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Mr. Chayefsky, when
I think over all your works,
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00:00:26,901 --> 00:00:29,029
it seems to me
that there's one basic theme,
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one predominant theme to which
you're committed emotionally.
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This is the theme of loneliness, isolation.
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Would you accept this?
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Yes, I think that's
probably true of all writers
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'cause something rather severe
is happening recently.
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It's the assumption that,
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having achieved
a great deal of prosperity,
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life seems to have achieved
no more particular meaning.
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And because of that, they've
begun to stand on the brink
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and look down into the abyss
and say,
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"What is life all about?"
You see?
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Nevertheless, we are all
more or less alone
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00:01:03,438 --> 00:01:05,440
- in one point or another.
- Yeah.
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And just what it is
that constitutes a value to life
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or a meaning to life
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is, I think, well worth
the writer's consideration.
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The winner in New York,
"Marty," Paddy Chayefsky.
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00:01:37,639 --> 00:01:40,225
The winner is Paddy Chayefsky.
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00:01:41,768 --> 00:01:43,478
The winner...
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00:01:43,561 --> 00:01:46,064
is Paddy Chayefsky
for "Network."
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00:02:31,651 --> 00:02:33,862
How long has
it been going on?
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00:02:35,989 --> 00:02:38,116
A month.
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00:02:39,701 --> 00:02:41,703
I thought it was
a transient thing
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00:02:41,744 --> 00:02:43,788
and blow over in a week.
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00:02:43,872 --> 00:02:49,210
I still pray to God it's just
a menopausal infatuation.
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00:02:50,712 --> 00:02:53,715
But it is an infatuation,
Louise.
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There's no sense in my saying
I won't see her again
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because I will.
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00:03:03,850 --> 00:03:05,852
You want me to leave?
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00:03:05,894 --> 00:03:08,146
Check into a hotel?
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00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,567
Do you love her?
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00:03:17,197 --> 00:03:19,574
I don't know how I feel.
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00:03:21,367 --> 00:03:23,578
I'm grateful
I can feel anything.
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00:03:27,665 --> 00:03:30,376
I know I'm obsessed with her.
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00:03:32,086 --> 00:03:34,422
Then say it.
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00:03:34,505 --> 00:03:36,466
Don't keep telling me
that you're obsessed,
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00:03:36,549 --> 00:03:38,426
that you're infatuated.
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00:03:38,509 --> 00:03:40,803
Say that you're in love
with her.
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00:03:43,264 --> 00:03:44,766
I'm in love with her.
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00:03:44,807 --> 00:03:48,436
There are good, solid,
professional screenwriters
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00:03:48,519 --> 00:03:51,648
who their job
and what they're good at
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is getting you from explosion
to explosion to explosion, okay?
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00:03:56,945 --> 00:03:59,614
And it's really the director
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who is creating the moments that
you're remembering in the film.
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00:04:03,701 --> 00:04:06,788
And on the other end of
the spectrum, Paddy Chayefsky.
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00:04:06,871 --> 00:04:08,706
I'm damned
if I'm going to stand here
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00:04:08,790 --> 00:04:11,834
and have you tell me you're
in love with somebody else.
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00:04:11,918 --> 00:04:14,504
Because this isn't
a convention weekend
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00:04:14,587 --> 00:04:15,922
with your secretary, is it?
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00:04:15,964 --> 00:04:18,841
Or-- Or or some broad
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00:04:18,925 --> 00:04:21,302
that you picked up
after three belts of booze.
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00:04:21,386 --> 00:04:23,972
This is your
great winter romance, isn't it?
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00:04:24,055 --> 00:04:25,890
Beatrice Straight--
You know, people always go,
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00:04:25,974 --> 00:04:27,976
"Beatrice Straight won an
Academy Award with one scene."
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00:04:28,059 --> 00:04:30,853
I say, "I will argue
she won it with one line."
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00:04:30,937 --> 00:04:32,397
What am I supposed to do?
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00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:34,607
Am I supposed to sit
home knitting and purling
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00:04:34,649 --> 00:04:38,861
while you slink back
like some penitent drunk?
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I'm your wife, damn it!
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00:04:40,822 --> 00:04:42,699
And if you can't work up
a winter passion for me,
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the least I require
is respect and allegiance!
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00:04:49,789 --> 00:04:52,417
There's a standout line
in that scene--
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00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:53,835
"I'm your wife, goddamn it,
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and if you can't work up
a winter passion for me,
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00:04:55,670 --> 00:04:58,006
then the least I deserve
is respect and allegiance."
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Come on!
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00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,552
You know the line?
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00:05:02,635 --> 00:05:05,179
Oh, I know "Net--" I know
"Network" backwards, man.
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...and Beatrice Straight
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00:05:08,516 --> 00:05:09,976
in "Network."
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And the winner is...
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00:05:16,774 --> 00:05:19,694
The winner is
Beatrice Straight in "Network."
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00:05:29,954 --> 00:05:32,540
Thank you so much,
all of you.
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00:05:32,582 --> 00:05:36,544
It's a great, great thrill
for me and very unexpected.
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Though I should have known
that when I had someone
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00:05:39,213 --> 00:05:41,716
like Paddy Chayefsky writing
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00:05:41,799 --> 00:05:45,511
and saying things that we all
feel but can't express,
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then how can I miss?
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00:05:47,221 --> 00:05:49,599
I have his face
right in front of me.
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You know, glasses
and reddish hair and smoking,
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all the time, smoking.
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I mean, everyone smoked,
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but he was never
without a cigarette.
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00:06:03,029 --> 00:06:05,031
I remember The New York Times
wrote an article
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00:06:05,073 --> 00:06:08,493
about Paddy Chayefsky,
and his drawer in his office,
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00:06:08,576 --> 00:06:11,079
there were individual
pieces of paper.
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00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:12,914
And they asked him,
"What are these tiny little
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00:06:12,955 --> 00:06:16,376
pieces of paper?
He said, "I collect words."
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00:06:16,417 --> 00:06:19,462
And he also put them
together beautifully.
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The language
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00:06:22,548 --> 00:06:24,258
that these actors
got to play with,
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I mean, monologues that
you would only see on stage,
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and the balls
to do that on film
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and to trust
that it would be riveting.
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00:06:33,726 --> 00:06:36,771
The simple fact is, Max,
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that you're a family man.
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00:06:39,107 --> 00:06:40,775
You like a home and kids,
and that's beautiful.
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But I am incapable
of any such commitment.
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All you'll get from me
is another couple of months
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of intermittent sex and
recriminate and ugly
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00:06:46,614 --> 00:06:49,200
little scenes like the one
we had last night.
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I'm sorry for all those things
I said to you last night.
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You're not the worst
fuck I've ever had.
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Believe me, I've had worse.
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You don't--
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00:07:00,086 --> 00:07:03,339
You don't puff or snorkel
and make death-like rattles.
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00:07:03,423 --> 00:07:06,008
As a matter of fact you're
rather serene in the sack.
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Why is it that a woman
always thinks
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that the most savage thing
she can say to a man
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is to impugn his cocksmanship?
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To see something like "Network"
that was written
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so strongly...
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When William Holden
and Faye Dunaway
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were in a scene going
back and forth at each other
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at 100 miles an hour...
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...there were three people
in that scene.
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There was Holden,
there was Dunaway,
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and there was Chayefsky.
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You didn't see him,
but you knew it was written.
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You want Holden and Dunaway
to be out of control,
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00:07:49,719 --> 00:07:54,015
and yet someone in there
with them is in control,
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and that's Chayefsky,
writing them toward this--
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this climax of the scene...
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I'm more concerned about you.
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00:08:03,941 --> 00:08:06,027
And you're not the boozer type.
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00:08:06,110 --> 00:08:09,697
So I figure a year, maybe two,
before you crack up
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or jump out of your
14th-floor office window.
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00:08:12,700 --> 00:08:15,495
Stop selling, Max.
I don't need you.
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...which then leads
to the next one,
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which then leads
to the next one.
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You don't improv your way
through stuff like that.
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I don't want your pain.
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I don't want your
menopausal decay and death!
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I don't need you, Max!
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- Get out of here!
- You need me!
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You need me badly
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because I'm your last contact
with human reality.
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I love you!
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And that painful, decaying love
is the only thing
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between you
and the shrieking nothingness
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you live the rest of the day.
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Then don't leave me.
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I mean,
that's just the beginning.
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He's just getting warmed up.
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00:09:00,665 --> 00:09:02,458
That's just the opening
to the overture--
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"the shrieking nothingness."
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00:09:04,252 --> 00:09:05,836
And you have that
handy, just like that?
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00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,338
Oh, yeah. It's right here.
Oh, yeah.
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No, I-- I-- I-- I--
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I look at it
a few times a month for sure.
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You're television incarnate,
Diana.
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Indifferent to suffering.
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Insensitive to joy.
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All of life is reduced to
the common rubble of banality.
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That scene--
"You're television incarnate"--
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is my favorite scene
for a number of reasons,
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not the least of which
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is it's the greatest description
of television.
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War, murder, death...
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all the same to you
as bottles of beer.
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And the daily business
of life is a corrupt comedy.
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I mean, I think "Network" is
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always in my top three movies
of-- of all time.
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You know, it's
behind the scenes of television.
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00:10:01,726 --> 00:10:03,311
And now, the distinguished
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00:10:03,394 --> 00:10:06,355
television news commentator,
Mr. Howard Beale.
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00:10:06,439 --> 00:10:08,983
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like at this moment
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00:10:09,025 --> 00:10:10,693
to announce
that I will be retiring
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00:10:10,776 --> 00:10:13,112
from this program
in two weeks' time
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00:10:13,154 --> 00:10:14,655
because of poor ratings.
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00:10:14,697 --> 00:10:16,282
Since this show was
the only thing
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I had going for me in my life,
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00:10:17,992 --> 00:10:20,119
I have decided to kill myself.
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00:10:20,161 --> 00:10:23,289
I'm gonna blow my brains out
right on this program
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00:10:23,331 --> 00:10:25,791
a week from today.
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00:10:25,833 --> 00:10:27,335
What the hell's going on?
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00:10:29,003 --> 00:10:30,338
Prepare yourself
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00:10:30,379 --> 00:10:33,007
for a perfectly outrageous
motion picture.
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00:10:33,090 --> 00:10:36,093
Did you see Paddy
as an unassuming writer?
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00:10:36,177 --> 00:10:38,846
Or was he someone
who you knew was a force?
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00:10:38,929 --> 00:10:40,181
I knew.
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00:10:40,222 --> 00:10:42,058
I mean,
Paddy always talked about
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the struggle
in the soul of-- of people,
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00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,689
but he never preached.
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00:10:48,773 --> 00:10:50,149
It always came out of character.
190
00:10:50,191 --> 00:10:52,401
We know things are bad,
worse than bad.
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00:10:52,485 --> 00:10:53,861
They're crazy.
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00:10:53,903 --> 00:10:55,655
It's like everything everywhere
is going crazy,
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00:10:55,696 --> 00:10:57,073
so we don't go out anymore.
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00:10:57,156 --> 00:10:59,033
We sit in the house,
and slowly the world
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00:10:59,075 --> 00:11:01,160
we're living in is getting
smaller, and all we say is,
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00:11:01,202 --> 00:11:03,996
"Please, at least leave us alone
in our living rooms.
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00:11:04,038 --> 00:11:07,458
"Let me have my toaster and my
TV and my steel-belted radials
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00:11:07,541 --> 00:11:09,627
and I won't say anything.
Just leave us alone."
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00:11:09,710 --> 00:11:11,170
Well, I'm not going to leave
you alone.
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00:11:11,212 --> 00:11:14,882
And it showed the
complex personalities of people
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00:11:14,965 --> 00:11:17,968
who create entertainment
and create the news
202
00:11:18,052 --> 00:11:19,887
and what all the politics are
behind the scenes
203
00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:21,555
and all the personal
relationships
204
00:11:21,639 --> 00:11:25,017
and how ego gets in the way
of people doing the right thing.
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00:11:25,059 --> 00:11:26,227
Greed.
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00:11:26,268 --> 00:11:27,728
Howard Beale went out there
last night
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00:11:27,812 --> 00:11:29,063
and said what every American
feels,
208
00:11:29,105 --> 00:11:30,648
that he's tired
of all the bullshit.
209
00:11:30,731 --> 00:11:34,235
He's articulating
the popular rage.
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00:11:34,318 --> 00:11:36,028
I want that show, Frank.
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00:11:36,070 --> 00:11:38,906
I can turn that show into
the biggest smash on television.
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00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:44,412
Okay, we're going live
in 10, Howard.
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00:11:44,453 --> 00:11:46,330
Good evening.
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00:11:47,790 --> 00:11:50,710
What Paddy was able to do,
215
00:11:50,751 --> 00:11:53,838
as a brilliant playwright,
216
00:11:53,921 --> 00:11:56,048
screenwriter,
217
00:11:56,090 --> 00:12:00,594
was to be able to articulate
the anger,
218
00:12:00,636 --> 00:12:03,305
to put it into
219
00:12:03,389 --> 00:12:06,517
an expressive, honest,
220
00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,602
relatable manner
221
00:12:08,644 --> 00:12:12,273
so that the audience
doesn't put up a wall to it
222
00:12:12,356 --> 00:12:15,776
but allows that kind of energy
to come into them,
223
00:12:15,860 --> 00:12:18,028
feel it themselves.
224
00:12:19,613 --> 00:12:22,283
Dr. Bock:
We manufacture genes.
225
00:12:22,366 --> 00:12:25,953
We can produce birth
ectogenetically.
226
00:12:26,036 --> 00:12:29,832
We can practically clone people
like carrots.
227
00:12:29,915 --> 00:12:31,709
And half the kids in this ghetto
228
00:12:31,792 --> 00:12:33,961
haven't even been inoculated
for polio.
229
00:12:35,421 --> 00:12:38,966
We have established
the most enormous
230
00:12:39,008 --> 00:12:45,097
medical entity ever conceived,
231
00:12:45,139 --> 00:12:48,726
and people are sicker than ever.
232
00:12:48,809 --> 00:12:51,812
We cure nothing!
233
00:12:51,854 --> 00:12:54,356
We heal nothing!
234
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,902
I mean, he was arguably
the best we had then.
235
00:12:57,985 --> 00:13:01,071
When I met him,
I remember vividly,
236
00:13:01,155 --> 00:13:03,282
as he made me feel like an idiot
237
00:13:03,324 --> 00:13:05,993
because he said,
"Why do you want to do it?"
238
00:13:06,035 --> 00:13:07,953
I said,
"Well, what do you mean?"
239
00:13:07,995 --> 00:13:09,997
He got to what he meant,
which was,
240
00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,082
"How many films you got in you?
241
00:13:12,166 --> 00:13:14,376
You know? You got 10?
You got 15?
242
00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:16,045
I know you're
somewhat selective."
243
00:13:16,128 --> 00:13:18,506
He says, "Me?
I got what, a few, handful?
244
00:13:18,589 --> 00:13:19,924
That's it."
245
00:13:20,007 --> 00:13:22,092
He says, "So, which ones
should we make?"
246
00:13:22,176 --> 00:13:23,844
He says,
"If we don't make the films
247
00:13:23,928 --> 00:13:26,680
that cut to our very marrow,
248
00:13:26,722 --> 00:13:28,140
then we shouldn't be doing it."
249
00:13:28,182 --> 00:13:30,476
I met Paddy Chayefsky
at Catch a Rising Star,
250
00:13:30,518 --> 00:13:34,146
and it was one of those,
like, amazing nights
251
00:13:34,188 --> 00:13:36,941
where you go home and you go,
"Look who I just met."
252
00:13:37,024 --> 00:13:39,109
The writing style
he chose, the--
253
00:13:39,193 --> 00:13:40,486
just the anger he came from--
254
00:13:40,528 --> 00:13:41,946
did you sense
that when you met him?
255
00:13:42,029 --> 00:13:44,073
He was a-- You could tell--
256
00:13:44,156 --> 00:13:47,243
I remember it was a summer,
so it was hot.
257
00:13:47,326 --> 00:13:48,869
So everybody's a little angry.
258
00:13:48,911 --> 00:13:51,622
You know,
he was a regular kind of guy
259
00:13:51,705 --> 00:13:53,165
who wrote masterpieces.
260
00:13:53,207 --> 00:13:56,710
My impression of him
was a genius,
261
00:13:56,794 --> 00:13:58,462
but something was boiling.
262
00:13:58,546 --> 00:14:00,464
Everybody's looking for
their true selves.
263
00:14:00,548 --> 00:14:03,509
We're all trying
to fulfill ourselves,
264
00:14:03,551 --> 00:14:06,178
understand ourselves,
get in touch with ourselves,
265
00:14:06,220 --> 00:14:08,013
face the reality of ourselves,
266
00:14:08,055 --> 00:14:10,641
explore ourselves,
expand ourselves.
267
00:14:10,724 --> 00:14:12,476
Ever since we dispensed
with God,
268
00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:13,894
we've got nothing but ourselves
269
00:14:13,936 --> 00:14:16,730
to explain
this meaningless horror of life.
270
00:14:16,772 --> 00:14:19,900
You're a wacko.
271
00:14:19,942 --> 00:14:22,278
Well, I think that
that true self,
272
00:14:22,361 --> 00:14:24,905
that original self,
that first self is,
273
00:14:24,989 --> 00:14:27,783
a real, mensurate,
quantifiable thing,
274
00:14:27,867 --> 00:14:30,244
tangible and incarnate.
