Good Night, and Good Luck

Good Night, and Good Luck tells the true story of the now infamous conflict between television journalist Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and controversial Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations, aka the Government Operations Committee. The conflict arose during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950’s America.

Murrow and his dedicated staff in the CBS newsroom, including his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) and Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.), were fueled by a desire to report the facts and honestly inform their audience. Because of this desire for truth, the men defy stringent pressure put on them by corporate executives and sponsors and decide to examine the lies and fright tactics that McCarthy commited during his communist “witch-hunts.” Murrow decides to expose McCarthy on his program, resulting in a very public feud when McCarthy respond to the exposé by accusing the anchor of being a communist.

Rather than succumb to McCarthy’s scare tactics Murrow and his supporters continue their mission of exposing the senator which ultimately pays off when McCarthy’s lies and unethical practices are brought to light before the Senate

Directed by George Clooney, who co-wrote the script with the film's producer Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck stars David Strathairn as Murrow, Clooney as Fred Friendly, Robert Downey, Jr. and Patricia Clarkson as Joe and Shirley Wershba, Frank Langella as Bill Paley, Ray Wise as Don Hollenbeck, Heslov as Don Hewitt, and Jeff Daniels as Sig Mickelson. Grammy® Award-winner Dianne Reeves appears and performs in the film as well.