
- Good night, Lee.

Next week we'll take you
to Beverly Hills, California...

to the house of Mickey Rooney
and his new bride.

Until then, good night, and good luck.

MAN:
Good show, Mr. Murrow.

NATALIE: Excuse me, Mr. Murrow.
When you have a moment...

can you take a look at this
and sign it for me?

And Dr. Stanton wanted you
to have a drink with him.

- When?
- Now. He's at the Pentagon Bar.

I can't. What the hell's he doing there?

- I believe he's waiting for you.
- Well, just call him, Natalie.

- Oppenheimer next week.
- It's a good show, Ed.

- Hey, Don.
- Ed.

You're getting good at this.
They're gonna think you like it.

Pays the bills. How are you, Don?

It's...

day-to-day.

Well, if she saw how good
you looked right now she'd be back.

You tell her that if you see her, will you?

- I read the O'Brian piece.
- Yeah, it's tough.

I'm a pinko. I slant the news.

I'm just waiting for him to say
my wife left me too.

- Nobody worth their salt reads him.
- You read him.

Well, see, I rest my case.

Does Paley read him?

- Bill Paley's not gonna do anything, Don.
- Well...

Thanks, Ed.

Oh, I just came by to tell you
how great the lieutenant piece was.

- Thanks.
- How's the fallout?

Mostly good, surprisingly.

Is this the start? Are you taking sides?

It's just a little poke with a stick,
see what happens.

- You let me know if I can help.
- But you're a pinko, Don.

I'll see you, Ed.

[CHATTERING]

SURINE: Joe, what's all this "Radwich"
junk you're putting out?

Don, I can't talk right now.
I gotta get this film to New York.

What would you say if I told you Murrow
was on the Soviet payroll in 1935?

- Uh, Charlie, you wanna...?
- Sure. I'll set up outside.

WERSHBA: McCarthy going
to the Eisenhower dinner?

FRED: I have no idea.
I don't keep his calendar.

Don, ever seen any spy films?
You don't just hand me a classified folder.

You're supposed to
slip it in my briefcase.

I didn't know who to give
this information to, Paley or Murrow.

As you can imagine, Fred and I
aren't very friendly. No pun intended.

Well, no pun elocuted.

- What do you got?
- In short?

Murrow's been a Communist sympathizer
since the 1930s.

Member of the International Workers,
sponsored trips to Moscow...

and on the Soviet payroll in 1935.
It's all there.

You wanna know why that's not possible?
Why you'll lose this one, Donald?

Because everyone in this country
knows Ed Murrow is a loyal American.

He's a patriot.

Did you know the word "gullible"
isn't in the dictionary?

- Can I give this to him?
- I'd love it. I have copies.

I think you guys go too far.

If it walks like a duck
and talks like a duck...

SECRETARY:
Yes, Mr. Paley.

Right away. Yes, sir.

No, he hasn't called.

Yes, sir, the second he calls.
If you're in a meeting, shall I...?

Yes, sir. Of course, sir.

Mr. Murrow, Mr. Paley will see you now.

Mr. Paley, Mr. Murrow is here.

Thank you, Miss Mary.

- Hello, Ed.
- Bill.

Sit over here, will you.

- How's Janet? Your son?
- All well, thanks. How's Babe?

She's fine. She's fine.
Her fundraiser got rained on, so...

- That's why I never plan on anything.
- Really?

You'd never know.

- Reading fiction?
- I hope so. You tell me.

- Now we know how they'll come at us.
- That's just their first shot.

Somebody's going to go down.

Have you checked your facts?
Are you sure you're on safe ground?

- Bill, it's time. Show our cards.
- My cards. You lose, what happens?

Five guys find themselves out of work.

I'm responsible for a hell of a lot more
than five goddamn reporters. Let it go.

McCarthy will self-destruct,
Cohn, all of them.

Bill, you said Corporate would not
interfere with Editorial and the News...

We don't make the news,
we report the news.

99 percent of the time he's wrong
about the people he's...

If he goes too far, the Senate will
investigate him and we will report on that.

He's wrong all the time
when he oversteps civil liberties.

You're trying him in the press.
Does he get the right to face his accuser?

You've just decided on this
and now you're presenting it as fact.

I write your check.

I put you in your country house,
and I put your son through school.

You should have told me about this
before it went so far down the road.

Every one of your boys
needs to be clean.

Do you understand? No ties.

If Aaron's mother so much as went
to a group fundraiser in 1932, he's out.

Hewitt too. Anyone in that room,
you make no mistake...

I will cut them loose.

Corporate won't interfere with Editorial.

[PHONE BUZZING]

But Editorial will not
jeopardize the employees...

of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Do I make myself clear?

BILL:
Yes?

FRED: Fellas, our next show is gonna
be about Senator McCarthy.

And we're gonna go right at him.

I don't need to tell you how careful
we have to be.

If we do this, Ed and I need
you to be straight with us.

We need to know
for the good of the piece...

if you have any connection at all...

if you subscribed to a newsletter,
if you attended a party, anything.

Anything that could compromise this,
anything at all...

because now would
be the time to tell us.

Ed, I think I should excuse myself.

ZOUSMER:
Palmer, you kidding?

WILLIAMS: My ex was a...
I wouldn't say she was a Communist...

but she attended meetings.

It was before we were married. I didn't even
really know about it until after the divorce.

But it was different then.
We were all on the same side...

I'm not telling you anything you don't
know. The thing is, somebody will find out.