275
00:14:31,579 --> 00:14:33,956
And I'm going to find
the fucker.
276
00:14:34,039 --> 00:14:37,001
There's a fear
in the commercial industry
277
00:14:37,084 --> 00:14:39,795
of provoking, and that's all--
278
00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:42,631
It runs through television,
and it runs through film.
279
00:14:42,715 --> 00:14:44,091
It's just--
280
00:14:44,174 --> 00:14:46,760
It's cowardly,
but it's protective.
281
00:14:46,802 --> 00:14:50,264
And there's this fear that,
"I'm going too far."
282
00:14:50,347 --> 00:14:52,182
What did I do?
Will you tell me that, please?
283
00:14:52,266 --> 00:14:53,601
- What did I do?
- I didn't expect
284
00:14:53,642 --> 00:14:55,603
I'd stay more than
two or three weeks.
285
00:14:55,644 --> 00:14:57,229
I did everything I could
to make you happy.
286
00:14:57,271 --> 00:14:59,189
Been out here
more than two months now.
287
00:14:59,273 --> 00:15:03,193
I gave a $10,000 tithe to the
furthering of missionary work.
288
00:15:03,277 --> 00:15:05,571
Honey, your Uncle George--
289
00:15:05,613 --> 00:15:08,115
he's more in bed than out,
he's that sick.
290
00:15:08,157 --> 00:15:10,117
And Alice Marie tends the store.
291
00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,578
They can hardly make
do without me.
292
00:15:14,038 --> 00:15:15,998
Nothing I do pleases you,
does it?
293
00:15:16,081 --> 00:15:18,918
Nothing I ever did pleases you!
294
00:15:18,959 --> 00:15:21,629
All you know
is to just run off on me.
295
00:15:21,712 --> 00:15:23,589
I hate you so much,
I don't know how to tell you
296
00:15:23,631 --> 00:15:25,090
how much I hate you.
297
00:15:25,132 --> 00:15:27,259
You just get out of my house!
Just get out!
298
00:15:27,301 --> 00:15:30,471
You never cared whether I lived
or died, so just get out!
299
00:15:30,554 --> 00:15:33,265
I never want to see you again,
not even in your grave.
300
00:15:33,307 --> 00:15:35,809
And I hope you do die.
I hope you do.
301
00:15:35,851 --> 00:15:38,646
I hope your heart just explodes!
302
00:15:38,687 --> 00:15:40,314
I just want you to know that!
303
00:15:40,356 --> 00:15:42,358
You want to capture a moment.
304
00:15:42,441 --> 00:15:44,151
You want to get the attention
of the audience.
305
00:15:44,193 --> 00:15:45,861
And I love that in film.
306
00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:48,864
And that's why
I was attracted to him.
307
00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:51,075
There ain't no God!
308
00:15:51,158 --> 00:15:52,660
Do you hear me?!
309
00:15:52,743 --> 00:15:56,080
There ain't no God!
310
00:15:56,163 --> 00:15:59,500
Did you hear what I said?!
311
00:15:59,583 --> 00:16:02,169
There ain't no God!
312
00:16:02,252 --> 00:16:04,505
There ain't no God!
313
00:16:04,588 --> 00:16:07,341
There ain't!
314
00:16:07,424 --> 00:16:10,511
There ain't no God!
315
00:16:16,016 --> 00:16:17,893
There's a lot
of shouting going on.
316
00:16:17,977 --> 00:16:20,521
There's a lot of...
317
00:16:20,562 --> 00:16:23,732
There is a-- There's a lot
of angry creativity.
318
00:16:23,816 --> 00:16:27,987
But finally, what Chayefsky's
about is a massive talent.
319
00:16:33,033 --> 00:16:35,244
He's amazingly underappreciated.
320
00:16:35,327 --> 00:16:36,996
That isn't why he consumes me.
321
00:16:37,037 --> 00:16:38,414
Because I'm consumed with him,
322
00:16:38,497 --> 00:16:41,041
I know that he's
amazingly underappreciated.
323
00:16:42,584 --> 00:16:46,630
The golden ring is somehow
the stuff that you're doing
324
00:16:46,714 --> 00:16:49,633
has something
to do with self-expression,
325
00:16:49,717 --> 00:16:52,511
rather than serving what's hot.
326
00:16:52,553 --> 00:16:54,430
You know,
that's the golden ring.
327
00:16:54,513 --> 00:16:57,266
You're lucky-- You're lucky
if you can even try for that.
328
00:16:57,349 --> 00:16:58,726
And when you try for that,
329
00:16:58,767 --> 00:17:01,729
I find it a tremendously
humbling experience.
330
00:17:07,401 --> 00:17:11,572
I believe that all the shit
that goes down and, you know--
331
00:17:11,613 --> 00:17:13,907
and the kind of stuff
that people go through,
332
00:17:13,949 --> 00:17:17,911
if you go through it for--
for writing, it's righteous.
333
00:17:17,953 --> 00:17:20,247
You know, some of the stuff,
some of the glad-handing,
334
00:17:20,289 --> 00:17:22,249
some of the, you know,
"I want to impress this person,"
335
00:17:22,291 --> 00:17:25,294
you know, it's humiliating,
it's shameful,
336
00:17:25,377 --> 00:17:27,004
it's necessary,
it's whatever it is.
337
00:17:27,087 --> 00:17:30,090
When you when you go through
all that stuff for writing,
338
00:17:30,132 --> 00:17:32,051
it's a--
it's a righteous struggle.
339
00:17:32,092 --> 00:17:34,178
And I think that dignifies it.
340
00:17:34,261 --> 00:17:37,723
He's just as good a writer
as there ever was,
341
00:17:37,765 --> 00:17:39,641
so far as I was concerned.
342
00:17:39,725 --> 00:17:41,435
The name, when you go around
343
00:17:41,518 --> 00:17:44,521
and you say "Paddy Chayefsky,"
no one really registers.
344
00:17:44,605 --> 00:17:49,109
Uh, they're not as smart
as they should be.
345
00:17:52,488 --> 00:17:55,532
Uh, thank you.
346
00:17:55,616 --> 00:17:57,785
It's impossible
to describe what it feels like
347
00:17:57,868 --> 00:17:59,119
to be handed the same award
348
00:17:59,161 --> 00:18:00,496
that was given
to Paddy Chayefsky
349
00:18:00,579 --> 00:18:02,706
35 years ago for another movie
350
00:18:02,790 --> 00:18:04,583
with "Network" in the title.
351
00:18:06,293 --> 00:18:07,878
You see a guy
like Aaron Sorkin.
352
00:18:07,961 --> 00:18:09,213
Yes.
353
00:18:09,296 --> 00:18:10,297
Would you say that--
354
00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:11,882
Are these new screenwriters,
355
00:18:11,965 --> 00:18:15,344
are they heir apparents
to what Chayefsky was about?
356
00:18:15,427 --> 00:18:18,097
Yeah. To-- To the Chayefskys, absolutely.
357
00:18:18,138 --> 00:18:19,973
Aaron Sorkin especially.
358
00:18:20,057 --> 00:18:24,144
Bold, courageous,
but good writing.
359
00:18:24,228 --> 00:18:25,646
You know,
you have to be a writer.
360
00:18:25,687 --> 00:18:26,939
You have to start
with something.
361
00:18:26,980 --> 00:18:28,857
You're not just there to rebel.
362
00:18:28,941 --> 00:18:31,318
It was Paddy Chayefsky
and Jim Brooks,
363
00:18:31,401 --> 00:18:35,155
the combination of "Network"
and "Broadcast News"
364
00:18:35,197 --> 00:18:38,283
that really woke me up
365
00:18:38,325 --> 00:18:40,702
to a, "I think
I want to do that."
366
00:18:40,786 --> 00:18:44,081
It felt to me--
Their writing just felt to me--
367
00:18:44,164 --> 00:18:48,877
Like, he had that energy, and he
just burst into those speeches
368
00:18:48,961 --> 00:18:50,504
and he did not stop for dinner.
369
00:18:50,587 --> 00:18:54,258
I want you to get up right now
and go to the window,
370
00:18:54,341 --> 00:18:57,511
open it, and stick your head out
and yell,
371
00:18:57,594 --> 00:19:01,473
"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm
not going to take this anymore!"
372
00:19:01,515 --> 00:19:05,185
In the take
that Lumet uses in the film,
373
00:19:05,227 --> 00:19:07,271
Peter Finch got the line wrong.
374
00:19:07,354 --> 00:19:09,523
Um, he says--
375
00:19:09,565 --> 00:19:12,609
What we see him say is,
"I'm as mad as hell,
376
00:19:12,693 --> 00:19:14,111
and I'm not gonna take
it anymore,"
377
00:19:14,194 --> 00:19:15,696
when what Paddy wrote is,
378
00:19:15,737 --> 00:19:17,614
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not
gonna take it anymore."
379
00:19:17,698 --> 00:19:21,869
There's no "as."
And you can see proof of that.
380
00:19:21,910 --> 00:19:26,540
When the people start opening
their windows and shouting,
381
00:19:26,582 --> 00:19:28,750
they're shouting the line
that Paddy wrote.
382
00:19:28,834 --> 00:19:31,712
I'm mad as hell!
I'm not gonna take it anymore!
383
00:19:31,753 --> 00:19:33,630
I'm mad as hell and I'm not
gonna take it anymore!
384
00:19:33,714 --> 00:19:37,176
- I'm not gonna take it anymore!
- Gave Peter Finch one take,
385
00:19:37,217 --> 00:19:39,344
got the line wrong, and Lumet--
386
00:19:39,386 --> 00:19:41,471
they used the take where the
line was wrong.
387
00:19:41,555 --> 00:19:44,683
I can tell you that would
not happen on a Sorkin set.
388
00:19:44,725 --> 00:19:46,435
So, how in control is he?
389
00:19:46,518 --> 00:19:49,938
Oh, that-- The entire speech
is written around,
390
00:19:50,022 --> 00:19:52,983
"I'm mad as hell."
391
00:19:53,066 --> 00:19:56,111
The notion of me getting up
there or anybody else and going,
392
00:19:56,195 --> 00:19:57,738
"I'm as mad as hell"--
393
00:19:57,779 --> 00:19:59,114
It would be like,
"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!"
394
00:19:59,198 --> 00:20:02,075
It would have been a nuclear
395
00:20:02,117 --> 00:20:04,036
moment of shut down.
396
00:20:04,077 --> 00:20:05,746
On one word?
397
00:20:05,787 --> 00:20:07,831
- Oh, yeah.
- On "Network,"
398
00:20:07,915 --> 00:20:09,374
I don't know
if you've seen the poster,
399
00:20:09,416 --> 00:20:10,918
but it says
"by Paddy Chayefsky."
400
00:20:11,001 --> 00:20:12,586
- That's right.
- Not "written by."
401
00:20:12,669 --> 00:20:14,254
- It's "by."
- Oh, that's interesting.
402
00:20:14,338 --> 00:20:15,422
- I didn't notice that.
- Yeah.
403
00:20:15,464 --> 00:20:17,049
And Aaron's obsessed, he says,
404
00:20:17,090 --> 00:20:20,260
with the fact that he got "by"
and not "written by."
405
00:20:20,344 --> 00:20:22,054
- And it's funny because...
- Wow.
406
00:20:22,095 --> 00:20:24,389
...there are not
many powerful writers
407
00:20:24,431 --> 00:20:26,808
like Aaron is where he's the
marketable name up top.
408
00:20:26,892 --> 00:20:28,477
- That's right.
- There's probably
409
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:29,937
- only one, and he's the one.
- That's right.
410
00:20:29,978 --> 00:20:32,522
Chayefsky was the one then.
411
00:20:32,606 --> 00:20:34,858
Are we using Squeaky Fromme?
412
00:20:34,942 --> 00:20:39,112
Let's do that in two.
Squeaky, Ford at the airport.
413
00:20:39,154 --> 00:20:40,614
Bump.
414
00:20:40,697 --> 00:20:42,366
Now, we using a map
going into San Francisco?
415
00:20:42,449 --> 00:20:44,618
My favorite thing
about "Network"
416
00:20:44,660 --> 00:20:48,247
is the "by Paddy Chayefsky,"
the "by" credit.
417
00:20:49,456 --> 00:20:52,334
There's a strange thing
in movies
418
00:20:52,417 --> 00:20:54,753
that the director is the one
419
00:20:54,795 --> 00:20:56,964
who gets the possessory
credit-- "A film by."
420
00:20:57,047 --> 00:21:00,300
I don't know
why the credit "directed by"
421
00:21:00,384 --> 00:21:02,469
isn't good enough
for the director,
422
00:21:02,511 --> 00:21:05,472
but "Network" is
by Paddy Chayefsky
423
00:21:05,555 --> 00:21:10,269
and directed perfectly
by Sidney Lumet.
424
00:21:10,310 --> 00:21:11,687
And did you do a deep dive
425
00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:13,355
when you were exposed
to "Network"
426
00:21:13,438 --> 00:21:14,982
- and then you kind of looked...
- Oh, yeah.
427
00:21:15,023 --> 00:21:18,568
Then I had to see everything
else this guy had done.
428
00:21:18,652 --> 00:21:20,487
I mean, I think anybody would.
You're--
429
00:21:20,529 --> 00:21:23,115
You're watching "Network,"
and you want to know--
430
00:21:23,156 --> 00:21:27,077
You just want to spend more time
with the guy who wrote that.
431
00:21:40,507 --> 00:21:42,509
I've read two biographies
about the guy.
432
00:21:42,592 --> 00:21:44,177
They're both
called "Mad as Hell."
433
00:21:45,679 --> 00:21:48,140
Um... that's pretty good,
that you've--
434
00:21:48,181 --> 00:21:51,476
that you've written something
that's so in the zeitgeist
435
00:21:51,518 --> 00:21:54,271
that two authors can't think
of a better title.
436
00:21:55,856 --> 00:21:57,190
He had a voice.
437
00:21:57,232 --> 00:21:59,192
The voice came from who he was,
438
00:21:59,234 --> 00:22:00,986
what his upbringing was.
439
00:22:01,028 --> 00:22:02,362
There's a component of it
440
00:22:02,446 --> 00:22:04,489
that comes from his Jewishness,
for sure.
441
00:22:04,531 --> 00:22:08,827
If you are raised Jewish
in an urban setting in America,
442
00:22:08,869 --> 00:22:11,705
social justice is just
sort of baked into
443
00:22:11,788 --> 00:22:13,373
the education that you get.
444
00:22:13,415 --> 00:22:16,251
It-- It's just talked about
constantly.
445
00:22:16,335 --> 00:22:21,548
Paddy Chayefsky was obviously
fed a lot of that as a kid,
446
00:22:21,631 --> 00:22:24,509
and so much of his work
447
00:22:24,551 --> 00:22:28,055
is about that quest
for social justice.
448
00:22:29,890 --> 00:22:31,725
If you are a Russian Jew,
449
00:22:31,767 --> 00:22:34,227
you got chased to this country.
450
00:22:34,269 --> 00:22:36,313
Listen, there's
a whole generation,
451
00:22:36,396 --> 00:22:39,524
a whole species of us who,
452
00:22:39,566 --> 00:22:44,029
because our grandparents
did not have it easy,
453
00:22:44,071 --> 00:22:47,491
what they instilled
in my parents generation
454
00:22:47,574 --> 00:22:49,576
was the importance
of an education
455
00:22:49,659 --> 00:22:51,036
and work with your mind.
456
00:22:51,078 --> 00:22:53,538
And then our parents
handed that down to us.
457
00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:56,124
Paddy Chayefsky went to
DeWitt Clinton High School,
458
00:22:56,208 --> 00:22:57,209
which I attended.
459
00:22:57,250 --> 00:22:59,294
James Baldwin, Neil Simon,
460
00:22:59,378 --> 00:23:02,381
Burt Lancaster,
tons of wonderful people.
461
00:23:02,422 --> 00:23:04,383
He was born Sidney Chayefsky,
462
00:23:04,424 --> 00:23:06,218
and he's a Bronx-born Jew.
463
00:23:06,259 --> 00:23:10,555
Nobody in that family
was ever named Paddy or Patrick
464
00:23:10,597 --> 00:23:12,599
or called that as a nickname.
465
00:23:12,641 --> 00:23:16,603
But it wasn't until he went off
to fight in World War II,
466
00:23:16,686 --> 00:23:20,774
where he was a kind of indolent,
lazy soldier,
467
00:23:20,857 --> 00:23:22,359
at least by his own account,
468
00:23:22,442 --> 00:23:24,653
and often trying
to get out of, you know,
469
00:23:24,736 --> 00:23:27,447
his own kind of
training and routines.
470
00:23:27,531 --> 00:23:29,324
And so the officer,
seeing right through it,
471
00:23:29,408 --> 00:23:30,951
says, "Oh, sure you do, Paddy,"
472
00:23:30,992 --> 00:23:34,454
as if he were, you know,
an Irish Catholic,
473
00:23:34,538 --> 00:23:36,790
knowing that he's talking
to a Jew.
474
00:23:36,873 --> 00:23:39,668
His friends, he started--
they started teasing him,
475
00:23:39,751 --> 00:23:41,753
calling him "Paddy,"
like, you know, Saint Patrick.
476
00:23:41,795 --> 00:23:44,464
So it was given to him as a--
477
00:23:44,506 --> 00:23:46,049
as a-- as a joke, almost.
