Behind George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck: From the Silver Screen to Broadway, It All Began on TV

In his highly anticipated Broadway debut as playwright and star of Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney dramatizes the confrontation between a powerful government official and a pioneering television news reporter. The events in the play took place more than 70 years ago, when the anti-communist crusader Joseph McCarthy became the focus of an investigation by celebrated CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow. Clooney and his writing and producing partner Grant Heslov first tackled this story 20 years ago in a hit feature film that garnered six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Now, in a stage adaptation directed by Tony winner David Cromer, Clooney takes on the titanic role of Murrow at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, opening on April 3.

CLASH OF THE TITANS
A few biographical notes on the main characters in Good Night, and Good Luck:

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin (seen only in archival video footage) rose to fame during hearings on the alleged infiltration of communists into the U.S. government, the military and the entertainment world. His widely publicized probes beginning in 1950 sparked fear in people who may have flirted with communism before World War II or whose relatives were associated with left-wing causes. McCarthy subpoenaed dozens of witnesses with the expectation that they would “name names,” and those implicated would lose their jobs or be blacklisted. The most famous example in the Broadway world was superstar director Elia Kazan, whose cooperation with McCarthy led his former collaborator Arthur Miller to write The Crucible.

Edward R. Murrow gained the public’s trust with his CBS radio reports from Europe in the run-up to World War II. His broadcasts during the Blitz of 1940 became famous for his opening pronouncement “THIS is London” and signature sign-off “Good night, and good luck” (a phrase he reportedly copied from Princess Elizabeth). After the war, Murrow returned to America and made his first TV appearance in 1950, co-creating the newsmagazine See It Now in 1951. Two years later, Murrow and his team began investigating the case of Milo Radulovich, an officer discharged from the Air Force Reserve because his father and sister had been accused by McCarthy’s committee of being communists. That investigation, leading to “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy” on the March 9, 1954, episode of See It Now, is the focus of Clooney and Heslov’s film script and play. David Strathairn received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for creating the role of Murrow.

Also on hand: See It Now producer Fred Friendly (created on screen by Clooney; played on Broadway by Glenn Fleshler), CBS chief executive William S. Paley (Frank Langella on screen; Paul Gross on Broadway), secretly married CBS staffers Shirley and Joe Wershba (Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey Jr. on screen; Ilana Glazer and Carter Hudson on Broadway), CBS correspondent Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise on screen; Clark Gregg on Broadway) and future 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt (Grant Heslov on screen; Will Dagger on Broadway).

MEET THE PRESS
Clooney’s original inspiration for creating a piece about Edward R. Murrow was his father, Nick, a news anchor and host on TV stations in Kentucky and Ohio. (The younger brother of singer Rosemary Clooney, Nick Clooney is still active at age 91.) “I grew up on the newsroom floor watching my dad work with reporters,” Clooney told journalist Julian Roman in 2005. “Murrow was always the high-water mark that everyone aims for.” The elder Clooney memorized his idol’s famous 1958 speech about the importance of a free press, which is referenced in Good Night, and Good Luck. Like Murrow, Nick Clooney “believed that authority or government unchallenged or unquestioned is corrupt,” his son explained. “It’s not unpatriotic to ask questions.”

In 2004, George Clooney became the target of negative publicity for criticizing the Iraq war. Recalling his father’s admonitions on the importance of truth in public life, he and Heslov began researching Murrow’s McCarthy reporting with an eye toward mounting a live dramatic special on CBS. When the network canceled that plan, they pivoted to the big screen. In short order, they decided that, at age 43, Clooney was too young and carefree to play the dour Murrow; but at the insistence of studio executives, he agreed to take on the supporting role of Fred Friendly alongside Strathairn.

Studio honchos were also displeased with Clooney’s insistence on releasing the film in black and white, to blend with the archival footage and capture the ambience of the 1950s. He responded by taking a salary of $3 (a dollar each for acting, writing and directing) and mortgaged his home to help finance the production. Released to critical acclaim in October 2005, Good Night, and Good Luck earned $54.6 million at the box office on a budget of $7 million. Though the movie didn’t win any 2006 Academy Awards, Clooney himself went home with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the thriller Syriana.

WELCOME TO THE FIFTIES
Two decades after the film triumph of Good Night, and Good Luck, a “terrified” George Clooney is making his Broadway debut, heralded by a giant billboard of himself sheathed in cigarette smoke. (Murrow was a three-pack-a-day smoker and died of lung cancer in 1965 at age 57; McCarthy succumbed to liver failure in 1957 at age 47.) The star emphasizes that his and Heslov’s play is “not a civics lesson, it’s entertainment,” while acknowledging the crucial responsibility of the press, “which is telling the truth and holding truth to power.”

The stage version of the Murrow/McCarthy saga represents a return to the authors’ original idea of a televised play. But they needed a director experienced in guiding a live audience’s focus when the actors are unable to rely on close-ups. David Cromer, whose career spans more than 25 years and multiple genres—including the forthcoming Broadway musical Dead Outlaw—was immediately intrigued by the premise and the opportunity to work with Clooney and Heslov.

“I love the history of it, I love the style of it, I love the courage involved,” the Tony-winning director told Broadway.com’s Paul Wontorek. “The power of [McCarthy] saying, ‘You are a disloyal American’ was devastating. People started to get scared, and somebody [like Murrow] with some clout to lose and with the country’s trust had to do it. He stood up to this bully, and I find that really moving.”

Projections are everywhere on Broadway this season, from Tom Francis’ 44th-Street walkabout in Sunset Boulevard to the majestic vistas in Redwood, but Good Night, and Good Luck goes old-school with 30 TV monitors spread throughout the Winter Garden Theatre. “We’re attempting to embrace the antiqueness of the technology,” Cromer explains. When Clooney interacts with pianist Liberace (whom Murrow interviewed in an awkward See It Now sequence) and others, onstage cameras and a live feed combine his dialogue with black-and-white clips.

Everyone involved in the production has shied away from claiming that Good Night, and Good Luck is being produced as a commentary on America’s current political climate. “I’m always nervous about any suggestion that something is timely or relevant or is necessary or helpful,” Cromer says. “But the world is a fragile place. It’s fragile to exist in it. Our peace is fragile. When we are told stories about Murrow and when we’re exposed to these histories, it seems like the right thing to do.”