They'll hurt us with it.

I should have told you sooner,
Ed, I'm sorry.

Fred.

Oh, if none of us had ever read
a dangerous book...

or had a friend who was different...

or never joined an organization
that advocated change...

we'd all be just the kind
of people Joe McCarthy wants.

We're gonna go with the story because
the terror is right here in this room.

John, Jesse, go through
the HUAC hearings.

Eddie, Palmer, look at
the interviews and any speeches.

Okay, fellas, here we go.

FRED:
His own words, that's what we need.

MCCARTHY [ON TV]: Said he wouldn't
remove that general from the Army...

who cleared a Communist major.
I said, "Then..."

general, you should be removed
from any command.

Any man who says:

'I will protect another general
who protects Communists'...

"is not fit
to wear that uniform, general."

All right, hold on.
Ethically, we're fine.

But legally if we air this
are we leaking closed-hearing testimony?

NATALIE: He chose to read it.
SCOTT: We're not misquoting him.

There are other reporters. We're safe.

- If it's a legal issue, it's his.
SCOTT: I'll check with Legal.

And wait till you hear
the bleeding hearts...

scream and cry about our methods...

of trying to drag the truth...

from those who know
or should know...

who covered up a Fifth Amendment
Communist major.

But they say:

"Oh, it's all right to uncover them,
but don't get rough doing it, McCarthy."

[CROWD CHUCKLING ON TV]

Did the Civil...?
Civil Liberties Union...

provide you with an attorney
at that time?

HARRIS [ON TV]:
I had offers of attorneys...

one of those was from the
American Civil Liberties Union.

MCCARTHY: The questions is, did the Civil
Liberties Union supply you with an attorney?

HARRIS: They did supply an attorney.
MCCARTHY: The answer is yes?

HARRIS:
The answer is yes.

You know the Civil Liberties Union
has been listed...

as a front, doing the work
of the Communist Party?

HARRIS:
Mr. Chairman, this was 1932.

MCCARTHY: Yeah, I know it was in 1932. Do you
know that they since have been listed...

as a front, doing the work
of the Communist Party?

HARRIS: I do not know
that they have been listed.

MCCARTHY: You don't know?
HARRIS: I've heard that mentioned...

All right. Turn it off.

ZOUSMER: I need those three cans
of Stevenson's tacked onto the end.

FRED: Anybody read this book yet? It would
be nice if this guy isn't a commie.

ZOUSMER: Did Millie give it to you?
WILLIAMS: I wanna read it.

FRED: Nobody else.
JOE: I hear you.

FRED: That's it.
WERSHBA: I'll put it on a kinescope.

FRED:
Palmer, cut it at 2:30.

ZOUSMER: I prefer it one on each end.
I think it would be more powerful.

Cut Kennedy? Shorten the piece.

FRED: Joe, file it for me.
I'll see the Mundt piece later.

ED: Are we gonna make it, Fred? FRED: We
lost the telecine, but we'll make it.

FRED:
Did you finish your closing piece?

ED:
It's Shakespeare.

FRED:
Write your closing.

My argument was, if you show the images
of McCarthy it doesn't make any difference.

If you agree with him, you'll hate the
piece. If you don't, you'll love it.

They should wait till
they get more footage.

I don't think we can take that chance.

We've gotta hit McCarthy
before he comes after Ed.

The blue one. Well, they haven't
gone after the Alsops or Herb Block.

Well, honey,
the Alsops and Herb Block...

didn't work for the Institute
of International Education in 1934.

Then I guess it's time.

You worried?

I didn't think I was.

I don't know why.
I was in the office on Friday.

I answered the phone,
and it was Howard calling from London.

And he asked what was going on
with McCarthy.

And before I answered him...

I turned and looked over my shoulder
to see who was listening.

And who was listening?

Chairman Mao.

WERSHBA:
See you at the office.

Hey, your ring.

Name me another wife...

who reminds her husband to take off his
wedding ring before he goes to the office.

Ava Gardner.

NATALIE:
Excuse me, Mr. Friendly. Mr. Murrow.

Mr. Paley's on the line for you.

FRED: Maybe he wants
to reimburse us for those ads.

- You'd like that.
FRED: I would like that.

- This is Ed.
BILL: There's a Knickerbocker game tonight.

I've got front-row seats.

Are you interested?

I'm a little busy bringing
down the network tonight, Bill.

Is that tonight?

We're covered, Bill.

BILL [ON PHONE]:
All right.

I'm with you today, Ed,
and I'm with you tomorrow.

ED [ON PHONE]:
Thanks, Bill.

- Ten seconds to promo.
- Do you know the timing on that first piece?

Can we hold all the calls, please?

WILLIAMS: All calls till after the show,
thank you.

MACK: You fellas awake down there?
AARON: Okay.

What are we, 20?

FRED:
Thirty seconds, Ed.

FRED:
Ten seconds.

Five, four...

three, two...

ZOUSMER:
And pan camera one.

Because a report on Senator McCarthy
is by definition controversial...

we want to say exactly
what we mean to say...

and request your permission
to read from a script...

whatever remarks
Murrow and Friendly may make.

If the senator feels that we have done
violence to his words or pictures...

and desires, so to speak,
to answer himself...

an opportunity will be afforded
him on this program.

Our working thesis tonight
is this quotation:

"If this fight against Communism
has made a fight..."

between America's
two political parties...

the American people know one
of these parties will be destroyed...

"and the republic cannot endure
very long as a one-party system."