478
00:23:46,133 --> 00:23:48,260
Chayefsky himself
sort of took it to heart
479
00:23:48,301 --> 00:23:51,263
and redubbed himself "Paddy."
480
00:23:51,304 --> 00:23:54,057
But certainly by the time
he comes out of the Army
481
00:23:54,141 --> 00:23:57,310
at the end of World War II,
he's calling himself Paddy,
482
00:23:57,394 --> 00:23:58,895
and that's the name that stuck.
483
00:23:58,979 --> 00:24:00,856
He did like
the sound of it, though,
484
00:24:00,939 --> 00:24:04,317
and he very much liked how it
upended people's expectations
485
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,153
about who he might be.
486
00:24:08,864 --> 00:24:11,825
When you grow up as a kid
with a name like "Norbert Butz,"
487
00:24:11,867 --> 00:24:14,661
I always felt sort of
very much on the outside,
488
00:24:14,744 --> 00:24:17,330
and I started to see
Chayefsky as someone
489
00:24:17,414 --> 00:24:19,833
who was on the outside, as well.
490
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:22,252
And the moment that really,
really clicked for me
491
00:24:22,335 --> 00:24:25,589
is when I found out about
his injury during World War II.
492
00:24:25,672 --> 00:24:28,508
That was an event that I
493
00:24:28,550 --> 00:24:30,969
really, really, really
thought a lot about.
494
00:24:31,011 --> 00:24:32,387
He was injured.
495
00:24:32,471 --> 00:24:34,723
He basically sat on a land mine
496
00:24:34,806 --> 00:24:37,100
in the middle of a battle.
497
00:24:37,184 --> 00:24:38,643
And the eyewitness account
498
00:24:38,685 --> 00:24:41,146
was that there was terrible,
terrible scarring.
499
00:24:41,188 --> 00:24:43,982
When I started thinking
about sort of the complexity
500
00:24:44,024 --> 00:24:45,775
of balancing those two sides
of himself,
501
00:24:45,859 --> 00:24:48,820
this outward persona
of a brilliant,
502
00:24:48,862 --> 00:24:52,574
articulate bulldog of a man,
503
00:24:52,657 --> 00:24:54,034
and then on the other side,
504
00:24:54,075 --> 00:24:56,953
this man who was plagued
with a secret.
505
00:24:57,037 --> 00:24:58,705
When he was in the army,
he wrote something
506
00:24:58,788 --> 00:25:00,874
called "The Fugue
of the Manic Depressive,"
507
00:25:00,957 --> 00:25:02,792
which immediately
got my interest.
508
00:25:02,876 --> 00:25:06,296
I would give anything to hear it
if anyone has a copy of it.
509
00:25:06,379 --> 00:25:08,757
It's apparently guys in the army
510
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,720
trying to get release by touting
their emotional disorders,
511
00:25:13,762 --> 00:25:16,097
which is so up my alley.
512
00:25:16,181 --> 00:25:18,141
I need to hear that.
513
00:25:24,105 --> 00:25:26,191
You would think,
"Well, it rolls."
514
00:25:26,233 --> 00:25:27,817
It doesn't roll.
515
00:25:27,901 --> 00:25:29,569
You would think,
"Well, they just knock them off.
516
00:25:29,611 --> 00:25:31,863
You know? It comes."
It doesn't.
517
00:25:31,905 --> 00:25:34,783
Paddy worked harder, draft--
518
00:25:34,866 --> 00:25:36,243
You talked about it.
519
00:25:36,284 --> 00:25:38,912
Draft after draft after draft.
520
00:25:38,954 --> 00:25:42,457
Screenwriting-- it's
the same as playing the violin.
521
00:25:42,541 --> 00:25:44,376
Practice is gonna
make you better.
522
00:25:44,417 --> 00:25:48,672
However good you think you are
right out of the gate--
523
00:25:48,755 --> 00:25:50,715
and maybe you're a prodigy--
524
00:25:50,757 --> 00:25:54,594
you are gonna get better
in time.
525
00:25:56,930 --> 00:26:00,934
There's a part of screenwriting
that can be taught and learned,
526
00:26:00,976 --> 00:26:02,769
but there's a part
of screenwriting that can't.
527
00:26:02,852 --> 00:26:05,981
And the part that can't
is usually what we mean
528
00:26:06,064 --> 00:26:08,149
when we use the word "talent."
529
00:26:32,507 --> 00:26:36,303
I'm so old that I remember
the Golden Age of Television.
530
00:26:36,344 --> 00:26:37,804
Or I guess we now should call it
531
00:26:37,887 --> 00:26:39,639
the First Golden Age
of Television.
532
00:26:39,723 --> 00:26:44,311
So, I remember watching
television shows
533
00:26:44,352 --> 00:26:46,021
that were written by Chayefsky
534
00:26:46,104 --> 00:26:49,858
and that whole incredible
group of writers.
535
00:26:51,985 --> 00:26:54,029
I haven't seen
enough of the "Playhouse,"
536
00:26:54,112 --> 00:26:56,990
but that seems to be
like a stepping stone,
537
00:26:57,073 --> 00:27:01,077
where the playwrights got to put
words in front of the camera.
538
00:27:01,161 --> 00:27:04,331
Because you're in a TV studio
in New York City,
539
00:27:04,372 --> 00:27:05,957
so you don't have effects
540
00:27:05,999 --> 00:27:08,293
and all the stuff that we
have now, not even close.
541
00:27:08,335 --> 00:27:11,504
I mean, you basically
were shooting a play.
542
00:27:11,588 --> 00:27:13,340
And it was still
about the words.
543
00:27:13,381 --> 00:27:16,217
Well, what do you feel
like doing tonight?
544
00:27:16,301 --> 00:27:19,012
I don't know.
What do you feel like doing?
545
00:27:20,263 --> 00:27:22,057
I miss that.
546
00:27:22,140 --> 00:27:24,184
Uh, prior to Paddy Chayefsky,
547
00:27:24,225 --> 00:27:26,061
most of us were considered
to be two-headed hacks
548
00:27:26,144 --> 00:27:28,855
who worked around the clock
and used boy/girl situations
549
00:27:28,938 --> 00:27:32,025
and any one of 5,000
different routine matters.
550
00:27:32,067 --> 00:27:34,194
But Paddy gave us a stature.
551
00:27:35,570 --> 00:27:36,863
Hey, Marty, I'm in a hurry.
552
00:27:36,946 --> 00:27:38,782
You're next right now,
Miss Canduso.
553
00:27:38,865 --> 00:27:40,867
When you gonna get married,
Marty?
554
00:27:40,950 --> 00:27:42,452
Should be ashamed of yourself.
555
00:27:42,535 --> 00:27:45,121
All your brothers and sisters
younger than you,
556
00:27:45,205 --> 00:27:47,207
they get married
and got the children.
557
00:27:47,290 --> 00:27:49,209
I meet your mother
in the fruit store.
558
00:27:49,250 --> 00:27:53,004
She said to me, "Hey, you know
a nice girl for my boy, Marty?"
559
00:27:53,046 --> 00:27:55,382
What's the matter with you?
That's a no way.
560
00:27:55,465 --> 00:27:57,050
- What's the matter with you?
- Uh, Miss Fus--
561
00:27:57,092 --> 00:27:59,177
Paddy wrote
absolutely brilliantly
562
00:27:59,219 --> 00:28:02,055
of himself and his family,
his background.
563
00:28:02,138 --> 00:28:04,265
I think I did
about eight or nine
564
00:28:04,349 --> 00:28:06,518
television shows with Paddy
and three feature films.
565
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:09,854
His stories at that time
were all about the Bronx,
566
00:28:09,896 --> 00:28:12,732
the Jewish Bronx lingo
567
00:28:12,774 --> 00:28:15,110
and patois and attitudes.
568
00:28:15,193 --> 00:28:17,320
However, when we did "Marty,"
569
00:28:17,404 --> 00:28:20,657
I do remember distinctively
that the response
570
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:23,660
from people everywhere,
571
00:28:23,743 --> 00:28:25,954
both by phone and by mail,
572
00:28:26,037 --> 00:28:31,084
and people of obvious, great
variety of ethnic backgrounds,
573
00:28:31,126 --> 00:28:33,586
all essentially saying
the same thing--
574
00:28:33,628 --> 00:28:35,755
"This is the story of my life."
575
00:28:35,839 --> 00:28:40,218
He touched people
across a wide scope.
576
00:28:40,260 --> 00:28:43,805
I remember
the first exposure I had to him
577
00:28:43,888 --> 00:28:45,515
was the movie "Marty."
578
00:28:45,598 --> 00:28:49,519
And you had this overweight,
homely man, Marty,
579
00:28:49,602 --> 00:28:51,813
played by Ernest Borgnine.
580
00:28:52,939 --> 00:28:55,817
He's a butcher, right?
581
00:28:55,900 --> 00:29:00,613
And he had a group of friends
who sat around--
582
00:29:00,655 --> 00:29:02,323
"What are you gonna--
What are we gonna do tonight?
583
00:29:02,407 --> 00:29:05,285
- What are we gonna do tonight?"
- See ya, Joe.
584
00:29:05,326 --> 00:29:08,288
What do you feel like
doing tonight?
585
00:29:08,329 --> 00:29:09,914
I don't know, Ang.
586
00:29:09,956 --> 00:29:12,125
What do you feel like doing?
587
00:29:12,208 --> 00:29:15,503
Well, we ought to do something.
It's Saturday night.
588
00:29:15,587 --> 00:29:17,839
I don't want to go bowling
like last Saturday.
589
00:29:17,922 --> 00:29:19,382
Right on the corner,
590
00:29:19,466 --> 00:29:22,135
we're at South 3rd Street
and Hooper in Brooklyn.
591
00:29:22,218 --> 00:29:25,805
So many nights
when I was 16, 17.
592
00:29:25,847 --> 00:29:27,223
"Where do you want to go?"
593
00:29:27,307 --> 00:29:28,850
"I don't know.
Where do you want to go?"
594
00:29:28,933 --> 00:29:31,311
I mean, it was--
He had an amazing ear.
595
00:29:31,394 --> 00:29:34,314
Hey. how about calling up
that big girl
596
00:29:34,355 --> 00:29:36,065
we picked up in the movies
about a month ago
597
00:29:36,149 --> 00:29:38,026
up in the RKO Chester?
598
00:29:38,109 --> 00:29:39,611
Which one was that?
599
00:29:39,652 --> 00:29:41,863
You know, that big girl
that was sitting in front of us
600
00:29:41,946 --> 00:29:43,865
with the skinny friend.
601
00:29:43,948 --> 00:29:45,241
Oh, yeah, yeah.
602
00:29:45,325 --> 00:29:46,993
Remember?
Her name was Mary Feeney.
603
00:29:47,035 --> 00:29:48,328
We took them home
all the way out in Brooklyn?
604
00:29:48,411 --> 00:29:51,206
- Yeah.
- Paddy, like Arthur Miller...
605
00:29:53,458 --> 00:29:57,003
They had this quality.
606
00:29:57,045 --> 00:30:00,423
They took ordinary dialogue,
607
00:30:00,507 --> 00:30:03,510
ordinary speech,
608
00:30:03,551 --> 00:30:06,179
and they sharpened it,
609
00:30:06,262 --> 00:30:09,557
they heightened it,
and they featured it.
610
00:30:09,641 --> 00:30:11,601
But it was just ordinary talk.
611
00:30:11,684 --> 00:30:15,188
There was never
any polysyllabics.
612
00:30:15,230 --> 00:30:18,942
There was never any
big-shot bullshit.
613
00:30:19,025 --> 00:30:20,527
Well, I'm kind of a stocky guy.
614
00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:23,738
The last time we met
was in the RKO Chester.
615
00:30:23,822 --> 00:30:25,198
You was with a friend of yours,
616
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,700
and I was with a friend of mine
named Angie.
617
00:30:27,784 --> 00:30:29,661
This was about a month ago.
618
00:30:29,702 --> 00:30:31,746
That's how I felt
as a young man.
619
00:30:31,830 --> 00:30:35,166
I didn't f-- I felt ugly.
I was rejected.
620
00:30:35,208 --> 00:30:38,211
I was--
a lot of pain inside me.
621
00:30:38,253 --> 00:30:40,421
So I connected.
622
00:30:40,505 --> 00:30:42,882
I'm the fellow who works
in the butcher shop.
623
00:30:44,217 --> 00:30:46,427
Oh. Come on.
Y-You know who I am.
624
00:30:48,388 --> 00:30:49,722
That's right.
625
00:30:49,764 --> 00:30:51,099
And then we went
to Howard Johnson's.
626
00:30:51,182 --> 00:30:53,059
We had hamburgers.
You had a milkshake.
627
00:30:53,142 --> 00:30:54,811
Yeah, that's right.
628
00:30:54,894 --> 00:30:56,771
"Marty" changed everything.
629
00:30:56,855 --> 00:30:58,189
It set it on a different--
630
00:30:58,231 --> 00:31:00,733
Because he,
in that one little moment,
631
00:31:00,775 --> 00:31:04,445
connected with
anyone with a soul,
632
00:31:04,529 --> 00:31:06,239
anyone with a heart.
633
00:31:07,073 --> 00:31:09,701
Yeah, well, what about--
634
00:31:09,742 --> 00:31:11,244
Well, how about
next Saturday night?
635
00:31:11,286 --> 00:31:13,830
A-Are you free
next Saturday night?
636
00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:20,128
Well, what about
the Saturday after that?
637
00:31:20,211 --> 00:31:22,547
Ernest Borgnine
was a movie star.
638
00:31:22,589 --> 00:31:25,049
- Yeah.
- But he was not
639
00:31:25,091 --> 00:31:27,093
a glamorous movie star.
640
00:31:27,135 --> 00:31:29,429
And Paddy Chayefsky--
641
00:31:29,470 --> 00:31:32,432
he was--
he knew who he was.
642
00:31:32,473 --> 00:31:35,560
And, sure,
didn't he want to be, uh,
643
00:31:35,602 --> 00:31:39,772
Bill Holden or all these people
that he wrote for?
644
00:31:39,814 --> 00:31:41,691
- But he wasn't.
- I got hurt enough.
645
00:31:41,774 --> 00:31:43,151
I don't want to get hurt
no more.
646
00:31:43,234 --> 00:31:44,986
I just called up a girl
this afternoon.
647
00:31:45,069 --> 00:31:46,779
I got a real brushoff, boy.
648
00:31:46,821 --> 00:31:49,741
I figured I was past the point
of being hurt, but that hurt.
649
00:31:49,782 --> 00:31:52,160
Some stupid woman who I didn't
even want to call up.
650
00:31:52,243 --> 00:31:53,703
She gave me the brush.
651
00:31:53,786 --> 00:31:55,538
No, Ma, I don't want to go
to the Stardust Ballroom
652
00:31:55,622 --> 00:31:57,290
because all that ever happened
to me there was
653
00:31:57,332 --> 00:32:00,126
girls made me feel
like I was a bug.
654
00:32:00,209 --> 00:32:02,420
I got feelings, you know?
I had enough pain.
655
00:32:02,462 --> 00:32:07,467
- No, thanks. Ma.
- It's such a deep character.
656
00:32:07,508 --> 00:32:11,304
about somebody who,
on the surface, is not deep.
657
00:32:11,387 --> 00:32:14,974
"Marty" speaks to,
we can all be an actor.
658
00:32:15,016 --> 00:32:16,476
We can all--
659
00:32:16,559 --> 00:32:18,019
There are things to say
660
00:32:18,102 --> 00:32:21,481
that this face, this body
could embody.
661
00:32:21,522 --> 00:32:25,109
I'm just a fat little man,
a fat, ugly man.
662
00:32:25,151 --> 00:32:27,987
- You not ugly.
- I'm ugly, I'm ugly, I'm ugly!
663
00:32:28,071 --> 00:32:30,323
- Marty--
- Ma, leave me alone!
664
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,493
You know, I am--
I'm gonna cry.
665
00:32:33,576 --> 00:32:36,829
I'm who I am, and this is--
this is what I want to do.
666
00:32:36,871 --> 00:32:39,624
Ma, what do you want from me?
What do you want from me?
667
00:32:39,666 --> 00:32:41,376
I'm miserable enough as it is.
668
00:32:41,459 --> 00:32:43,294
All right, so I'll go to
the Stardust Ballroom.
669
00:32:43,336 --> 00:32:45,296
I'll put on a blue suit,
and I'll go.
670
00:32:45,338 --> 00:32:47,173
And you know what
I'm gonna get for my trouble?
671
00:32:47,256 --> 00:32:50,093
Heartache.
A big night of heartache.
672
00:32:51,427 --> 00:32:52,804
Why does it
bring you emotion
673
00:32:52,845 --> 00:32:55,682
to talk about "Marty" like that?
674
00:32:55,765 --> 00:32:57,600
Oh.
675
00:32:57,684 --> 00:32:58,893
Look at me.
676
00:32:58,977 --> 00:33:02,021
I mean, you know
we're the ordinary guy.
677
00:33:02,105 --> 00:33:04,524
He was writing himself,
really, as Marty,
678
00:33:04,607 --> 00:33:07,360
a guy who didn't really
score that well with women
679
00:33:07,443 --> 00:33:10,279
and apparently had some sort of
a nightmarish experience
680
00:33:10,363 --> 00:33:13,032
at a junior high school dance,
681
00:33:13,074 --> 00:33:14,701
which I had in common with him.
682
00:33:14,742 --> 00:33:16,327
When I was looking for things
we had in common,
683
00:33:16,369 --> 00:33:18,454
I had a nightmarish experience
684
00:33:18,538 --> 00:33:20,748
at a junior high school dance, too.
