Network

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Network ???½ 1976 (R)

As timely now as it was then; a scathing indictment of the TV industry and its propensity towards self-prostitution. A television newscaster's mental breakdown turns him into a celebrity when the network tries to profit from his illness. The individual characters are startlingly realistic and the acting is excellent. 121m/C VHS, DVD . Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, William Holden, Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, Lane Smith, Conchata Ferrell, William Prince, Ted (Theodore) Sorel, Lance Henriksen, Marlene War-field; D: Sidney Lumet; W: Paddy Chayefsky; C: Owen Roizman. Oscars ‘76: Actor (Finch), Actress (Dunaway), Orig. Screenplay, Support. Actress (Straight); AFI ‘98: Top 100; British Acad. ‘77: Actor (Finch); Golden Globes ‘77: Actor—Drama (Finch), Actress—Drama (Dunaway), Director (Lumet), Screenplay; L.A. Film Critics ‘76: Director (Lumet), Film, Natl. Film Reg. ‘00;; N.Y. Film Critics ‘76: Screenplay; Writers Guild ‘76: Orig. Screenplay.

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