We applaud that statement
and we think Senator McCarthy ought to.

He said it 17 months ago in Milwaukee.

MCCARTHY [ON TV]: The American people
realize that this cannot be made a fight...

between America's two political parties.

If this fight against Communism
is made a fight...

between America's
two political parties...

the people know one of those
parties will be destroyed...

and the republic can't endure
very long as a one-party system.

On one thing the senator
has been consistent.

Often operating
as a one-man committee...

he has traveled far,
interviewed many, terrorized some...

accused civilian and military leaders
of the past administration...

of a great conspiracy to turn
over the country to Communism.

Well, may I say that I was
extremely shocked when I heard that...

Secretary Stevens told two Army officers that
they had to take part in the cover-up...

of those who promoted
and coddled Communists.

As I read his statement
I thought of that quotation:

"On what meat doth
this our Caesar feed?"

MCCARTHY [ON TV]: Did the Civil Liberties
Union supply you with an attorney?

HARRIS [ON TV]:
They did.

MCCARTHY: The answer is yes?
HARRIS: The answer is yes.

MCCLELLAN: Do you think this book
did considerable harm, its publication...

by an expression of the views
contained in it?

HARRIS [ON TV]: The sale of that book was so
abysmally small, it was so unsuccessful...

that a question of its influence...

You can go to the publisher...

you'll see it was one of the most
unsuccessful books he ever put out.

He's still sorry about it, just as I am.

MCCLELLAN: I think that's a compliment
to American intelligence.

[PEOPLE LAUGHING ON TV]

MCCLELLAN:
I'll say that.

The Reed Harris hearing demonstrates
one of the senator's techniques.

Twice he said:

"The American Civil Liberties Union
was listed as a subversive front."

The Attorney General's list does not and
never has listed the ACLU as subversive...

nor does the FBI, or any other
federal government agency.

And the American Civil Liberties Union
holds in its files...

letters of commendation
from President Truman...

President Eisenhower
and General MacArthur.

Earlier, the senator asked:

"Upon what meat doth
this our Caesar feed?"

Had he looked three lines earlier
in Shakespeare's Caesar...

he would've found this line
which is not altogether inappropriate.

"The fault, dear Brutus,
is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

No one familiar with the history
of this country...

can deny that congressional
committees are useful.

It is necessary to investigate
before legislating...

but the line between investigating
and persecuting is a fine one...

and the junior senator from Wisconsin
has stepped over it repeatedly.

We must not confuse dissent
with disloyalty.

We must remember always
that accusation is not proof...

and that conviction depends
upon evidence and due process of law.

We will not walk in fear, one of another.

We will not be driven by fear
into an age of unreason...

if we dig deep in our history
and our doctrine...

and remember that we are not
descended from fearful men...

not from men who feared to write,
to associate, to speak...

and to defend the causes that were,
for the moment, unpopular.

This is no time for men who oppose Senator
McCarthy's methods to keep silent...

or for those who approve.

We can deny our heritage
and our history...

but we cannot escape responsibility
for the results.

We proclaim ourselves,
indeed as we are...

the defenders of freedom wherever
it continues to exist in the world.

But we cannot defend freedom abroad
by deserting it at home.

The actions of the junior senator from
Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay...

amongst our allies abroad and given
considerable comfort to our enemies.

And whose fault is that?

Not really his.

He didn't create this situation of fear, he
merely exploited it and rather successfully.

Cassius was right, "The fault, dear Brutus,
is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Good night, and good luck.

FRED:
And we're out.

Nothing?

Well, maybe nobody watched.

WILLIAMS: We got nothing.
ZOUSMER: Nothing.

MAN 1:
Should I turn the phones back on?

Yes, I think now would
be a good time for that.

FRED: Turn the phones on.
MAN 2: Mr. Friendly wants the phones on.

[PHONES RINGING]

It's the junior senator calling collect.

Don't kid yourself. It's Reed Harris thanking
us for putting him on the best-seller list.

HOLLENBECK [ON TV]:
I don't know if you have seen what I saw.

But I want to associate myself
and this program...

with what Ed Murrow
has just said.

And say I've never been prouder of CBS.

HOLLENBECK [ON TV]: Mr. Stevenson
had charged that the senator...

made demagoguery and deceit...

[PHONE RINGING]

SCOTT: Congratulations.
ZOUSMER: Great show.

Feel like a Scotch?

I think everybody could use a Scotch.

[SINGING]

- It's 3:30, early editions are out.
- Not worried.

No, of course not. Shirley, honey...

would you go and get
the early editions?

- All of them?
- Just get O'Brian.

[LAUGHING]

- Hey, watch my drink.
- Yep.

SHRILEY: Okay, here we go.
ZOUSMER: Here they are.

- At last.
- The Times.

SCOTT: Good. Who wrote it?
- Jack Gould.

"Edward R. Murrow's television program
on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy..."

was an exciting and provocative
examination of the man and his methods.

It was crusading journalism
of high responsibility and courage.

For TV so often plagued
by timidity and hesitation...

the program was a milestone
that reflected enlightened citizenship.

The program... " Hold on. " The program was
no less an indictment of those who wish...

the problems posed by the senator's
tactics would just go and leave them alone.

"That was Mr. Murrow's and television's
triumph and a very great one."

- Yes.
- Hear, hear.

- He hated it.
- Yeah, what's his beef?

Send the Times a bottle of Scotch.

I did. How do you think
we go that review?