685
00:33:23,209 --> 00:33:25,044
Girls just walking up to him
686
00:33:25,086 --> 00:33:27,755
and looking at him
and walking away.
687
00:33:27,839 --> 00:33:30,258
You go there and you're all
dolled up and you're like,
688
00:33:30,341 --> 00:33:33,261
"Hey, this is me at the dance."
689
00:33:33,344 --> 00:33:35,972
And then it turns out, "Oh, no,
no, it's not you at the dance.
690
00:33:36,055 --> 00:33:37,849
It's-- You're nothing
at the dance.
691
00:33:37,890 --> 00:33:39,559
The dance is out there."
692
00:33:45,273 --> 00:33:48,067
Excuse me, Miss,
would you care to dance?
693
00:33:51,904 --> 00:33:53,990
Miss?
694
00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:08,046
It wasn't
terribly sentimental.
695
00:34:08,087 --> 00:34:12,175
It was truthful and painful
696
00:34:12,258 --> 00:34:14,677
to see these two people.
697
00:34:14,761 --> 00:34:17,930
And there is a touch in "Marty"
698
00:34:17,972 --> 00:34:20,516
that is unique.
699
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,061
So when I get out of
700
00:34:23,102 --> 00:34:25,271
the army, Clara, I was lost.
701
00:34:25,354 --> 00:34:28,274
I didn't know
what I wanted to do.
702
00:34:28,357 --> 00:34:30,568
I was 25 years old.
703
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:32,612
What was I gonna do,
go back to my old job
704
00:34:32,653 --> 00:34:35,281
40 cents an hour?
705
00:34:35,323 --> 00:34:37,075
I thought maybe
I'd go to college
706
00:34:37,116 --> 00:34:39,202
under the G.I. Bill of Rights,
you know?
707
00:34:40,453 --> 00:34:42,455
But my brother, Freddie,
he wanted to get married,
708
00:34:42,497 --> 00:34:46,292
and I had three
unmarried sisters.
709
00:34:46,375 --> 00:34:49,879
In an Italian house,
that's a terrible thing.
710
00:34:49,962 --> 00:34:53,049
So I just went to pieces.
711
00:34:53,132 --> 00:34:54,467
I just started weeping.
712
00:34:54,550 --> 00:34:56,344
I'm getting weepy now,
thinking about it.
713
00:34:56,427 --> 00:34:59,097
Yeah, it has-- It was some--
714
00:34:59,138 --> 00:35:03,309
It was a performance worthy
of Paddy Chayefsky's writing.
715
00:35:03,351 --> 00:35:06,020
But he writes humanity,
716
00:35:06,104 --> 00:35:09,315
you know, as the everyman.
717
00:35:09,398 --> 00:35:13,111
It's probably the guy he looked
in the mirror and saw and said,
718
00:35:13,152 --> 00:35:17,448
"All right, so,
who am I in this story?"
719
00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:21,077
I used to walk the streets
till 3:00, 4:00 in the morning.
720
00:35:23,830 --> 00:35:28,167
My poor mother used to be
so worried about me.
721
00:35:33,673 --> 00:35:36,300
God forgive me
what I'm gonna say now, but...
722
00:35:38,344 --> 00:35:40,847
...I used to think of doing away
with myself.
723
00:35:42,849 --> 00:35:44,725
I used to stand on the subway
sometimes--
724
00:35:44,809 --> 00:35:48,896
and God forgive me
what I'm gonna say--
725
00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:50,481
I used to feel the tracks
726
00:35:50,523 --> 00:35:52,191
sucking me down
under the wheels.
727
00:35:52,233 --> 00:35:53,860
Yes, I know.
728
00:35:53,943 --> 00:35:56,779
Ernest Borgnine, "Marty."
729
00:36:04,537 --> 00:36:09,167
Marty, I've known you
for three hours, but...
730
00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:12,044
I know you're a good butcher.
731
00:36:12,086 --> 00:36:18,301
You're an intelligent, decent,
sensitive man, and...
732
00:36:18,384 --> 00:36:22,680
Well, I have a feeling
about you, like...
733
00:36:22,722 --> 00:36:24,807
Well, like, sometimes
one of my kids
734
00:36:24,891 --> 00:36:26,642
comes in to see me
about something or other,
735
00:36:26,726 --> 00:36:29,103
and-- and some of these kids,
Marty, in my classes,
736
00:36:29,187 --> 00:36:31,939
they-- they have so much warmth
737
00:36:32,023 --> 00:36:34,525
and-- and so much capacity.
738
00:36:36,903 --> 00:36:41,199
Well, that's the feeling
I have about you.
739
00:36:42,700 --> 00:36:44,785
This is a special movie.
740
00:36:44,869 --> 00:36:47,455
"Marty" is special
741
00:36:47,538 --> 00:36:50,082
by not being special.
742
00:36:50,166 --> 00:36:52,126
You know?
It's-- It's the everyman.
743
00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:54,378
It's everybody, and that--
744
00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:58,382
And it's everybody
raised to high art
745
00:36:58,424 --> 00:37:01,385
because it's
so beautifully written.
746
00:37:01,427 --> 00:37:05,014
The winner in New York,
"Marty," Paddy Chayefsky.
747
00:37:16,359 --> 00:37:18,319
I'm just very proud
right now.
748
00:37:18,402 --> 00:37:20,905
Thank you very much.
749
00:37:20,947 --> 00:37:23,866
The winner is...
750
00:37:23,950 --> 00:37:26,118
"Marty," Harold Hecht.
751
00:37:29,872 --> 00:37:32,917
That "Marty" won
the Academy Award is a fluke.
752
00:37:32,959 --> 00:37:35,962
Back then,
there was a studio system.
753
00:37:36,003 --> 00:37:39,298
Think of the next
independent movie that won,
754
00:37:39,382 --> 00:37:41,217
that was even nominated.
755
00:37:41,300 --> 00:37:45,513
It was groundbreaking that
attention was paid to "Marty."
756
00:37:45,596 --> 00:37:47,723
- Groundbreaking.
- I studied him.
757
00:37:47,807 --> 00:37:49,267
You know, I studied
where he came from.
758
00:37:49,308 --> 00:37:51,102
I studied--
I think it's fascinating
759
00:37:51,143 --> 00:37:53,479
that he kind of invented
760
00:37:53,562 --> 00:37:56,107
this new form of realism
761
00:37:56,148 --> 00:37:58,609
and dialogue
in his television work.
762
00:37:58,651 --> 00:38:00,319
I look at Paddy Chayefsky's
career
763
00:38:00,361 --> 00:38:03,239
because, again, in TV,
he's cutting his teeth
764
00:38:03,322 --> 00:38:05,825
and he is writing
at a very fast clip
765
00:38:05,908 --> 00:38:07,326
and he's doing
a lot of stuff that--
766
00:38:07,410 --> 00:38:08,828
some of it doesn't work,
some of it does.
767
00:38:08,911 --> 00:38:10,830
He's getting into
a lot of fights,
768
00:38:10,871 --> 00:38:12,415
particularly over casts
769
00:38:12,498 --> 00:38:14,000
and people
trying to change his words.
770
00:38:14,041 --> 00:38:16,210
But when he emerges from that
with "Marty,"
771
00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:18,337
I think he realized, like,
"Okay.
772
00:38:18,421 --> 00:38:21,007
I now have like
sort of found a foundation.
773
00:38:21,048 --> 00:38:23,676
Like, there's a level
that I can't really sink below,
774
00:38:23,718 --> 00:38:25,177
and I'm just gonna try
and stay here."
775
00:38:25,261 --> 00:38:27,013
And I think
That's everyone's goal.
776
00:38:29,015 --> 00:38:33,561
If you're--
If you're a guy who...
777
00:38:36,605 --> 00:38:39,025
watches the film "Marty"
778
00:38:39,066 --> 00:38:44,905
and so deeply Identifies with
the soul of that butcher, right,
779
00:38:44,989 --> 00:38:50,619
of the soul of that man
who's really good at heart,
780
00:38:50,703 --> 00:38:52,788
really wants to do
the right thing,
781
00:38:52,872 --> 00:38:56,542
but is-- but is plagued
by insecurities,
782
00:38:56,584 --> 00:38:59,503
Insecurities based
on his ethnicity,
783
00:38:59,545 --> 00:39:02,506
insecurities based
on his-- his name,
784
00:39:02,548 --> 00:39:04,800
big insecurities based
on his looks--
785
00:39:04,884 --> 00:39:08,220
You know, if you grow up
with a funny name,
786
00:39:08,262 --> 00:39:09,972
and you--
and you don't look like,
787
00:39:10,056 --> 00:39:12,224
you know, you're not a great
athlete, and you're not--
788
00:39:12,308 --> 00:39:15,227
and you're more interested
in books and movies and museums
789
00:39:15,269 --> 00:39:19,565
than you are sports fields
or fraternity houses,
790
00:39:19,648 --> 00:39:21,525
for guys like me,
791
00:39:21,567 --> 00:39:23,944
Paddy Chayefsky sort of becomes
our-- our Gandhi.
792
00:39:24,028 --> 00:39:29,075
He becomes somebody who
legitimizes the basic goodness
793
00:39:29,158 --> 00:39:31,327
and even the--
794
00:39:31,410 --> 00:39:34,580
helps to reframe
what masculinity can be.
795
00:39:38,918 --> 00:39:40,461
I know
I have been conscious
796
00:39:40,544 --> 00:39:42,755
of considerable restraint
in my writing,
797
00:39:42,838 --> 00:39:45,925
the restraint of self-discipline
798
00:39:45,966 --> 00:39:47,760
as to say, the restraint
that a pianist does
799
00:39:47,802 --> 00:39:50,721
when he practices scales
instead of concert pieces.
800
00:39:50,763 --> 00:39:54,558
And about now, I'd like
to get into the concert pieces.
801
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:59,522
And then
this same writer just,
802
00:39:59,605 --> 00:40:02,775
you know,
became our Shakespeare.
803
00:40:02,817 --> 00:40:05,111
Chayefsky got out
of television.
804
00:40:05,194 --> 00:40:07,738
Yeah, he did. And I don't--
I can't match that.
805
00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:09,782
I think this takes
a relative degree of guts
806
00:40:09,865 --> 00:40:11,867
to leave a medium
that's made you,
807
00:40:11,951 --> 00:40:13,828
that's made you a sociable,
as a kind of a household name.
808
00:40:13,911 --> 00:40:15,830
Maybe I don't want to, you know,
get stuck up on the board
809
00:40:15,913 --> 00:40:18,082
and get shot at with darts
in a Broadway play
810
00:40:18,124 --> 00:40:20,126
when I'm not sure
I'm prepared for it.
811
00:40:20,209 --> 00:40:22,420
But Paddy was willing
to take the chance.
812
00:40:22,461 --> 00:40:25,256
Paddy wrote very theatrically.
813
00:40:25,297 --> 00:40:27,675
Nice, big speeches.
814
00:40:27,758 --> 00:40:33,639
I think in some cases, he was
more adept at the stage,
815
00:40:33,681 --> 00:40:36,475
which has much more focus
and energy
816
00:40:36,517 --> 00:40:40,062
on-- on the actual construct
of a sentence
817
00:40:40,146 --> 00:40:46,485
and the verbiage used, than
the cinematic nature of a movie
818
00:40:46,527 --> 00:40:48,779
where they say,
"Show me, don't tell me."
819
00:40:48,821 --> 00:40:51,657
And he would rather tell you
than show you.
820
00:40:51,699 --> 00:40:53,826
And so I think it works
really well,
821
00:40:53,909 --> 00:40:55,453
I think-- I think that was--
822
00:40:55,494 --> 00:40:57,496
"Tenth Man" was
a really good play.
823
00:40:57,538 --> 00:41:00,332
No, life is merely dreary
824
00:41:00,374 --> 00:41:03,919
if you're sane and unbearable,
if you're sensitive.
825
00:41:05,171 --> 00:41:07,590
I can't think
of a more meaningless sham
826
00:41:07,673 --> 00:41:09,717
than my own life.
827
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,095
My radical youth was cut short
when I left the Communist Party,
828
00:41:13,179 --> 00:41:17,141
because I discovered there were
easier ways to seduce girls.
829
00:41:18,517 --> 00:41:24,273
So I turned from reproaching
society for my loneliness
830
00:41:24,356 --> 00:41:27,067
to reproaching my mother.
831
00:41:27,151 --> 00:41:28,903
And one day I stormed
out of the house
832
00:41:28,986 --> 00:41:31,322
and got myself a nice room
on the west side.
833
00:41:31,363 --> 00:41:33,115
And then I fell in love.
834
00:41:34,116 --> 00:41:37,453
That is to say, I found
living alone so unbearable
835
00:41:37,536 --> 00:41:40,080
I was willing to marry.
836
00:41:40,164 --> 00:41:45,544
She married me because all her
friends were marrying somebody.
837
00:41:45,628 --> 00:41:47,087
Needless to say,
838
00:41:47,171 --> 00:41:50,174
we told each other
how deeply in love we were.
839
00:41:50,216 --> 00:41:52,843
We wanted very much to be happy.
840
00:41:52,885 --> 00:41:56,972
Americans, you know,
are frantic about being happy.
841
00:41:57,056 --> 00:41:59,892
The American nirvana
is a man and his wife
842
00:41:59,934 --> 00:42:02,645
watching television amiably
843
00:42:02,728 --> 00:42:04,104
and then turning off the lights
844
00:42:04,188 --> 00:42:08,651
and effortlessly making
the most ardent love.
845
00:42:09,568 --> 00:42:12,571
Television, unfortunately,
is a bore,
846
00:42:12,613 --> 00:42:18,744
and making ardent love is an
enormous drain on my energies.
847
00:42:18,827 --> 00:42:21,664
Everybody else that
we knew were getting married.
848
00:42:21,747 --> 00:42:23,374
So we got married.
849
00:42:23,415 --> 00:42:27,878
I guess we just got tired of
necking in the back of the car.
850
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,089
We used to eat in restaurants
all the time.
851
00:42:31,257 --> 00:42:34,385
Then we'd come home.
We'd watch television.
852
00:42:34,426 --> 00:42:37,096
Around 11:00, we'd...
853
00:42:37,137 --> 00:42:40,641
both march into the bedroom
like it was a gas chamber.
854
00:42:42,685 --> 00:42:45,312
I used to wonder
if everyone was like this.
855
00:42:45,396 --> 00:42:48,983
I must have been unbearable
the last years of our marriage.
856
00:42:49,066 --> 00:42:53,904
I mean, I'd go into silences
that lasted for days.
857
00:42:54,947 --> 00:42:58,200
Poor Georgie,
he'd plead with me,
858
00:42:58,284 --> 00:43:00,077
"What did I do?"
859
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:24,393
What he's got
in his best work,
860
00:43:24,476 --> 00:43:26,186
from my point of view,
861
00:43:26,270 --> 00:43:28,272
is a real understanding
of how a human being
862
00:43:28,314 --> 00:43:31,984
and a personality
is organized and created.
863
00:43:32,026 --> 00:43:35,154
This is the
typewriter of Paddy Chayefsky.
864
00:43:35,237 --> 00:43:37,823
And this is the face
of Kim Stanley.
865
00:43:37,865 --> 00:43:40,075
I think the best version
of it that he had
866
00:43:40,159 --> 00:43:41,327
was "The Goddess."
867
00:43:42,828 --> 00:43:44,622
I want to die!
868
00:43:51,545 --> 00:43:54,590
This is the story of
a woman who became a movie star.
869
00:43:54,673 --> 00:43:58,552
Which is such an homage
to repetition compulsion
870
00:43:58,636 --> 00:43:59,887
that I was thrilled with it.
871
00:43:59,970 --> 00:44:02,640
It thrilled me
that he got it so right.
872
00:44:02,681 --> 00:44:04,016
Repetition compulsion,
873
00:44:04,058 --> 00:44:06,060
well, in "The Goddess,"
you see it.
874
00:44:06,143 --> 00:44:08,729
It's more or less
the story of Marilyn Monroe...
875
00:44:08,812 --> 00:44:10,064
"The Goddess" explores
876
00:44:10,147 --> 00:44:12,358
the desperate
demeaning of love...
877
00:44:12,441 --> 00:44:15,402
Don't you love me?
878
00:44:15,486 --> 00:44:17,696
...and how it becomes
the business of fame.
879
00:44:17,780 --> 00:44:19,740
Why don't you
come to my house tonight,
880
00:44:19,823 --> 00:44:21,825
and we'll discuss
the whole matter.
881
00:44:21,867 --> 00:44:24,244
...and the way
that she was created and the way
882
00:44:24,328 --> 00:44:27,122
that her life played out because
of the way she was created.
883
00:44:27,206 --> 00:44:31,585
And she came from a mother
who was bored and restless
884
00:44:31,669 --> 00:44:33,379
and didn't really want to
have a kid
885
00:44:33,420 --> 00:44:36,215
and created a kid
with a bottomless need,
886
00:44:36,256 --> 00:44:39,343
who then goes on to,
at the same age as her mother,
887
00:44:39,385 --> 00:44:41,178
bored and restless and had a kid
888
00:44:41,220 --> 00:44:43,931
and didn't want the kid
and gives the kid up.
889
00:44:44,014 --> 00:44:45,641
That's repetition compulsion.
