Network is a 1976 American satirical black comedy-drama film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall and features Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty and Beatrice Straight.
Plot[]
A veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about it. After threatening to shoot himself on live television, instead he launches into an angry televised rant, which turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the UBS network. This stunt allows ambitious producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) to develop even more outrageous programming, a concept that she takes to unsettling extremes.
Cast[]
- Faye Dunaway as Diana Christensen
- William Holden as Max Schumacher
- Peter Finch as Howard Beale
- Robert Duvall as Frank Hackett
- Wesley Addy as Nelson Chaney
- Ned Beatty as Arthur Jensen
- Beatrice Straight as Louise Schumacher
- Jordan Charney as Harry Hunter
- William Prince as Edward Ruddy
- Lane Smith as Robert McDonough
- Marlene Warfield as Laureen Hobbs
- Conchata Ferrell as Barbara Schlesinger
- Carolyn Krigbaum as Max's secretary
- Arthur Burghardt as the Great Ahmed Kahn
- Cindy Grover as Caroline Schumacher
- Darryl Hickman as Bill Herron
- Ken Kercheval as Merrill Grant
- Kathy Cronkite as Mary Ann Gifford
- Ed Crowley as Joe Donnelly
- Lee Richardson as the Narrator (voice)