ZOUSMER: How's the Post?
WERSHBA: It's pretty good.

- What about O'Brian?
SHIRLEY: The same.

[LAUGHING]

Go on, go on. Read O'Brian.

- Uh, I don't have it.
- Got it.

Here.

SHIRLEY: Here we go.
- Shirley, that...

"We can't say we were surprised..."

at Murrow's hate-McCarthy
telecast last evening...

when his explosively
one-sided propaganda...

edited with deviously
clever selectivity...

from McCarthy's march against
Communism was finished last evening.

By equally Machiavellian coincidence,
the following telecast...

featured Murrow's PM protégé
Hollenbeck.

In an obviously gloating mood,
Hollenbeck...

"hoped viewers had witnessed his patron's
triumph from and for the left."

And so on.
Yeah, so on, so on, so on.

HOLLENBECK: It's okay. Go ahead, finish it.
- No, that's it.

- That's it, that's...
- Shirley, please. Finish it.

"The Columbia Broadcasting System
has been in a lengthy..."

clean-house-of-lefties mood.

The worst offenders on lesser levels
have been pushed out of the company.

Don Hollenbeck, a graduate
of the demised pinko-publication PM...

attacked conservative papers
with sly and slanted propaganda.

He then proceeded through an equally...

tilted review of the day's events
with McCarthy...

"dominating his words,
actions, attitudes..."

So on and so on.

- It's O'Brian.
- Yeah, he didn't get the Scotch, that's all.

- Is that grammatically correct?
- I'll have that cigarette, Ed.

PALMER: Thanks, Shirley.
SHIRLEY: Oh.

ZOUSMER:
Thank you. Joe. Shirley.

For the legwork.

FRED:
It doesn't matter.

SHIRLEY:
To Jack Gould.

FRED:
To Jack, to Jack, to Jack Gould.

FRED: To Jack Gould.
SHIRLEY: I love Jack Gould.

AARON: A scholar and gentleman.
WILLIAMS: A real writer.

SCOTT: May he rest in peace.
AARON: What?

- Hello, Jimmy.
- Fred, congratulations.

Thank you.

- I got a hangover you wouldn't believe.
- All the ad guys on the third floor watched.

- Good review in the Times.
- Switchboard lit up.

We're putting out a release that said
calls came in 15-to-1 in favor.

- Really? Fifteen-to-1?
- We got calls from everywhere.

- East Coast or the West Coast?
- Yeah, Kansas City, Cincinnati...

JIMMY:
Mr. Paley.

- Morning, Fred.
- Morning, Mr. Paley.

- How's your wife?
- She's fine. Getting ready to move.

- Really? Where to?
- Riverdale.

- We found a nice house there.
- It's nice there.

Yes, sir.

- Excuse me.
- Fred.

McCarthy wants William Buckley
to do his rebuttal.

I said no.

Yes, sir.

Hey. Johnny.
Radulovich has been reinstated.

AARON: What?
- Radulovich...

- Radulovich has been reinstated.
AARON: Where did you hear this?

ZOUSMER: Where's Ed?
NATALIE: He's in the bullpen, why?

ZOUSMER: Got some good news,
got some very good news.

Special announcement from the secretary of
the Air Force. Fellas. Listen up. Everyone.

"I have decided that it is consistent with
the interests of the national security..."

to retain Lieutenant Radulovich
in the United States Air Force. Stop.

"He is not, in my opinion, a security risk.
Full stop."

[CHEERING]

ZOUSMER: There you go. Harold E. Talbott,
secretary for the Air Force.

FRED: Make a copy of that for me?
ZOUSMER: Will do, Fred.

FRED: Let's get back to work.
ZOUSMER: Good job.

AARON: This means something.
ZOUSMER: Good news, huh?

SCOTT:
This absolutely means something.

ZOUSMER: Absolutely.
I mean, this is the start of...

FRED:
Palmer?

The CBS lawyers wanna talk to you.

- When?
- Tomorrow.

FRED: I don't want you to get paranoid,
they're talking to everybody.

WILLIAMS:
Any ideas?

FRED:
Just tell them what you know.

COHN [ON TV]: Is that testimony true?
MOSS [ON TV]: No.

Not at any time have I been a member
of a Communist party...

and I have never seen
a Communist card.

COHN: You've never seen a card?
MOSS: Right.

COHN:
Ever attended any meetings?

MOSS:
No, I've never attended meetings.

COHN:
Ever subscribed to the Daily Worker?

No, I didn't subscribe to the Daily Worker,
and I wouldn't pay for it.

MCCARTHY: Uh, well, Mrs. Markward
who was working for the FBI...

who joined the Communist party
under orders from the FBI...

has testified that while
she never met you personally...

at a Communist meeting,
that your name was on the list...

of Communists who were paying dues.

Uh, can you shed any light upon that?

MOSS: No, sir, I don't even know what
the dues are, or where they were paid.

MCCARTHY: Do I understand
you have never paid any money...

to the Communist party?

- Is that correct?
- That's right.

MCCARTHY:
You've never paid any dues to anyone...?

FRED:
Thank you, Leo. Thank you very much.

Good work, Joe. Charlie.

Now, what is the show? Is it defending
Annie Lee Moss as not being a Communist?

Or is it her constitutional rights?

We're better sticking up
for the constitutional issues.

ZOUSMER:
The woman is not a Communist spy.

FRED: Joe McCarthy said that
they have a spy in the Pentagon...

that spy has gotten into the code room,
and that spy is Annie Lee Moss.