890
00:44:45,724 --> 00:44:47,184
It's just this idea
891
00:44:47,226 --> 00:44:50,771
that you are just playing
through the disabilities
892
00:44:50,854 --> 00:44:54,233
and the problems
that your upbringing gave you.
893
00:44:54,316 --> 00:44:56,819
"The Goddess,"
through the story of one woman,
894
00:44:56,902 --> 00:44:59,947
is the public disrobing
of a generation
895
00:45:00,030 --> 00:45:01,907
born in the Depression,
896
00:45:01,990 --> 00:45:05,536
nurtured by war,
obsessed by prosperity.
897
00:45:05,577 --> 00:45:07,246
She's a
Marilyn Monroe character
898
00:45:07,329 --> 00:45:09,081
and she wants to get into
show business
899
00:45:09,123 --> 00:45:10,874
because she thinks that's
where the love is,
900
00:45:10,916 --> 00:45:13,168
because she grew up
in a loveless household.
901
00:45:13,252 --> 00:45:17,715
So she finds a drunk
passed out on the ground,
902
00:45:17,756 --> 00:45:21,009
and he turns out
to be the really screwed-up
903
00:45:21,093 --> 00:45:23,053
son of a Hollywood movie star.
904
00:45:23,095 --> 00:45:25,597
So she starts coddling him
back to health.
905
00:45:25,681 --> 00:45:27,141
And he says to her...
906
00:45:27,224 --> 00:45:30,269
I destroy everything
that means anything to me.
907
00:45:30,769 --> 00:45:32,354
That's not true.
908
00:45:32,438 --> 00:45:35,107
Well, I've never been so happy
in my life
909
00:45:35,149 --> 00:45:37,276
from what you just told me.
910
00:45:38,569 --> 00:45:40,696
I'm too damaged for you, Emmy.
911
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,282
I want to hold you
in my arms, John.
912
00:45:43,323 --> 00:45:45,659
Emmy, why
are we kidding ourselves?
913
00:45:45,743 --> 00:45:47,077
I love you now,
in a half-hour,
914
00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:49,329
I'll wonder
how I ever got into this.
915
00:45:49,413 --> 00:45:50,998
You have a passion
for respectability.
916
00:45:51,081 --> 00:45:53,041
I have a horror of loneliness.
That's love.
917
00:45:53,125 --> 00:45:55,419
The worst thing
that could happen to us is
918
00:45:55,461 --> 00:45:56,837
if we got married.
919
00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:59,506
I'd hate you
before the blush of the ceremony
920
00:45:59,590 --> 00:46:01,800
had gone from your cheeks.
921
00:46:04,803 --> 00:46:07,389
I'd make you a good wife, John.
922
00:46:08,515 --> 00:46:10,350
I'll make you a good home.
923
00:46:10,434 --> 00:46:15,314
It's just-- It's the one thing
that you want to tell all women.
924
00:46:15,355 --> 00:46:19,401
No, no! He just told you
he's going to destroy you.
925
00:46:19,485 --> 00:46:21,737
It's that "He'll be
different with me" stuff.
926
00:46:21,820 --> 00:46:26,909
That's repetition compulsion,
is just moving past anything
927
00:46:26,992 --> 00:46:29,661
that makes any sense to a deep,
dark wound inside you
928
00:46:29,745 --> 00:46:31,872
that came from the way
you were raised.
929
00:46:31,955 --> 00:46:35,751
What are you living for?
What-- Be honest. Tell me.
930
00:46:38,378 --> 00:46:40,130
One of these days,
you'll be necking
931
00:46:40,172 --> 00:46:42,341
in the back of the car
with one of the boys from town,
932
00:46:42,424 --> 00:46:44,343
and because all your friends
are getting married,
933
00:46:44,384 --> 00:46:45,636
you'll get married.
934
00:46:45,677 --> 00:46:47,054
You'll put on weight.
935
00:46:47,137 --> 00:46:49,848
Your husband will take
up with a waitress
936
00:46:49,890 --> 00:46:51,683
in a hotel in Chattanooga.
937
00:46:51,725 --> 00:46:53,227
And you'll have babies,
938
00:46:53,310 --> 00:46:55,854
you'll fret about the rent,
and your hair will gray.
939
00:46:55,938 --> 00:46:57,898
Suddenly, you'll look back
and say, "What happened?
940
00:46:57,981 --> 00:46:58,941
It's all over."
941
00:46:59,024 --> 00:47:00,359
Your friends will die,
942
00:47:00,442 --> 00:47:02,110
and you'll sink in
the melancholic hours,
943
00:47:02,194 --> 00:47:04,613
sitting by a window,
peering with unseeing eyes
944
00:47:04,696 --> 00:47:06,448
through white chintz curtains.
945
00:47:06,532 --> 00:47:08,951
And finally, they'll drop
your long wooden box
946
00:47:09,034 --> 00:47:10,702
into the moldering grave.
947
00:47:10,744 --> 00:47:13,747
And what was it all about
except slings and arrows?
948
00:47:13,831 --> 00:47:19,044
What do you know about it?
Bobby-soxer in a hick town.
949
00:47:20,420 --> 00:47:23,173
You don't know
what loneliness is.
950
00:47:28,554 --> 00:47:31,390
You think it's not having
a date on Saturday night.
951
00:47:31,431 --> 00:47:36,228
You don't know the great,
ultimate ache of desolation.
952
00:47:36,311 --> 00:47:40,190
He is somebody
that you aspire to be.
953
00:47:40,232 --> 00:47:49,157
That that kind of writing,
that that kind of humanity
954
00:47:49,241 --> 00:47:50,909
could come out of this guy.
955
00:47:50,993 --> 00:47:53,370
Of course.
956
00:47:54,788 --> 00:47:58,417
- Italian. Very lovely.
- Thank you, sir.
957
00:48:00,544 --> 00:48:02,754
Cocktails at 5:30,
and heavy on the gin.
958
00:48:02,796 --> 00:48:04,256
Tom, dinner at 6:00 promptly.
959
00:48:04,339 --> 00:48:05,883
Once you've cleared away,
I'll manage from there.
960
00:48:05,924 --> 00:48:07,134
Very good, sir.
961
00:48:07,217 --> 00:48:09,970
You're not limping,
Commander.
962
00:48:11,263 --> 00:48:13,515
It's "The Arabian Nights."
963
00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:15,934
Do you have chests of rubies
in the bathroom?
964
00:48:15,976 --> 00:48:17,311
Just perfumes and liquor.
965
00:48:17,394 --> 00:48:19,229
I've heard about this room,
Commander.
966
00:48:19,271 --> 00:48:21,732
All the girls talk about it,
but I just couldn't believe it.
967
00:48:22,441 --> 00:48:24,443
Bergdorf Goodman,
Saks Fifth Avenue,
968
00:48:24,484 --> 00:48:25,944
Lord and Taylor.
969
00:48:26,028 --> 00:48:28,405
Sheila's right. It is the
swankiest shop in town.
970
00:48:28,447 --> 00:48:30,198
My first exposure
to Mr. Chayefsky
971
00:48:30,282 --> 00:48:32,784
was in
"Americanization of Emily."
972
00:48:32,826 --> 00:48:34,411
James Garner was one
of my favorites,
973
00:48:34,453 --> 00:48:36,455
and Julie Andrews was one
of my favorites.
974
00:48:36,496 --> 00:48:39,416
And to see those two as lovers
in the film was interesting.
975
00:48:39,458 --> 00:48:43,003
How did you manage Arpège
with the Germans in Paris?
976
00:48:43,086 --> 00:48:45,130
There are Germans in Paris,
aren't there?
977
00:48:45,172 --> 00:48:46,882
There is a war on, I think.
978
00:48:46,965 --> 00:48:49,343
You Americans must have heard
something about it, I'm sure.
979
00:48:49,426 --> 00:48:52,220
Just pick out a dress, honey,
and be back at 5:30.
980
00:48:52,304 --> 00:48:55,349
You American haters bore me
to tears, Miss Barham.
981
00:48:55,432 --> 00:48:57,976
I've dealt with Europeans
all my life.
982
00:48:58,060 --> 00:48:59,561
I know all about us
983
00:48:59,645 --> 00:49:01,480
parvenus from the States
who come over here
984
00:49:01,563 --> 00:49:03,315
and race around your
old cathedral towns
985
00:49:03,398 --> 00:49:05,567
with our cameras and Coca-Cola
bottles.
986
00:49:05,651 --> 00:49:07,277
Brawl in your pubs,
987
00:49:07,319 --> 00:49:09,237
paw your women,
and act like we own the world.
988
00:49:09,321 --> 00:49:11,323
We overtip.
We talk too loud.
989
00:49:11,365 --> 00:49:13,909
We think we can buy
anything with a Hershey bar.
990
00:49:13,992 --> 00:49:15,494
I've had Germans and Italians
991
00:49:15,535 --> 00:49:17,329
tell me how
politically ingenuous we are,
992
00:49:17,412 --> 00:49:19,247
and perhaps so,
but we haven't managed
993
00:49:19,331 --> 00:49:21,166
to Hitler or Mussolini yet.
994
00:49:21,208 --> 00:49:22,876
I mean,
"The Americanization of Emily"
995
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:24,586
is an incredible movie
996
00:49:24,670 --> 00:49:26,171
because it was made not
that long after World War II,
997
00:49:26,254 --> 00:49:28,173
and it's a real
indictment of war
998
00:49:28,215 --> 00:49:32,010
and the people who wage wars
and all of the things
999
00:49:32,052 --> 00:49:34,721
that they do which are corrupt.
1000
00:49:34,805 --> 00:49:36,515
It's almost a shocking movie for
1001
00:49:36,556 --> 00:49:41,645
how close it was made
to the end of the war.
1002
00:49:41,687 --> 00:49:43,021
It's amazing it got made.
1003
00:49:43,105 --> 00:49:44,690
We crass Americans
didn't introduce war
1004
00:49:44,773 --> 00:49:46,400
into your little island.
1005
00:49:46,483 --> 00:49:49,611
This war, Miss Barham, to which
we Americans are so insensitive,
1006
00:49:49,695 --> 00:49:52,364
is the result of 2,000 years
of European greed,
1007
00:49:52,406 --> 00:49:54,366
barbarism, superstition,
and stupidity.
1008
00:49:54,408 --> 00:49:56,201
Don't blame it
on our Coca-Cola bottles.
1009
00:49:56,284 --> 00:49:59,162
Europe was a going brothel long
before we came to town.
1010
00:49:59,204 --> 00:50:01,873
Dear me, what an outburst.
1011
00:50:01,915 --> 00:50:04,626
And it's not laden
with battle.
1012
00:50:04,710 --> 00:50:06,378
And, in fact, it's funny.
1013
00:50:06,420 --> 00:50:09,339
And being funny
and serious at the same time
1014
00:50:09,381 --> 00:50:12,467
is the toughest thing in comedy.
1015
00:50:12,551 --> 00:50:17,556
And to show the absurdity
of the war
1016
00:50:17,639 --> 00:50:21,143
and all the absurd things
that developed from it,
1017
00:50:21,226 --> 00:50:23,353
as well as about a man's
personal courage.
1018
00:50:23,395 --> 00:50:25,605
We shall never end wars,
Mrs. Barham,
1019
00:50:25,689 --> 00:50:27,566
by blaming it
on ministers and generals,
1020
00:50:27,649 --> 00:50:31,403
or warmongering imperialists,
or all the other banal bogeys.
1021
00:50:31,486 --> 00:50:33,280
It's the rest of us
who build statues to
1022
00:50:33,363 --> 00:50:34,948
those generals
and name boulevards
1023
00:50:35,032 --> 00:50:36,450
after those ministers.
1024
00:50:36,533 --> 00:50:38,827
The rest of us
who make heroes of our dead
1025
00:50:38,910 --> 00:50:41,955
and shrines of our battlefields.
1026
00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:43,749
We wear our widow's weeds
like nuns,
1027
00:50:43,832 --> 00:50:47,586
Mrs. Barham, and perpetuate
war by exalting its sacrifices.
1028
00:50:47,669 --> 00:50:51,423
James Garner plays
an American G.I. who is
1029
00:50:51,465 --> 00:50:53,967
told he's going to be
the first person
1030
00:50:54,051 --> 00:50:56,428
to land on Normandy Beach
at D-Day,
1031
00:50:56,511 --> 00:50:58,472
and they're going to cover it
with, you know,
1032
00:50:58,555 --> 00:51:02,434
newsreels and whatnot to show
the brave American soldiers.
1033
00:51:21,328 --> 00:51:22,621
He's a coward.
He says, "I'm not brave.
1034
00:51:22,704 --> 00:51:24,331
I want to turn around
and run away.
1035
00:51:24,414 --> 00:51:27,084
And don't use me
to sell bullshit to people.
1036
00:51:27,125 --> 00:51:28,919
This is how people get killed."
1037
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:32,839
On the surface, it's
a very mainstream kind of movie.
1038
00:51:32,923 --> 00:51:35,008
It's a war movie,
and there's a love story--
1039
00:51:35,092 --> 00:51:38,553
- beautiful love story in it.
- I'm not gonna let you go.
1040
00:51:38,637 --> 00:51:42,432
All you have to say is,
"I don't love you."
1041
00:51:44,101 --> 00:51:46,228
I don't love you, Charlie.
1042
00:51:47,646 --> 00:51:51,149
Come on, Charlie.
It's time to go.
1043
00:51:51,233 --> 00:51:54,402
Well, you're a good woman.
1044
00:51:54,486 --> 00:51:56,947
You've done the
morally right thing.
1045
00:51:56,988 --> 00:52:00,325
God save us all from people
who do the morally right thing.
1046
00:52:00,367 --> 00:52:03,370
It's the rest of us
who get broken in half.
1047
00:52:04,079 --> 00:52:05,497
You're a bitch.
1048
00:52:07,082 --> 00:52:08,291
But under the surface,
1049
00:52:08,333 --> 00:52:10,001
I thought it was
really subversive.
1050
00:52:10,043 --> 00:52:13,797
You know, I-- And the idea of
making a movie against war
1051
00:52:13,839 --> 00:52:15,882
and against the lies
that get you into war,
1052
00:52:15,966 --> 00:52:20,720
in 1964 was-- As always,
he was way ahead of his time.
1053
00:52:20,804 --> 00:52:25,809
My God, the incompetence here
is absolutely radiant!
1054
00:52:28,812 --> 00:52:31,356
I mean, two separate nurses
walk into a room
1055
00:52:31,398 --> 00:52:32,858
and stick needles in a man,
and one of those is
1056
00:52:32,899 --> 00:52:34,192
a number-18 gel coat,
1057
00:52:34,276 --> 00:52:35,610
tourniquet
the poor son of a bitch,
1058
00:52:35,694 --> 00:52:37,195
anchor the
poor son of a bitch's arm
1059
00:52:37,279 --> 00:52:38,864
with adhesive tape,
and it's the wrong
1060
00:52:38,905 --> 00:52:40,740
poor son of a bitch.
1061
00:52:40,824 --> 00:52:42,409
My God.
1062
00:52:42,492 --> 00:52:44,870
I mean, where do you train
your nurses, Mrs. Christie?
1063
00:52:44,953 --> 00:52:46,037
Dachau?!
1064
00:52:50,709 --> 00:52:53,461
The poetry of
"The Hospital,"
1065
00:52:53,545 --> 00:52:57,048
where he's dressing down
the nurse and going, you know,
1066
00:52:57,090 --> 00:52:59,092
"Where were your nurses trained?
1067
00:52:59,176 --> 00:53:00,510
Dachau?!"
1068
00:53:00,552 --> 00:53:02,888
You know,
to say something like that,
1069
00:53:02,929 --> 00:53:04,389
such a funny line
1070
00:53:04,472 --> 00:53:09,394
and a condemnation
of an entire medical system.
1071
00:53:09,477 --> 00:53:11,521
Nobody spoke about that.
1072
00:53:11,563 --> 00:53:14,065
And we were all trained,
especially during those days,
1073
00:53:14,107 --> 00:53:15,650
to respect your doctors.
1074
00:53:15,734 --> 00:53:19,404
And he at that time--
What's that, 40, 50 years ago--
1075
00:53:19,446 --> 00:53:21,364
is questioning
the medical profession
1076
00:53:21,406 --> 00:53:23,074
and the medical industry.
1077
00:53:23,158 --> 00:53:24,993
He started becoming the first.
1078
00:53:25,076 --> 00:53:26,578
You ain't heard nothing yet.
1079
00:53:26,661 --> 00:53:28,538
We finally got Welbeck
around 4:00 in the morning.
1080
00:53:28,580 --> 00:53:31,249
He said, "Go ahead," so they
laid on the surgery for 8:00.
1081
00:53:31,291 --> 00:53:32,667
Welbeck turned up
half-stoned,
1082
00:53:32,751 --> 00:53:34,711
orders an IVP,
clears him for allergies.
1083
00:53:34,753 --> 00:53:36,213
- Without actually testing.
- Right.
1084
00:53:36,254 --> 00:53:37,505
And the patient
went into shock.
1085
00:53:37,589 --> 00:53:39,090
And tubular necrosis.
1086
00:53:39,132 --> 00:53:40,258
They lopped out
the bleeding kidney,
1087
00:53:40,342 --> 00:53:41,468
ran him back to the room.
1088
00:53:41,551 --> 00:53:43,094
We sat around waiting for urine.
1089
00:53:43,178 --> 00:53:44,763
Fever began spiking like hell.
1090
00:53:44,804 --> 00:53:47,432
Uremia, vomiting.
