20 years ago, George Clooney co-wrote, directed and starred in what has become a classic movie.
Quite possibly motivated by recent global events and more particularly those in his own country, the iconic star has once again worked with Grant Heslov to rewrite Good Night, and Good Luck for the stage, making his own award-nominated debut almost five decades into a storied career.
Ignoring the work for the moment, the impact has been phenomenal. The show has been breaking box office records at the gigantic Winter Garden with average ticket prices in excess of $300 and premium seats selling for anything up to $850. Even so, the prospective audience was limited until Clooney and CNN cut an unprecedented deal to broadcast the final performance live in a prime-time Sunday night TV slot. The network has done him proud, allowing millions across the United States to enjoy the show but also broadcasting it around the globe through its international arm.
Given the subject matter, the TV programme has caused controversy with elements of the media attacking the play in a manner that viewers might regard as deeply ironic, since one of its central tenets is that the media should be a bastion of free speech.
Clooney plays Edward R Murrow, a CBS anchor endowed with both courage and conscience. Along with his producer Fred Friendly, played by Glen Fleshler, at a time when Joseph McCarthy and his House Un-American Activities Committee were persecuting those that they accused of having communist connections, Murrow fought back over the airwaves.
Their battle is rousing throughout ace director David Cromer’s 90-minute presentation on a busy Scott Pask set, newsroom discussions broken up by historic film clips including McCarthy interrogations and a rebuttal and, to lighten the atmosphere, jazz interludes.
From the start, Paul Gross playing CBS executive William F Paley feels challenged, attempting to retain sponsorship at the same time as trying not to discourage his newshound from serving up compelling broadcasts.
What might otherwise have been a heavily political and possibly turgid evening is humanised by relating the stories of a stream of threatened individuals. Many are innocent folk swept up in the HUAC wave of denunciations, unable to defend themselves unless they shop friends and family.
At CBS, the guilt trips used as weapons by McCarthy are laid bare both by the story of Palmer Williams, a journalist with the kind of communist connections that could barely even be described as convoluted, and, more poignantly, Clark Gregg’s Don Hollenbeck who is hounded to death for his beliefs.
Repeatedly, using tactics that will feel painfully familiar to those who follow today’s news, the Junior Senator from Wisconsin with delusions of grandeur sows suspicion, distrust and fear without compunction, struggling to draw a line between investigation and bullying persecution, repeatedly utilising lies and inventions with alacrity to support unfounded accusations.
This play succeeds for the best of reasons. It builds up conflict and tension between a power of unyielding individuals to almost unbelievable levels, before somewhat sketchily reaching a conclusion that enables the star to deliver a passionate closing monologue.
In case any viewers might still have been in doubt about the frighteningly pertinent parallels with America today, a swift video montage helps to join the dots.
Good Night, and Good Luck is a compelling Broadway production, and those who missed the live performance on CNN will either have to hope for a catch up at some point in the future or pick up the movie version instead.