New York Times reports, "McCarthy
asserts he has new Red-link to Army."

Quote, "Senator McCarthy charged today
that the Army employs a woman..."

"in its code room who was and still
may be an active Communist." Unquote.

Front page of the New York Times.

WERSHBA: No sooner is he done chastising
the other committee members...

for wanting to push into the afternoon,
then what?

Seven questions in, he ducks out,
leaves his hatchet man.

- He leaves.
- It's all over the headlines.

Eddie, get me copies from any newspaper
that printed anything about that.

- Absolutely.
FRED: The Cincinnati Inquirer.

SCOTT: Chicago. All across the country.
FRED: Get a stack for the show.

Couple other pieces we should include.
There's three Annie Lee Mosses in the book.

There are two Robert Halls.
One's colored, one's white.

Charlie said we have some footage
of the empty chair. That says it all.

SCOTT:
That's a great shot.

Start with McCarthy leaving
after seven questions...

and then we'll cut
to the shot of the chair.

FRED: All right, so to that end...
- Excuse me. Fellas.

Mr. Murrow, McCarthy wants April sixth.

Thank you, Natalie.

If Charlie shoots it we see it first.
We should ask. Offer.

- It's a long shot.
- What the hell can McCarthy possibly do?

Is he gonna debate himself?
We used his words.

How can he?
We used the original transcripts.

Johnny. Johnny,
we know what it's going to be.

He's going to come after me.
There's nothing more he can do.

He's gonna bet that a senator
trumps a newsman.

FRED: He'll lose.
- Not if we're playing bridge.

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

- I'm sorry, guys. Didn't mean
to interrupt. FRED: Hey, Don.

WERSHBA: It's getting fun now.
- Ed, you have a minute?

- Yes, Don. I'll be right there.
FRED: All right, boys.

WERSHBA: Playtime's over.
FRED: We have four days...

to do a 28-minute show.

ED: Sorry.
- Oh, that's all right, Ed.

HOLLENBECK: Hi, Mary.
- Mr. Hollenbeck. Mr. Murrow.

- Could you give us a moment, please?
- Certainly.

HOLLENBECK:
Thank you, dear. Thank you.

I have to ask you something, Ed.
It's about O'Brian.

- O'Brian doesn't matter.
- He's killing me.

- It doesn't amount to a lot.
- It's not just him.

- Let that guy have it.
- We're not going after O'Brian.

I will not take on McCarthy and Hearst.
I can't defeat them both.

Just don't read the papers.

Or don't read O'Brian, anyway.

Okay.

I guess not.

I'm sorry, Don.

- Although Miss Moss offered to testify...
- Senator Mundt, South Dakota.

Senator McCarthy suggested
that she was too sick. She agreed...

Mr. Cohn wanted to know about
Mrs. Moss's connection very much with...

MCCARTHY [ON TV]:
Do you swear to tell the truth...

and nothing but the truth
so help you God?

COHN: May we get your full name
for the record, please?

Annie Lee Moss.

COHN: M-O-S-S?
- That's right.

MCCARTHY:
Mrs. Moss, let me say for the record...

and for your information
and for the information of your counsel...

that you are not here because
you are considered important...

in the Communist apparatus.

We have the testimony that you are a...
Have been a Communist.

We are rather curious, however,
to know that...

How you suddenly were shifted from...

uh, a worker in a cafeteria
to the code room.

In other words I am today
much more interested...

in the handling of your case...

by your superiors than in your
own personal activities.

However, the council will question
you about your own activities also.

LAYWER: Mr. Chairman?
- We will not hear from counsel.

You've been told what the rule is.

If you have anything to say,
say it through your client.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

COHN: Did you begin work
at the General Accounting office in 1945?

Yes, sir.

COHN: And prior to that time
had you been a cafeteria worker?

- Yes, I had.
COHN: I see.

Uh, while in the Pentagon since 1950...

have you had any connection
with coded messages?

Have you ever handled coded messages?

- No more than to transmit them.
COHN: Pardon me?

No more than to transmit the message.

COHN: Then to transmit them?
Did you transmit codes?

Receive or to transmit messages
was all I had to do.

And in the courtroom, I've never
been into a courtroom in my life.

MCCARTHY: Do you know the,
uh, type of classification?

Do you know if they were
secret, top-secret, confidential?

No, sir.

MCCARTHY: You wouldn't know
the degree of classification?

- No, sir.
MCCARTHY: I see.

I'm afraid I'm going to
have to excuse myself. I've got...

a rather important appointment tonight
which I've got to work on right now...

and I wonder if, Senator Mundt,
you would take over as chairman.

- Mr. Chairman?
- Mr. Cohn?

I have no further questions
of this witness at this time.

I can say, we have the testimony
of Mrs. Markward...

the undercover agent for the FBI...

stating that Annie Lee Moss
was a member...

a dues-paying member
of the Communist party.

The Northeast Club
of the Communist party.

We have corroboration of that testimony
by another witness who was called...

and gave a sworn statement to the effect
that she also knew Mrs. Moss...

as a member of the Communist party.

She's already lost her job, she's been
suspended because of this action.

I'm not defending her.
If she's a Communist, I want her exposed.

But to make these statements as,
"We've got corroborating evidence...

that she is a Communist."

Under these circumstances
I think she's entitled...

to have it produced here
in her presence...

and let the public know about it
and let her know about it.

[APPLAUSE]

MCCLELLAN: I don't like to try people
by hearsay evidence.