So he arranged hemodialysis.
1091
00:53:47,474 --> 00:53:49,517
Was putting out
good water now,
1092
00:53:49,601 --> 00:53:51,394
but some nurse goofed
on his last treatment.
1093
00:53:51,436 --> 00:53:53,438
A shunt separated something.
1094
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:55,440
Blood pressure plunged.
They ran him up to ICU.
1095
00:53:55,523 --> 00:53:57,067
Gave him two units
of whole blood.
1096
00:53:57,108 --> 00:53:59,194
All vital signs are normal now,
except he's comatose.
1097
00:53:59,277 --> 00:54:00,862
That was two days ago.
1098
00:54:00,946 --> 00:54:03,698
There's a lot of scary stuff
happening at the hospital.
1099
00:54:03,782 --> 00:54:06,952
Like, the politics
and the mistakes
1100
00:54:06,993 --> 00:54:08,954
and the personality issues
1101
00:54:09,037 --> 00:54:11,456
and the power struggles of
a hospital could get you killed.
1102
00:54:11,498 --> 00:54:14,084
And it's much more complicated
than you think.
1103
00:54:14,125 --> 00:54:16,461
It's not some perfect place
that just helps you.
1104
00:54:16,503 --> 00:54:19,506
There's fallible people
running this place.
1105
00:54:19,589 --> 00:54:24,970
In short, a man comes into
this hospital in perfect health,
1106
00:54:25,011 --> 00:54:26,763
and in the space of one week,
1107
00:54:26,805 --> 00:54:29,307
we chop out one kidney,
damage another,
1108
00:54:29,349 --> 00:54:31,393
reduce him to coma,
and damn near kill him.
1109
00:54:31,476 --> 00:54:34,145
Yes, sir.
1110
00:54:34,187 --> 00:54:37,107
You know, Brubaker...
1111
00:54:37,148 --> 00:54:38,942
last night,
I sat in my hotel room,
1112
00:54:38,984 --> 00:54:44,281
reviewing the shambles of my
life and contemplating suicide.
1113
00:54:44,322 --> 00:54:46,241
By the time I saw it,
it had a reputation.
1114
00:54:46,324 --> 00:54:48,159
It was like,
"Oh, this is the guy who did
1115
00:54:48,243 --> 00:54:51,621
all these great live
television shows in the '50s,
1116
00:54:51,663 --> 00:54:56,293
was a master of
biting social satire
1117
00:54:56,334 --> 00:54:59,337
that worked both as
deadly serious stuff
1118
00:54:59,421 --> 00:55:00,797
and also as dark humor."
1119
00:55:00,839 --> 00:55:03,174
Well, what do you say
to that, Dr. Bock?
1120
00:55:04,259 --> 00:55:07,012
What the hell am I supposed
to say to that, Miss Drummond?
1121
00:55:07,095 --> 00:55:08,763
Oh!
1122
00:55:08,847 --> 00:55:10,515
I mean,
I'm sitting here boozing,
1123
00:55:10,598 --> 00:55:12,309
and you come in
and tell me some demented story
1124
00:55:12,350 --> 00:55:14,602
about your father's
religious conversion.
1125
00:55:14,686 --> 00:55:16,104
No, you missed the point,
Doctor.
1126
00:55:16,187 --> 00:55:18,481
Not my father's conversion.
Mine.
1127
00:55:18,523 --> 00:55:19,816
And, of course, people--
1128
00:55:19,858 --> 00:55:21,318
It's funny,
in the film business,
1129
00:55:21,359 --> 00:55:23,403
people are always saying, "No.
1130
00:55:23,486 --> 00:55:26,031
Cut the monologues.
You have to make it short."
1131
00:55:26,114 --> 00:55:27,657
Yeah, sometimes it makes sense,
1132
00:55:27,699 --> 00:55:29,492
but you speed up--
You speed it up,
1133
00:55:29,534 --> 00:55:31,536
but sometimes,
you miss the impact.
1134
00:55:32,078 --> 00:55:35,707
So I've always fought for
1135
00:55:35,790 --> 00:55:37,542
keeping the speech,
if necessary.
1136
00:55:37,625 --> 00:55:40,253
You see, I'd been hitting
the acid pretty regularly
1137
00:55:40,337 --> 00:55:41,755
at that time.
1138
00:55:41,838 --> 00:55:44,632
I'd achieved a few
minor sensory deformities,
1139
00:55:44,716 --> 00:55:47,802
some suicidal despairs,
but nothing as wild as
1140
00:55:47,886 --> 00:55:50,263
fluency in an
obscure Apache dialect.
1141
00:55:50,347 --> 00:55:52,057
I mean, like, wow, man.
1142
00:55:52,140 --> 00:55:55,310
He was living afflatus
right before my eyes.
1143
00:55:55,393 --> 00:55:57,937
Within a week, my father had
closed his Beacon Hill practice
1144
00:55:58,021 --> 00:56:01,316
and set out to start a mission
in the Mexican mountains.
1145
00:56:01,399 --> 00:56:05,779
I turned in my SDS card and my
crash helmet and I followed him.
1146
00:56:05,862 --> 00:56:08,406
It was a disaster,
at least for me.
1147
00:56:08,490 --> 00:56:11,659
My father had received
the revelation, not I.
1148
00:56:11,743 --> 00:56:13,370
He stood gaunt
on a mountain slope
1149
00:56:13,411 --> 00:56:17,082
and preached the apocalypse
to solemnly amused Indians.
1150
00:56:17,123 --> 00:56:18,541
I masturbated a great deal.
1151
00:56:18,583 --> 00:56:20,418
We lived in a grass wickiup,
ate raw rabbit
1152
00:56:20,502 --> 00:56:21,836
and crushed piñon nuts.
1153
00:56:21,920 --> 00:56:23,338
It was hideous.
1154
00:56:23,421 --> 00:56:26,758
Within two months, I was back
in Boston, a hollow shell,
1155
00:56:26,800 --> 00:56:30,678
disenchanted with everything
and dizzy with dengue.
1156
00:56:30,762 --> 00:56:32,514
I turned to austerity,
1157
00:56:32,597 --> 00:56:34,349
combed my hair tight,
entered nursing school.
1158
00:56:34,432 --> 00:56:36,184
I became haggard, driven,
1159
00:56:36,267 --> 00:56:41,356
had shamelessly incestuous
dreams about my father.
1160
00:56:41,439 --> 00:56:43,525
I took up with some of the
senior staff at the hospital.
1161
00:56:43,608 --> 00:56:45,944
One of them,
a portly psychiatrist,
1162
00:56:45,985 --> 00:56:50,782
explained I was generated by an
unresolved lust for my father.
1163
00:56:50,865 --> 00:56:52,492
I cracked up.
1164
00:56:52,575 --> 00:56:54,202
One day, they found
me walking to work naked
1165
00:56:54,285 --> 00:56:56,955
and screaming obscenities.
1166
00:56:57,622 --> 00:56:59,457
There was talk
of institutionalizing me,
1167
00:56:59,499 --> 00:57:01,167
so I packed a bag
1168
00:57:01,251 --> 00:57:04,587
and went back to join my father
in the Sierra Madre mountains.
1169
00:57:04,629 --> 00:57:07,632
I've been there ever since.
That's three years.
1170
00:57:07,674 --> 00:57:10,802
My father is, of course,
as mad as a hatter.
1171
00:57:10,844 --> 00:57:14,806
I watch over him
and have been curiously content.
1172
00:57:18,518 --> 00:57:21,521
The winner is
Paddy Chayefsky.
1173
00:57:27,068 --> 00:57:28,903
It's a special privilege
1174
00:57:28,987 --> 00:57:30,697
and especially gratifying,
this particular award,
1175
00:57:30,780 --> 00:57:33,241
and I most respectfully
want to thank all of you very,
1176
00:57:33,324 --> 00:57:34,534
very much, indeed.
1177
00:57:34,617 --> 00:57:36,411
Thank you.
1178
00:57:39,122 --> 00:57:44,335
Paddy Chayefsky and
Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner
1179
00:57:44,419 --> 00:57:46,671
all shared offices together.
1180
00:57:46,754 --> 00:57:49,757
Really nothing little offices.
1181
00:57:49,841 --> 00:57:53,094
And then they would have lunch
every day.
1182
00:57:53,178 --> 00:57:55,054
The same group, every day.
1183
00:57:55,138 --> 00:57:56,723
It's interesting to me
1184
00:57:56,806 --> 00:58:01,936
that Paddy's friends
at the Carnegie Deli weren't,
1185
00:58:02,020 --> 00:58:04,189
you know,
Jewish revolutionaries.
1186
00:58:04,272 --> 00:58:05,857
They weren't communists.
1187
00:58:05,940 --> 00:58:08,359
They were Mel Brooks,
Bob Fosse, and Neil Simon.
1188
00:58:08,443 --> 00:58:12,655
What Paddy respected was brains.
1189
00:58:12,697 --> 00:58:14,532
That roundtable of writers
1190
00:58:14,574 --> 00:58:16,451
that you described
when we first started.
1191
00:58:16,534 --> 00:58:18,369
Yeah.
Whenever they wrote,
1192
00:58:18,411 --> 00:58:22,040
they didn't write
frivolously just to entertain
1193
00:58:22,081 --> 00:58:23,625
or just for money.
1194
00:58:23,708 --> 00:58:25,043
Not one of those writers.
1195
00:58:25,126 --> 00:58:27,754
So what were they after?
1196
00:58:27,837 --> 00:58:31,841
They were after
their venting
1197
00:58:31,883 --> 00:58:35,011
their hope and their despair,
their message.
1198
00:58:35,053 --> 00:58:38,306
They were all-- Those guys are
really fascinating to me.
1199
00:58:38,389 --> 00:58:41,059
And the more I write,
the more I understand them.
1200
00:58:41,100 --> 00:58:44,562
Even, you know, at my age,
you still-- you go,
1201
00:58:44,604 --> 00:58:47,440
"Oh, that's what that's about."
1202
00:58:47,524 --> 00:58:50,151
And guys like--
1203
00:58:50,235 --> 00:58:56,741
Geniuses like a Paddy Chayefsky
will see something
1204
00:58:56,824 --> 00:59:00,995
in a human piece of clay
1205
00:59:01,079 --> 00:59:04,249
that needs to be
shaped and molded.
1206
00:59:04,332 --> 00:59:07,210
And you just have to
1207
00:59:07,252 --> 00:59:11,089
polish it up and
get it out of your system.
1208
00:59:11,172 --> 00:59:16,928
These guys-- they talked it,
thought it all the time.
1209
00:59:17,011 --> 00:59:19,097
"How do we penetrate this?"
1210
00:59:19,180 --> 00:59:21,099
- Is that right?
- Yeah. Yeah.
1211
00:59:21,182 --> 00:59:23,685
They weren't--
They wouldn't bring it--
1212
00:59:23,768 --> 00:59:26,145
They wouldn't use my words
like that.
1213
00:59:26,229 --> 00:59:28,940
But it was always what
they were talking about.
1214
00:59:29,023 --> 00:59:30,858
When you did it in your comedy
1215
00:59:30,942 --> 00:59:33,236
and when they were talking about
"How do we penetrate this?",
1216
00:59:33,278 --> 00:59:35,238
what's "this"?
1217
00:59:35,280 --> 00:59:40,201
"This" is the establishment,
where people are right now.
1218
00:59:40,285 --> 00:59:41,953
"How do we
penetrate that to get
1219
00:59:42,036 --> 00:59:49,002
our viewpoint across to
get people knowledge
1220
00:59:49,085 --> 00:59:51,796
that they might not have,
to kind of rip open
1221
00:59:51,879 --> 00:59:54,132
the establishment to say,
'This is what's going on'"?
1222
00:59:54,173 --> 00:59:57,468
- That's a good start.
- And then what?
1223
00:59:57,510 --> 01:00:00,138
Then nothing happens.
1224
01:00:02,307 --> 01:00:07,186
Paddy, Herb, and Fosse
liked to call themselves
1225
01:00:07,270 --> 01:00:09,480
"Flash," "Whimsy,"
and "Boredom."
1226
01:00:09,564 --> 01:00:11,983
Flash was obviously Fosse,
1227
01:00:12,066 --> 01:00:15,153
Whimsy was Herb,
and Boredom was Paddy.
1228
01:00:15,194 --> 01:00:17,030
And they gave each other
these names
1229
01:00:17,113 --> 01:00:21,284
because that was their
lowest opinion of their work.
1230
01:00:21,326 --> 01:00:23,244
At worst, Paddy was boring,
1231
01:00:23,328 --> 01:00:26,873
at worst, Herb was whimsical,
and at worst, Bob was flashy.
1232
01:00:26,956 --> 01:00:29,167
That was their fear
about themselves.
1233
01:00:29,208 --> 01:00:30,752
So it was-- Oh, it was
1234
01:00:30,835 --> 01:00:34,047
a very fun joke to make
fun of Paddy for being boring,
1235
01:00:34,130 --> 01:00:36,215
you know, which, of course,
we know he wasn't.
1236
01:00:36,299 --> 01:00:38,176
Just physically as a person,
1237
01:00:38,259 --> 01:00:40,345
Chayefsky was kind of
diminutive,
1238
01:00:40,428 --> 01:00:42,096
but also very stocky.
1239
01:00:42,180 --> 01:00:45,725
And by this time, he also had
a really kind of thick beard
1240
01:00:45,808 --> 01:00:47,268
that he had grown out.
1241
01:00:47,352 --> 01:00:50,355
He was kind of a pugilistic,
I guess you'd say,
1242
01:00:50,438 --> 01:00:52,357
and also kind of dyspeptic,
1243
01:00:52,398 --> 01:00:55,443
that unless you were, like,
a really good friend of his,
1244
01:00:55,526 --> 01:00:58,946
he had a way of kind of
keeping people at a distance.
1245
01:01:07,872 --> 01:01:09,832
Usually, he was
very confident that he could
1246
01:01:09,874 --> 01:01:12,168
write any story
he set out to write,
1247
01:01:12,210 --> 01:01:14,379
but occasionally,
he'd be troubled
1248
01:01:14,420 --> 01:01:16,964
with just a touch of self-doubt.
1249
01:01:17,048 --> 01:01:21,969
I told him that in a business
that keeps cloning,
1250
01:01:22,053 --> 01:01:26,933
remaking, rehashing,
redoing its successes,
1251
01:01:27,016 --> 01:01:30,561
that he was a
world-class risk-taker.
1252
01:01:30,645 --> 01:01:34,899
He dared to write
literate scripts
1253
01:01:34,941 --> 01:01:38,236
and held an audience
through verbal rather than
1254
01:01:38,319 --> 01:01:40,405
visual fireworks.
1255
01:01:41,364 --> 01:01:45,576
I think there are-- Especially
in relationship to Hollywood,
1256
01:01:45,618 --> 01:01:47,412
there are two kinds of writers.
1257
01:01:47,495 --> 01:01:50,331
There are the
"I have to get up every day
1258
01:01:50,415 --> 01:01:51,749
and write no matter what,
1259
01:01:51,833 --> 01:01:54,419
or the day isn't
worth anything to me,"
1260
01:01:54,502 --> 01:01:56,462
and then there are
other people who say,
1261
01:01:56,546 --> 01:01:58,423
"When you pay me, I will write."
1262
01:01:58,506 --> 01:02:00,842
I don't condemn those people.
1263
01:02:00,925 --> 01:02:03,928
You know, that's the way
they look at it.
1264
01:02:03,970 --> 01:02:07,807
And I don't think I'm
a better writer than somebody
1265
01:02:07,890 --> 01:02:10,017
who does it for the paycheck.
1266
01:02:10,101 --> 01:02:14,105
I think that I'm as obsessed
with writing--
1267
01:02:14,147 --> 01:02:18,443
the joy and the pain of writing
that Chayefsky was.
1268
01:02:19,569 --> 01:02:22,196
You know, not a friend,
but we knew each other
1269
01:02:22,280 --> 01:02:24,115
and we had talked.
1270
01:02:24,198 --> 01:02:26,367
He always had a score
to settle with television.
1271
01:02:26,451 --> 01:02:29,036
He always wanted a series
that was-- You know, it, like,
1272
01:02:29,120 --> 01:02:31,205
gnarled at him
that he didn't have a series.
1273
01:02:31,289 --> 01:02:33,082
You know,
it just pissed him off,
1274
01:02:33,124 --> 01:02:36,627
because, you know, money was
a consideration to Paddy.
1275
01:02:36,711 --> 01:02:39,464
And as it is to most--
as it may--
1276
01:02:39,547 --> 01:02:43,009
whatever the hell it is,
but it was to Paddy,
1277
01:02:43,092 --> 01:02:45,136
and not a subtle way.
1278
01:02:45,219 --> 01:02:46,971
And I think that
sort of, you know,
1279
01:02:47,054 --> 01:02:50,808
just-- So, I know
we talked about that.
1280
01:02:50,892 --> 01:02:53,436
We talked about that,
and I used to--
1281
01:02:53,478 --> 01:02:57,398
You know, and I used to just
crack up, I mean, to him,
1282
01:02:57,482 --> 01:03:00,985
you know, because he was this
and he was--
1283
01:03:01,068 --> 01:03:03,362
You know, it's...
1284
01:03:04,947 --> 01:03:08,326
There's something about
1285
01:03:08,367 --> 01:03:13,164
financial insecurity that can
either make or break an artist.
1286
01:03:13,206 --> 01:03:16,417
And, I mean, you see it
in music all the time.