I like to get the witnesses here
and try them...

[APPLAUSE]

By testimony under oath.

MUNDT:
The chair will rule...

that the comment of Mr. Cohn
be stricken from the record.

I didn't ask that.
I didn't ask that, Mr. Chairman.

MUNDT: Whether we should try
to produce a witness in public...

because the FBI may have her undercover.
We don't want to...

You can't strike these statements
made by counsel here...

as to evidence that we are having
and withholding.

You cannot strike that from the press...

nor from the public mind
once it's planted there.

That's the... That is the, uh, evil of it.

Well, I don't think it's
fair to a witness...

to a citizen of this country,
to bring them up here...

cross-examine them
and when they get through, say:

"We've got something, the FBI's got
something that condemns you."

MUNDT: The chair agrees...
- It is not sworn testimony...

it's convicting people by rumor
and hearsay and innuendo.

[APPLAUSE]

ED: You will notice that neither
Senator McClellan or Senator Symington...

nor this reporter, know or claim
that Mrs. Moss was or is a Communist.

Their claim was simply that she had the
right to meet her accusers face to face.

ED: One month ago tonight, we presented
a report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.

We labeled it as controversial.

Most of that report consisted of words
and pictures of the senator.

At that time we said...

if the senator believes we have done
violence to his words or pictures...

if he desires to speak,
to answer himself...

an opportunity would be afforded
him on this program.

The senator sought the opportunity,
asked for a delay of three weeks...

because he said he was very busy, and he
wished adequate time to prepare his reply.

We agreed.

We placed no restrictions on the manner
or method of the presentation of his reply.

And we suggested that we would not take
time to comment on this particular program.

Here now is Senator Joseph R. McCarthy,
junior senator from Wisconsin.

MCCARTHY [ON TV]:
Uh, good evening. Mr. Edward R. Murrow...

educational director
of the Columbia Broadcasting System...

devoted his program to an attack...

on the work of the United States
Senate investigating committee...

and on me personally as its chairman.

Now, over the past four years
he has made repeated attacks...

upon me and those
fighting Communists.

And, of course, neither Joe McCarthy
nor Edward R. Murrow...

is of any great importance
as individuals.

We are only important in our relation
to the great struggle...

to preserve our American liberties.

Now, ordinarily...
Ordinarily I would not take time out...

from the important work at hand
to answer Murrow.

However, in this case I feel justified
in doing so because Murrow is the symbol...

the leader and the cleverest
of the jackal pack...

which is always found at the throat...

of anyone who dares to expose
individual Communists and traitors.

And I am compelled by the fact...

to say to you
that Mr. Edward R. Murrow...

as far back as 20 years ago...

was engaged in propaganda
for Communist causes.

For example, the Institute
of International Education...

of which he was the acting director...

was chosen to act as a representative
by a Soviet agency...

to do a job which would normally
be done by the Russian Secret Police.

Now, Mr. Murrow by his own admission
was a member of the IWW...

that's the
Industrial Workers of the World...

a terrorist organization
cited as subversive...

by an Attorney General
of the United States.

Now, Mr. Murrow said on this program,
and I quote:

"The actions of the junior senator
from Wisconsin...

have given considerable comfort
to the enemy."

That is the language of our statute
of treason, rather strong language.

If I am giving comfort to our enemies...

I ought not to be in the Senate.

If on the other hand Mr. Murrow...

is giving comfort to our enemies...

he ought not to be
brought into the homes...

of millions of Americans
by the Columbia Broadcasting System.

And I want to assure you...

that I will not be deterred...

by the attacks of the Murrows...

the Lattimores, the Fosters...

the Daily Worker or
the Communist party itself.

And I make no claim to leadership.

In complete humility...

I do ask you and every American...

who loves this country...

to join with me.

MAN [ON TV]:
Everyone talks about the weather.

Wherever you look on
America's modern farms...

aluminum is on the job...

helping the farmer do
something about the weather.

Aluminum for the farm is one more example
of how Alcoa, since 1888...

has continued to pioneer new uses
for this vital metal.

New uses of aluminum that mean
better farms and better farming.

The aluminum from the nation's
first and leading producer:

Alcoa.
Aluminum Company of America.

Last week Senator McCarthy
appeared on this program...

to correct any errors he may have thought
we made in our report of March ninth.

Since he made no reference to any
statements of fact that we made...

we must conclude that
he found no errors of fact.

He proved again that
anyone who exposes him...

anyone who does not share his hysterical
disregard for decency and human dignity...

and the rights guaranteed
by the Constitution...

must be either a Communist
or a fellow traveler.

I fully expected this treatment.

The senator added this reporter's name to a
long list of individuals and institutions...

he has accused of serving
the Communist cause.

His proposition is very simple:

Anyone who criticizes or opposes
Senator McCarthy's methods...

must be a Communist.

And if that be true, there are an
awful lot of Communists in this country.

For the record let's consider briefly
some of the senator's charges.

He claimed but offered no proof...

that I had been a member of
the Industrial Workers of the World.

That is false.

I was never a member of the IWW,
never applied for membership.

The senator charged that
Professor Harold Laski...

a British scholar and politician,
dedicated a book to me.

That's true.

He is dead.

He was a socialist, I am not.

He was one
of those civilized individuals...

who did not insist upon agreement
with his political principles...

as a precondition for
conversation or friendship.

I do not agree with his political ideas.