1287
01:03:16,501 --> 01:03:19,045
They're about
to get dropped from their label
1288
01:03:19,128 --> 01:03:20,713
and they come up with
a masterpiece.
1289
01:03:20,797 --> 01:03:22,507
Or you see it with athletes.
1290
01:03:22,548 --> 01:03:25,092
They're in a contract year and
they have an all-time season.
1291
01:03:25,176 --> 01:03:28,429
And I think that's what happened
with Paddy with "Network."
1292
01:03:28,513 --> 01:03:32,558
When the chips were down,
he delivered the masterpiece.
1293
01:03:32,642 --> 01:03:34,101
It was very avant-garde,
1294
01:03:34,185 --> 01:03:36,771
and we kept hearing
comments about,
1295
01:03:36,854 --> 01:03:41,025
"Have you seen this show
about the newscast?"
1296
01:03:41,067 --> 01:03:42,693
And it's like,
"No, what's that?"
1297
01:03:42,777 --> 01:03:48,366
It was the first time I ever
saw a movie that made me think,
1298
01:03:48,449 --> 01:03:49,575
"Oh, my God.
1299
01:03:49,659 --> 01:03:52,203
Everybody in the audience
1300
01:03:52,286 --> 01:03:54,372
thinks this is the smartest
movie they've ever seen."
1301
01:03:54,455 --> 01:03:55,706
You could just feel it.
1302
01:03:55,790 --> 01:03:57,208
I watched it very young,
1303
01:03:57,291 --> 01:03:59,669
but then I revisited it
several years ago
1304
01:03:59,710 --> 01:04:03,381
because someone asked me what my
favorite technology movie was.
1305
01:04:03,464 --> 01:04:05,508
And I realized that, actually,
"Network,"
1306
01:04:05,550 --> 01:04:07,885
which I think is thought of
as a medium movie
1307
01:04:07,969 --> 01:04:10,304
the American psyche,
or the American rage,
1308
01:04:10,388 --> 01:04:13,724
can also be read as a movie
about changing technology
1309
01:04:13,808 --> 01:04:16,269
and particularly the
changing technology of media.
1310
01:04:16,352 --> 01:04:19,021
"Network," I think,
is as far as you can go
1311
01:04:19,063 --> 01:04:20,815
with a personal vision.
1312
01:04:20,898 --> 01:04:23,568
He took it as far as anybody's
ever taken a personal vision.
1313
01:04:23,651 --> 01:04:28,906
We weren't sure about "Network,"
and so we split it up.
1314
01:04:28,990 --> 01:04:31,993
So, MGM took the lead on it,
and they put up
1315
01:04:32,076 --> 01:04:33,911
half the money,
we put up half.
1316
01:04:33,953 --> 01:04:36,038
And then we
went on to try to pull
1317
01:04:36,080 --> 01:04:37,498
it all together,
all the pieces together.
1318
01:04:37,582 --> 01:04:40,751
And I had a meeting
with Howard Gottfried,
1319
01:04:40,793 --> 01:04:45,089
who was producing the movie,
and Paddy at the MGM commissary.
1320
01:04:45,131 --> 01:04:47,216
Howard Gottfried,
who I got to know a little bit,
1321
01:04:47,258 --> 01:04:49,760
was a very dedicated producer.
1322
01:04:49,844 --> 01:04:52,597
Paddy was his man,
and he was just--
1323
01:04:52,638 --> 01:04:54,932
He was like a mother to a child.
1324
01:04:55,016 --> 01:04:56,559
He was a very good producer,
1325
01:04:56,601 --> 01:04:59,270
and I think he's kind of
been forgotten, unfortunately.
1326
01:04:59,312 --> 01:05:00,980
We start
talking about directors.
1327
01:05:01,063 --> 01:05:03,608
So I had a list,
and Paddy had a list.
1328
01:05:03,649 --> 01:05:07,737
But it was pretty clear that
Paddy had a list of one.
1329
01:05:07,778 --> 01:05:09,322
I said, "Paddy, I mean,
1330
01:05:09,405 --> 01:05:12,617
when was the last time
you saw a Sidney Lumet movie
1331
01:05:12,700 --> 01:05:14,785
that had humor in it?"
1332
01:05:14,869 --> 01:05:16,287
Paddy...
1333
01:05:16,329 --> 01:05:19,582
There was chicken soup,
I think, at the time.
1334
01:05:19,624 --> 01:05:22,585
He turned the plate over,
1335
01:05:22,627 --> 01:05:25,296
you know, and the soup went
all over the place.
1336
01:05:25,379 --> 01:05:28,674
And I looked at him and I said,
"You know what?
1337
01:05:28,758 --> 01:05:31,177
Sidney Lumet is a funny guy."
1338
01:05:38,225 --> 01:05:42,271
And I said, "Paddy, terrific."
1339
01:05:42,313 --> 01:05:44,899
Two years later,
a script arrived.
1340
01:05:44,982 --> 01:05:47,360
It was literally that simple.
1341
01:05:47,443 --> 01:05:51,739
And, you know,
how can you not fall in love?
1342
01:05:52,323 --> 01:05:54,075
Well, let's say fuck you,
Hackett.
1343
01:05:54,158 --> 01:05:55,785
You want me out of here,
1344
01:05:55,826 --> 01:05:57,828
you're gonna have to drag me
out kicking and screaming
1345
01:05:57,870 --> 01:06:00,164
and the whole news division
kicking and screaming with me.
1346
01:06:00,206 --> 01:06:01,666
You think they're gonna quit
their jobs for you?
1347
01:06:01,707 --> 01:06:03,125
Not in this recession, buddy.
1348
01:06:03,167 --> 01:06:04,752
When Ruddy gets back,
he'll have your ass.
1349
01:06:04,835 --> 01:06:08,422
I got a hit, Schumacher,
and Ruddy doesn't count anymore.
1350
01:06:08,506 --> 01:06:10,341
He was hoping I'd fall
on my face with this Beale show,
1351
01:06:10,424 --> 01:06:11,342
but I didn't.
1352
01:06:11,425 --> 01:06:14,512
It's a big, fat, big-titted hit,
1353
01:06:14,595 --> 01:06:16,639
and I don't have to waffle
around with Ruddy anymore.
1354
01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:18,975
If he wants to take me up
before the CCA board, let him.
1355
01:06:19,016 --> 01:06:22,311
But what-- what
was the one thing that you--
1356
01:06:22,353 --> 01:06:24,188
one thread that you pulled on
1357
01:06:24,230 --> 01:06:26,357
that unraveled the whole world
of television news
1358
01:06:26,440 --> 01:06:28,693
and turned it
into this nightmare
1359
01:06:28,734 --> 01:06:31,445
that it becomes
in the Howard Beale environment?
1360
01:06:31,529 --> 01:06:35,324
And the answer would be
making news
1361
01:06:35,366 --> 01:06:38,869
part of the entertainment
monolith.
1362
01:06:38,911 --> 01:06:40,997
The division producing
the lowest rate of return
1363
01:06:41,038 --> 01:06:42,707
has been the news division,
1364
01:06:42,748 --> 01:06:45,084
with its $98 million budget
1365
01:06:45,167 --> 01:06:48,879
and its average annual deficit
of $32 million.
1366
01:06:48,963 --> 01:06:51,382
I know that, historically,
news divisions are expected
1367
01:06:51,465 --> 01:06:53,592
to lose money,
but to our minds,
1368
01:06:53,676 --> 01:06:55,761
this philosophy is
a wanton fiscal affront
1369
01:06:55,845 --> 01:06:58,723
to be resolutely resisted.
1370
01:06:58,806 --> 01:07:01,684
Oh, I think that "Network" is--
Most famous monologue maybe is
1371
01:07:01,726 --> 01:07:05,187
when the executive
comes into the room
1372
01:07:05,229 --> 01:07:07,606
and tells him
how the facts of the world run.
1373
01:07:09,191 --> 01:07:11,402
Valhalla, Mr. Beale.
1374
01:07:11,485 --> 01:07:13,404
Please sit down.
1375
01:07:16,490 --> 01:07:18,284
That's "Now let me
get this straight
1376
01:07:18,367 --> 01:07:19,618
with you, you idiot."
1377
01:07:19,702 --> 01:07:21,412
And this is the way
the world works,
1378
01:07:21,495 --> 01:07:24,373
and nobody's going to
fuck it up, including you."
1379
01:07:24,415 --> 01:07:27,334
This network correspondent,
Peter Finch.
1380
01:07:27,418 --> 01:07:31,088
You have meddled with
the primal forces of nature,
1381
01:07:31,172 --> 01:07:34,717
Mr. Beale,
and I won't have it!
1382
01:07:34,759 --> 01:07:36,635
Is that clear?
1383
01:07:36,719 --> 01:07:39,722
And Ned Beatty-- Ned Beatty
did a great job on that.
1384
01:07:39,764 --> 01:07:45,770
You are an old man who thinks
in terms of nations and peoples.
1385
01:07:45,853 --> 01:07:48,481
There are no nations.
There are no peoples.
1386
01:07:48,564 --> 01:07:50,858
There are no Russians.
There are no Arabs.
1387
01:07:50,941 --> 01:07:52,109
There are no third worlds.
1388
01:07:52,193 --> 01:07:53,652
There is no West.
1389
01:07:53,736 --> 01:07:58,240
There is only one
holistic system of systems.
1390
01:07:58,282 --> 01:08:02,328
Those kinds of speeches,
a speech from an anti-hero,
1391
01:08:02,411 --> 01:08:05,664
is usually
the best kind of speech.
1392
01:08:05,748 --> 01:08:07,083
"You think I'm a bad guy,
1393
01:08:07,124 --> 01:08:08,834
but let me tell you either
why you're wrong
1394
01:08:08,918 --> 01:08:11,337
and I'm really a good guy
or why you're a hypocrite."
1395
01:08:11,420 --> 01:08:15,174
Those tend to be the speeches
with the most blood in them.
1396
01:08:16,217 --> 01:08:18,969
It is the international
system of currency
1397
01:08:19,011 --> 01:08:24,517
which determines the totality
of life on this planet.
1398
01:08:25,226 --> 01:08:29,814
That is the natural order
of things today.
1399
01:08:30,940 --> 01:08:36,987
That is the atomic and subatomic
1400
01:08:37,071 --> 01:08:41,242
and galactic structure
of things today.
1401
01:08:41,325 --> 01:08:43,244
It's very difficult to
get the monologue right.
1402
01:08:43,327 --> 01:08:45,496
Again, it is like
a musical number,
1403
01:08:45,538 --> 01:08:48,165
because it's so easy
for it to read false.
1404
01:08:48,249 --> 01:08:49,583
I mean,
lots of people monologue.
1405
01:08:49,667 --> 01:08:51,377
Lots of people just
ramble and talk.
1406
01:08:51,460 --> 01:08:54,505
But to give, like,
a concise
1407
01:08:54,588 --> 01:08:58,217
sort of speech
in the middle of everyday life
1408
01:08:58,300 --> 01:08:59,969
is not a thing
that really happens.
1409
01:09:00,010 --> 01:09:03,264
So to arrive there in a piece,
1410
01:09:03,347 --> 01:09:05,391
it takes a lot of work
just to get to that moment.
1411
01:09:05,474 --> 01:09:06,892
And then the monologue itself
has to deliver.
1412
01:09:06,976 --> 01:09:08,561
It has to be entertaining.
1413
01:09:08,644 --> 01:09:10,437
It has to take you
on a bit of a ride.
1414
01:09:10,521 --> 01:09:12,022
It has to tell a bit
of a story in and of itself.
1415
01:09:12,106 --> 01:09:15,568
He's writing erudite speeches.
That's the other thing.
1416
01:09:15,651 --> 01:09:18,696
These aren't
just great speeches, you know,
1417
01:09:18,779 --> 01:09:20,030
great monologues.
1418
01:09:20,072 --> 01:09:22,575
They are so informed
about the world.
1419
01:09:22,658 --> 01:09:25,077
And that's hard
to do for two reasons.
1420
01:09:25,161 --> 01:09:27,288
One, it's hard to be that smart.
1421
01:09:27,371 --> 01:09:30,541
Simply to know as much
as Paddy knows is hard.
1422
01:09:30,624 --> 01:09:32,751
And, two, to write that in a way
1423
01:09:32,835 --> 01:09:35,212
that it doesn't sound
dramatically false,
1424
01:09:35,296 --> 01:09:37,965
that's the dramatist's job.
1425
01:09:38,048 --> 01:09:39,675
And Paddy had that muscle.
1426
01:09:39,717 --> 01:09:42,636
Without that,
he'd just be a preacher.
1427
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:44,889
But because he was
a great dramatist,
1428
01:09:44,930 --> 01:09:50,769
on top of that,
he could make those speeches
1429
01:09:50,853 --> 01:09:53,355
matter to an audience.
1430
01:09:53,397 --> 01:09:55,024
There is no America.
1431
01:09:55,065 --> 01:09:57,776
There is no democracy.
1432
01:09:57,860 --> 01:10:04,491
There is only IBM and ITT
and ATandT and DuPont,
1433
01:10:04,575 --> 01:10:09,330
Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon.
1434
01:10:09,413 --> 01:10:12,750
Those are the nations
of the world today.
1435
01:10:12,833 --> 01:10:16,629
But when he points out
that there are no nations,
1436
01:10:16,712 --> 01:10:18,923
that DuPont and Dow and
Union Carbide
1437
01:10:18,964 --> 01:10:23,260
and General Electric are the
nations of the world today,
1438
01:10:23,344 --> 01:10:25,221
and "What do you think
the Russians talk about
1439
01:10:25,262 --> 01:10:27,139
in their meetings of state,
Karl Marx?
1440
01:10:27,223 --> 01:10:29,850
No, they get out
their linear charts
1441
01:10:29,934 --> 01:10:31,852
and their financial planners
1442
01:10:31,936 --> 01:10:35,397
and they chart their profits
and losses the same that we do."
1443
01:10:35,439 --> 01:10:38,776
That, to me, was a revelation,
because
1444
01:10:38,859 --> 01:10:41,570
in the same way that
when the Supreme Court said,
1445
01:10:41,612 --> 01:10:43,113
"Corporations are people,"
1446
01:10:43,155 --> 01:10:47,743
I went,
"Paddy Chayefsky just went..."
1447
01:10:47,785 --> 01:10:50,955
The whole bloody world
is becoming inhuman.
1448
01:10:50,996 --> 01:10:53,874
All of modern life-- and not
just America, by any means--
1449
01:10:53,958 --> 01:10:58,379
has become a corporate entity
rather than a human entity.
1450
01:10:58,462 --> 01:11:00,798
What do you think
the Russians talk about
1451
01:11:00,881 --> 01:11:02,925
in their councils of state,
Karl Marx?
1452
01:11:02,967 --> 01:11:05,469
They get out their
linear programming charts,
1453
01:11:05,511 --> 01:11:07,805
statistical-decision theories,
minimax solutions,
1454
01:11:07,888 --> 01:11:09,723
and compute the price,
cost, probabilities
1455
01:11:09,807 --> 01:11:12,768
of their transactions
and investments just like we do.
1456
01:11:12,810 --> 01:11:17,189
And what is their means
of communication?
1457
01:11:17,273 --> 01:11:19,400
Media.
That's all they've got.
1458
01:11:19,483 --> 01:11:21,819
So the more
that they can pervert and color
1459
01:11:21,902 --> 01:11:25,823
and distort media,
that is their messaging.
1460
01:11:25,906 --> 01:11:31,996
And what he was clearly saying
is, "The news is not pristine."
1461
01:11:32,746 --> 01:11:35,165
I said,
"You know, that's--"
1462
01:11:35,207 --> 01:11:37,793
I said, "You'll get arrested."
1463
01:11:37,835 --> 01:11:40,796
I said, "You know, McCarthy.
You'll be arrested.
1464
01:11:40,838 --> 01:11:45,301
They know that you know
that money is the message.
1465
01:11:45,342 --> 01:11:47,011
You know?
You're in trouble, Paddy.
1466
01:11:47,052 --> 01:11:48,470
You're going to be in trouble."
1467
01:11:48,512 --> 01:11:50,347
"Network"--
when I saw it in the theater,
1468
01:11:50,431 --> 01:11:53,934
I wasn't a fan of it
the first time I saw it,
1469
01:11:54,018 --> 01:11:58,105
because I thought the heroine
was too farcical.
1470
01:11:58,188 --> 01:12:00,024
There was nobody like her.
1471
01:12:00,065 --> 01:12:04,570
And then, suddenly, there
she was all over the place,
1472
01:12:04,653 --> 01:12:06,030
that kind of woman.
1473
01:12:07,364 --> 01:12:11,327
I was married for four years
and pretended to be happy...
1474
01:12:11,368 --> 01:12:14,788
and had six years of analysis
and pretended to be sane.
1475
01:12:15,914 --> 01:12:18,542
My husband ran off
with his boyfriend,
1476
01:12:18,625 --> 01:12:20,544
and I had an affair
with my analyst,
1477
01:12:20,627 --> 01:12:23,964
who told me I was the worst lay
he'd ever had.
1478
01:12:24,757 --> 01:12:26,342
I can't tell you
how many men have told me what
1479
01:12:26,383 --> 01:12:28,385
a lousy lay I am.
1480
01:12:28,469 --> 01:12:30,888
I apparently have
a masculine temperament.