Laski, as he makes clear
in the introduction...

dedicated the book to me,
not because of political agreement...

but because he held my wartime
broadcasts from London in high regard.

And the dedication so reads.

I believed 20 years ago
and I believe today...

that mature Americans can engage
in conversation and controversy...

the clash of ideas...

with Communists
anywhere in the world...

without becoming
contaminated or converted.

I believe that our faith, our conviction...

our determination
are stronger than theirs...

and that we can compete,
and successfully...

not only in the area of bombs...

but in the area of ideas.

I have worked with CBS
for more than 19 years.

The company has subscribed fully
to my integrity and responsibility...

as a broadcaster
and as a loyal American.

I require no lectures from the
junior senator from Wisconsin...

as to the dangers or terrors
of Communism.

Having searched
my conscience and my files...

I cannot contend that
I have always been right or wise...

but I have attempted to pursue the truth
with some diligence and to report it...

even though, as in this case,
I had been warned in advance...

that I would be subjected to
the attentions of Senator McCarthy.

We shall hope to deal with matters of more
vital interest to the country next week.

Good night, and good luck.

"In the last analysis the senator was
perched on the television high-dive..."

and all prepared
to make a resounding splash.

He jumped beautifully, but he neglected to
check first where he was going to land.

It must have been a shock
to find that Mr. Murrow...

"had drained the water
out of the pool."

[LAUGHING]

- Is that the Times? Gould?
- Yeah, it's Jack Gould at the Times.

He's a hell of a writer.

You should hire him away from the Times.

If we can afford him.

Senate's investigating McCarthy.

What?

The Army's charging
that McCarthy and Cohn...

exercised undue pressure to get
preferential treatment for Schine.

AARON:
I saw Crichton down at the Sun.

Second source?

No, but it's coming out on the wire
in two hours.

Who's heading up the investigation?

- It's not gonna be McCarthy.
- Are you...? Really?

- What happened? What's going on?
FRED: Call the Post for a second source.

The Senate's investigating McCarthy.

AARON: There is an added bit
of comedy to this story.

The committee can't convene
for several days...

because Senator McCarthy
has a case of laryngitis.

And he must recover in
the desert air of Arizona.

[ALL GROANING]

ZOUSMER:
Oh, how mysterious.

AARON:
But Stevens is going after him...

- and it looks like Joe Welch.
- Yeah.

AARON: They'll allow
each side to call witnesses...

FRED: Great, I'm on that.
AARON: And be privy to testimony.

WILLIAMS: Hey, Fred, we still
have a meeting when I get back.

SCOTT:
We're gonna go talk to Thompson.

No, thanks, Jack. Bye.

Well, Freddy, we're a hit.
Right up there with Howdy Doody, huh.

AARON:
Can I have an outside line, please?

AARON: Outside line, please.
ZOUSMER: Yes, 74, 76...

[SINGING]

"The fact of newscaster Don Hollenbeck's
suicide yesterday..."

does not remove from the record...

that peculiar history of
the leftist slanting of the news...

indulged consistently by the
Columbia Broadcasting System.

Hollenbeck was what most
astute students of CBS's...

strange and questionable
new methods...

considered typical of its newscasters.

"By Jack O'Brian."

SINGER:
Oh, yeah. I like it like that.

ED [ON TV]: One of the best programs I ever
heard was called CBS Views the Press.

A great many people liked it,
some didn't...

but no one ever called it
anything but honest.

It was the work of an honest reporter.

Don Hollenbeck.

He also worked occasionally
on See it Now.

He did the 11 p.m. news
over some of these stations.

He had been sick lately
and he died this morning.

The police said it was suicide. Gas.

Not much of an obit.

But at least we got our facts straight.
And it was brief.

And that's all Don Hollenbeck
would have asked.

Good night, and good luck.

WERSHBA:
Gotta be in Philadelphia this morning.

What time is your train?

Eight.

- Charlie going with you?
- Mm-hm.

Here's a thought.

What if we're wrong?

We're not wrong.

We're not gonna look back and...

say we protected the wrong side?

Protected them from what?

In the name of what?
What would we be preserving?

An argument could be made
for the greater good.

Not once you give it all away.
It's no good then.

It's just a thought.

WELCH [OVER SPEAKER]:
May we not drop this?

We know he was in the Lawyers Guild.
And Mr. Cohn nods his head at me.

I did you, I think, no personal injury,
Mr. Cohn.

- I meant to do you no personal injury.
COHN: No.

And if I did, I beg your pardon.

Let us not assassinate
this lad further, senator.

You've done enough.

Have you no sense of decency, sir?

At long last
have you left no sense of decency?

This, I know this hurts you, Mr. Welch.

WELCH: Senator, I think it hurts you too,
sir. MCCARTHY: I'd like to finish this.

WELCH:
Have you some private reservation...

when you take the oath
that you will tell the whole truth...

that lets you be the judge
of what you will testify to?

The answer is there's no reservation
about telling the whole truth.

Thank you, sir.

Then tell us...

who delivered...
WOMAN: I don't mean...

- the documents to you?
- This new fashion...

is not chic.

I think it's just not good for me.

Not for you.

Milko, anything you care to say
on that subject?

MILKO:
I think, no comment.

[CHUCKLING]

MILLIE:
It's gotta be there.

SHIRLEY: If you can't find it,
I can't write about it. Check again.

MILLIE:
Charlie said he dropped it off.

SHIRLEY: Charlie said he dropped it...
- Shirley, can I see you a minute?

- I gotta call you back.
MICKELSON: Joe.

You too.

Close the door. Come in.

Have a seat.

How are you?

- I'm fine, thank you.
- Swell. Yeah.

You both are aware that
there's a policy here at CBS...

that no two employees can be married.

I wanna ask you both a question,
but I don't want you to answer it.

I want you to just consider it.

I know you two are married.

Everyone knows.

That's not my question.

In the next few weeks
I have to lay off a couple of people.

We're making some significant cuts
across the board.

I wanted you to know that because
you could save someone else being fired.

I'm asking you to consider
making this decision a little easier.

I don't need an answer now.

Just...

think about it.

Okay.

- Well, Joe.
- Well?

- We're sure gonna miss you around here.
- Yeah, I'll pack my things.

- I think it's for the best.
- Well, we'll find out.

[CHUCKLING]

Mrs. Wershba.

Everybody knew.

ED: Natalie, did he say what it was about?
NATALIE: No, Mr. Murrow.

Just that he wanted to talk to you
in his office.

Uh-oh.

The problem isn't simply that
you've lost your sponsor.

- With Alcoa See It Now still loses money.
FRED: Mr. Paley...

the fee is $50,000, last week's episode
we did for less than $50,000...

BILL: You're speaking
beyond your competence.

We'll find another sponsor.
We can find someone who wants...

Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Question
brings in over 80,000 in sponsors...

and it costs one third of what you do.

Ed, I've got Tuesday night programming
that's number one.

People want to enjoy themselves.
They don't want a civics lesson.

ED: What do you want?
- I don't want a constant stomachache...

every time you take on
a controversial subject.

I'm afraid that's the price
you have to be willing to pay.

Let's walk very carefully
through these next few moments.

The content of what we're doing
is more important...

- than what some guy in Cincinnati...
- What you're doing, not me.

Not Frank Stanton. You.

CBS News, See It Now,
all belong to you, Bill.

You wouldn't know it.

What is it you want? Credit?

I never censored a single program.

I hold on to affiliates who wanted
entertainment from us.

I fight to keep the license...

with the very same politicians
that you were bringing down...

and I never...

never said no to you. Never.

I would argue that we have done
very well by one another.

I would argue that this network...

is defined by what the news department
has accomplished.

And I would also argue that never saying no
is not the same as not censoring.

Really? You should teach journalism.

You and Mr. Friendly.

Let me ask you this.

Why didn't you correct McCarthy...

when he said that
Alger Hiss was convicted of treason?

He was only convicted of perjury.

You corrected everything else.

Did you not want the appearance
of defending a known Communist?

I would argue that everyone censors,
including you.

What do you want to do, Bill?

I'm taking your program
from a half an hour to an hour.

And it won't be a weekly program,
and it won't be Tuesday nights.

When would it be?

Sunday afternoons.

How many episodes?

Five.

Why don't you just fire me, Bill?

I don't think
it's what either of us wants.

You owe me five shows.

ED: You won't like the subject matter.
BILL: Probably not.

Fred, I'll need you for a moment.

FRED: Thank you, Mary.
MARY: Goodbye, Mr. Friendly.

He wants me to lay a few people off.

I'm sure he does.

Let's do our first show about
the downfall of television.

Senate's gonna vote
to censure McCarthy tomorrow.

- Probably.
- And then what happens?

- He sits in the back row.
- Right.

They keep him in the Senate.
They don't kick him out.

No, he stays.

Well, we might as well
go down swinging.

Did you know the most trusted man
in America is Milton Berle?

- See? You should have worn a dress.
MAN [ON TV]: They're more sophisticated.

- How does a Scotch sound?
- Scotch sounds good.

MAN [ON TV]: Why are we proud?
- You know Joe and Shirley are married?

- Sure.
- Did everyone know?

FRED: Pretty much.
MAN [ON TV]: We are proud...

because from the beginning
of this nation...

man can walk upright.

No matter who he is or who she is.

He can walk upright and
meet his friend or his enemy.

And he does not fear that
because that enemy...

may be a position in great power...

that he...

can be suddenly thrown in jail...

to rot there without charges
and with no recourse to justice.

We have the Habeas Corpus Act
and we respect it.

I began by saying that our history
will be what we make it.

If we go on as we are...

history will take its revenge...

and retribution will not limp
in catching up with us.

Just once in a while let us exalt the
importance of ideas and information.

Let us dream to the extent of saying
that on a given Sunday night...

a time normally occupied
by Ed Sullivan...

is given over to a clinical survey
on the state of American education.

And a week or two later...

a time normally used by Steve Allen...

is devoted to a thoroughgoing study
of American policy in the Middle East.

Would the corporate image of their
respective sponsors be damaged?

Would the shareholders rise up
in their wrath and complain?

Would anything happen other than
a few million people...

would have received some
illumination on subjects...

that may well determine the future
of this country...

and therefore the future
of the corporations?

To those who say, "People won't look,
they won't be interested..."

they're too complacent, indifferent
and insulated"...

I can only reply...

there is in one reporter's opinion...

considerable evidence
against that contention.

But even if they are right,
what have they got to lose?

Because if they are right...

and this instrument is good for nothing
but to entertain, amuse and insulate...

then the tube is flickering now...

and we will soon see
that the whole struggle is lost.

This instrument can teach.

It can illuminate, and, yes,
it can even inspire.

But it can do so only to the extent...

that humans are determined
to use it towards those ends.

Otherwise it is merely wires and lights
in a box.

Good night...

and good luck.