1481
01:12:30,929 --> 01:12:34,725
I arouse quickly,
consummate prematurely,
1482
01:12:34,808 --> 01:12:36,352
and can't wait
to get my clothes back on
1483
01:12:36,393 --> 01:12:38,937
and get out of that bedroom.
1484
01:12:39,021 --> 01:12:43,776
I seem to be inept
at everything except my work.
1485
01:12:43,859 --> 01:12:48,781
I'm good at my work,
so I confine myself to that.
1486
01:12:48,864 --> 01:12:52,534
All I want out of life
is a 30 share and a 20 rating.
1487
01:12:52,576 --> 01:12:57,790
And I always thought that's a
1488
01:12:57,873 --> 01:13:01,919
terrific ambition to catch
a type of character
1489
01:13:01,960 --> 01:13:04,046
before she becomes a type
of character.
1490
01:13:08,258 --> 01:13:09,385
Barbara, is Tommy
around anywhere?
1491
01:13:09,426 --> 01:13:10,886
I think so.
1492
01:13:10,928 --> 01:13:12,554
I'd like to see the two of you
for a moment.
1493
01:13:12,596 --> 01:13:14,264
I mean, that's one thing
1494
01:13:14,306 --> 01:13:15,891
that's really interesting about
the way that they style her
1495
01:13:15,933 --> 01:13:17,601
and she's portrayed--
she's the villain.
1496
01:13:17,684 --> 01:13:21,105
She's the craven,
hungry, manipulative person
1497
01:13:21,146 --> 01:13:23,315
who understands the mechanic
of the business,
1498
01:13:23,399 --> 01:13:27,611
has no fear, no sacred cows,
and they make her so alluring.
1499
01:13:27,694 --> 01:13:29,446
I mean, she's almost
like this kind of Faustian,
1500
01:13:29,488 --> 01:13:30,948
devilish character.
1501
01:13:30,989 --> 01:13:33,784
Look, I've got a bunch
of hobgoblin radicals
1502
01:13:33,867 --> 01:13:35,702
called the
Ecumenical Liberation Army
1503
01:13:35,786 --> 01:13:38,747
who go around taking home movies
of themselves robbing banks.
1504
01:13:38,789 --> 01:13:42,376
And maybe they'll take movies of
themselves kidnapping heiresses,
1505
01:13:42,459 --> 01:13:44,545
um, hijacking 747s,
1506
01:13:44,628 --> 01:13:47,965
bombing bridges,
assassinating ambassadors.
1507
01:13:48,006 --> 01:13:50,259
Well, we'd open
each week's segment
1508
01:13:50,300 --> 01:13:52,761
with that authentic footage,
hire a couple of writers
1509
01:13:52,803 --> 01:13:54,221
to write some story
behind that footage,
1510
01:13:54,304 --> 01:13:55,431
and we've got ourselves
a series.
1511
01:13:55,472 --> 01:13:58,434
And she's such
a smart villain.
1512
01:13:58,475 --> 01:14:02,229
She's not a craven villain.
She's not a stupid villain.
1513
01:14:02,312 --> 01:14:06,024
She's-- What's villainous
about her is that she's right.
1514
01:14:06,108 --> 01:14:08,610
And she's smart
about what the audience wants,
1515
01:14:08,652 --> 01:14:10,654
and the real villain
in the movie is all of us
1516
01:14:10,696 --> 01:14:13,115
who are so easily manipulated.
1517
01:14:13,157 --> 01:14:15,576
She's just a clever player
of the strings.
1518
01:14:15,659 --> 01:14:17,744
The American people
are turning sullen.
1519
01:14:17,828 --> 01:14:19,830
They've been clobbered
on all sides by Vietnam,
1520
01:14:19,913 --> 01:14:21,790
Watergate, the inflation,
the depression.
1521
01:14:21,832 --> 01:14:23,667
They've turned off, shot up,
and they fuck themselves limp,
1522
01:14:23,750 --> 01:14:25,002
and nothing helps.
1523
01:14:25,043 --> 01:14:28,630
So this concept analysis
report concludes
1524
01:14:28,672 --> 01:14:31,592
the American people want
somebody to articulate
1525
01:14:31,675 --> 01:14:33,469
their rage for them.
1526
01:14:33,510 --> 01:14:35,179
I've been telling you people
1527
01:14:35,220 --> 01:14:38,682
since I took this job six months
ago that I want angry shows.
1528
01:14:38,765 --> 01:14:42,102
It's easy to say, "Oh, well,
'Network' sort of saw the future
1529
01:14:42,186 --> 01:14:44,688
of television
and junk television
1530
01:14:44,730 --> 01:14:48,775
and, you know,
reality TV and nonsense."
1531
01:14:48,859 --> 01:14:50,903
I think that's the tip
of the iceberg.
1532
01:14:50,986 --> 01:14:53,530
Did you see the overnights
on the network news?
1533
01:14:53,572 --> 01:14:56,366
It has an 8 in New York,
a 9 in L.A.,
1534
01:14:56,450 --> 01:14:58,869
and a 27 share in both cities.
1535
01:14:58,952 --> 01:15:00,537
Last night,
Howard Beale went on the air
1536
01:15:00,621 --> 01:15:02,206
and yelled bullshit
for two minutes,
1537
01:15:02,247 --> 01:15:04,166
and I can tell you right now
that tonight's show
1538
01:15:04,208 --> 01:15:06,502
will get a 30 share at least.
1539
01:15:06,543 --> 01:15:07,961
I think we've lucked
into something.
1540
01:15:08,045 --> 01:15:11,215
That movie predicts
Donald Trump.
1541
01:15:12,174 --> 01:15:15,135
You know, "Network"--
Early on in "Network,"
1542
01:15:15,219 --> 01:15:18,138
somebody says,
"The American people
1543
01:15:18,222 --> 01:15:20,849
want someone who's
going to express their rage."
1544
01:15:20,891 --> 01:15:23,894
I see Howard Beale
as a latter-day prophet,
1545
01:15:23,936 --> 01:15:25,812
a magnificent messianic figure,
1546
01:15:25,896 --> 01:15:28,190
inveighing against
the hypocrisies of our times,
1547
01:15:28,232 --> 01:15:30,359
a strip Savonarola
Monday through Friday
1548
01:15:30,400 --> 01:15:32,694
that I tell you, Frank,
could just go through the roof.
1549
01:15:32,736 --> 01:15:34,404
And then, finally,
someone says, "Wait a second.
1550
01:15:34,488 --> 01:15:37,157
Are you talking about putting
a--" how do you describe it?--
1551
01:15:37,241 --> 01:15:42,120
"a manifestly inappropriate man
on national television?
1552
01:15:42,204 --> 01:15:43,664
And they go, "Yeah."
1553
01:15:43,747 --> 01:15:45,374
God sakes, Diana,
we're talking about putting
1554
01:15:45,415 --> 01:15:50,212
a manifestly irresponsible man
on national television.
1555
01:15:57,594 --> 01:15:59,763
It's Donald Trump.
1556
01:15:59,846 --> 01:16:03,350
And, you know, he goes on TV
and he says, you know,
1557
01:16:03,433 --> 01:16:05,143
"I want you to go to your
windows and yell,
1558
01:16:05,227 --> 01:16:06,603
'I'm mad as hell.'"
1559
01:16:06,645 --> 01:16:09,439
And his show becomes
like a Trump rally.
1560
01:16:09,481 --> 01:16:13,110
People aren't doing it
because of policy reasons.
1561
01:16:13,193 --> 01:16:14,987
They're doing it because
they want to express rage
1562
01:16:15,070 --> 01:16:17,990
and it's fun,
and it gets out of control.
1563
01:16:18,615 --> 01:16:20,284
I want you to get up
right now.
1564
01:16:20,367 --> 01:16:21,827
- Get up.
- Stay with him.
1565
01:16:21,910 --> 01:16:23,537
Go to your windows,
open them,
1566
01:16:23,620 --> 01:16:25,414
and stick your head out
and yell,
1567
01:16:25,455 --> 01:16:28,375
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm
not going to take this anymore!"
1568
01:16:28,458 --> 01:16:29,793
Things have got to change...
1569
01:16:29,835 --> 01:16:31,336
How many stations
does this go out to?
1570
01:16:31,420 --> 01:16:34,047
67. I know it goes to
Louisville and Atlanta--
1571
01:16:34,131 --> 01:16:35,841
We're not gonna
take this anymore.
1572
01:16:35,924 --> 01:16:37,968
Then we'll figure out
what to do about the depression
1573
01:16:38,051 --> 01:16:39,928
and the inflation
and the oil crisis.
1574
01:16:39,970 --> 01:16:41,847
But first,
get up out of your chairs,
1575
01:16:41,930 --> 01:16:45,350
open the window, stick
your head out, and yell and say,
1576
01:16:45,434 --> 01:16:49,730
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not
gonna take this anymore!"
1577
01:16:49,813 --> 01:16:53,442
I just think it's stunning.
1578
01:16:53,483 --> 01:16:57,154
1976, he predicts Trump.
1579
01:16:58,155 --> 01:16:59,906
- I can see that.
- You can?
1580
01:16:59,990 --> 01:17:04,244
Yeah.
Peter Finch's character.
1581
01:17:04,328 --> 01:17:06,455
"Open up your window and scream,
'I'm mad as hell and
1582
01:17:06,496 --> 01:17:08,624
not going to take it anymore.'
You have a voice."
1583
01:17:08,665 --> 01:17:13,837
I can see Paddy kind of being
the first step towards that.
1584
01:17:13,879 --> 01:17:17,341
Last night, I got up here
and asked you people to stand up
1585
01:17:17,382 --> 01:17:19,676
and fight for your heritage,
and you did
1586
01:17:19,760 --> 01:17:21,261
and it was beautiful.
1587
01:17:21,345 --> 01:17:24,640
6 million telegrams were
received at the White House.
1588
01:17:24,681 --> 01:17:27,934
The Arab takeover of CCA
has been stopped.
1589
01:17:28,018 --> 01:17:30,270
The people spoke,
the people won.
1590
01:17:30,354 --> 01:17:34,274
It was a radiant eruption
of democracy.
1591
01:17:34,358 --> 01:17:38,028
But I think that was it, fellas.
1592
01:17:38,111 --> 01:17:40,530
That sort of thing
is not likely to happen again.
1593
01:17:40,614 --> 01:17:43,950
Because at the bottom
of all our terrified souls,
1594
01:17:44,034 --> 01:17:46,662
we know that democracy
is a dying giant,
1595
01:17:46,703 --> 01:17:48,580
a sick, sick, dying,
1596
01:17:48,664 --> 01:17:52,042
decaying political concept
writhing in its final pain.
1597
01:17:52,084 --> 01:17:54,086
Here's the risk
with monologues.
1598
01:17:54,169 --> 01:17:57,381
When you write a long speech
for a character,
1599
01:17:57,464 --> 01:18:01,635
the audience always begins to
wonder, "Wait a second.
1600
01:18:01,718 --> 01:18:04,388
Is this the author
talking to me right now?
1601
01:18:04,471 --> 01:18:06,223
Has the author just--
the character unzipped
1602
01:18:06,306 --> 01:18:09,184
themselves, and the author
has stepped out?
1603
01:18:09,226 --> 01:18:11,144
And are they telling me
how they feel
1604
01:18:11,228 --> 01:18:14,064
or are they trying
to convince me of something?"
1605
01:18:14,106 --> 01:18:17,234
I think people felt
that way with Paddy,
1606
01:18:17,275 --> 01:18:19,152
like they knew him
and what he thought.
1607
01:18:19,236 --> 01:18:22,239
I don't mean that
the United States is finished
1608
01:18:22,280 --> 01:18:23,782
as a world power.
1609
01:18:23,865 --> 01:18:25,242
The United States is
the richest, the most powerful,
1610
01:18:25,283 --> 01:18:26,868
the most advanced country
in the world,
1611
01:18:26,910 --> 01:18:28,453
light-years ahead
of any other country.
1612
01:18:28,537 --> 01:18:30,205
And I don't mean the communists
are going to take over
1613
01:18:30,247 --> 01:18:31,707
the world,
because the communists
1614
01:18:31,748 --> 01:18:32,916
are deader than we are.
1615
01:18:32,958 --> 01:18:35,001
What is finished...
1616
01:18:36,336 --> 01:18:39,256
is the idea that this
great country is dedicated to
1617
01:18:39,297 --> 01:18:43,844
the freedom and flourishing
of every individual in it.
1618
01:18:45,011 --> 01:18:47,806
It's the individual
that's finished.
1619
01:18:47,889 --> 01:18:50,892
I mean, I cannot tell you
how many times my words
1620
01:18:50,934 --> 01:18:52,936
have been
distorted or misunderstood.
1621
01:18:52,978 --> 01:18:55,355
That's the nature of my life--
to be misunderstood.
1622
01:18:55,439 --> 01:18:58,775
I am not a destroyer
of companies.
1623
01:18:58,859 --> 01:19:01,319
I am a liberator of them.
1624
01:19:03,864 --> 01:19:05,824
The point is,
ladies and gentlemen,
1625
01:19:05,907 --> 01:19:11,913
that greed, for lack
of a better word, is good.
1626
01:19:11,955 --> 01:19:15,542
Greed is right.
Greed works.
1627
01:19:16,209 --> 01:19:20,088
Greed clarifies,
cuts through, and captures
1628
01:19:20,130 --> 01:19:22,924
the essence of
the evolutionary spirit.
1629
01:19:22,966 --> 01:19:25,635
Greed in all of its forms--
1630
01:19:25,677 --> 01:19:30,056
greed for life, for money,
for love, knowledge--
1631
01:19:30,140 --> 01:19:32,768
has marked the
upward surge of mankind,
1632
01:19:32,809 --> 01:19:39,649
and greed, you mark my words,
will not only save Teldar Paper,
1633
01:19:39,733 --> 01:19:43,653
but that other malfunctioning
corporation called the U.S.A.
1634
01:19:43,695 --> 01:19:45,030
Thank you very much.
1635
01:19:45,113 --> 01:19:48,116
The greed speech
was misunderstood.
1636
01:19:48,158 --> 01:19:50,494
I mean, what I was-- I didn't
want it to make it simplistic,
1637
01:19:50,577 --> 01:19:51,703
black and white.
1638
01:19:51,787 --> 01:19:53,246
It was not, you know,
1639
01:19:53,330 --> 01:19:55,165
"Yeah, we all know
that greed is not a good thing."
1640
01:19:55,248 --> 01:19:58,126
The kids,
the people who see these movies
1641
01:19:58,168 --> 01:20:00,670
that were in college
or high school
1642
01:20:00,712 --> 01:20:03,423
and they loved the film
and they wanted to make money.
1643
01:20:03,507 --> 01:20:05,342
They didn't want to go to
some boring university
1644
01:20:05,383 --> 01:20:06,802
and study for what?
1645
01:20:06,843 --> 01:20:09,054
They wanted to
hit the jackpot on Wall Street.
1646
01:20:09,137 --> 01:20:11,515
So I guess I misjudged
the landscape.
1647
01:20:11,598 --> 01:20:14,518
I thought people had
more morality than they did.
1648
01:20:17,521 --> 01:20:20,315
I think it's the
most important art form we have.
1649
01:20:20,357 --> 01:20:22,692
Satire is the only form
where you can sit down,
1650
01:20:22,776 --> 01:20:24,277
be entertained,
1651
01:20:24,361 --> 01:20:27,781
have that sense of escapism
from your everyday life,
1652
01:20:27,864 --> 01:20:30,742
but also deeply involve
yourself with something
1653
01:20:30,826 --> 01:20:32,661
that's really important
about society
1654
01:20:32,702 --> 01:20:35,038
that, otherwise, you
wouldn't really want to see.
1655
01:20:35,080 --> 01:20:38,959
Well, the time has come to say,
1656
01:20:39,042 --> 01:20:42,379
is "dehumanization"
such a bad word?
1657
01:20:42,462 --> 01:20:45,340
Because good or bad,
that's what is so.
1658
01:20:45,382 --> 01:20:47,884
The whole world
is becoming humanoid--
1659
01:20:47,968 --> 01:20:51,221
creatures that look human,
but aren't.
1660
01:20:51,263 --> 01:20:52,931
The whole world,
not just us.
1661
01:20:53,014 --> 01:20:54,724
We're just the
most advanced country,
1662
01:20:54,808 --> 01:20:57,394
so we're getting there first.
1663
01:20:57,435 --> 01:21:01,898
The whole world's people
are becoming mass-produced,
1664
01:21:01,940 --> 01:21:04,192
programmed, numbered,
insensate things...
1665
01:21:04,234 --> 01:21:06,653
Can it be
dismantled? Can it be stopped?
1666
01:21:07,404 --> 01:21:09,739
Do you want the truth?
I don't think it can.
1667
01:21:09,823 --> 01:21:11,032
And somebody once said to me,
1668
01:21:11,074 --> 01:21:12,409
"Don't you have
any hope at all?"
1669
01:21:12,450 --> 01:21:14,077
And I said, "Yes.
I hope I'm wrong."
1670
01:21:14,160 --> 01:21:15,829
That's the only hope I have.
1671
01:21:18,206 --> 01:21:24,087
The winner is
Paddy Chayefsky for "Network."
1672
01:21:24,170 --> 01:21:25,755
You know, it's so easy
1673
01:21:25,839 --> 01:21:29,217
and I think very reductive
to just talk about the words
1674
01:21:29,259 --> 01:21:30,719
with Chayefsky,
because the words are so--
1675
01:21:30,760 --> 01:21:32,262
they're so arresting.
1676
01:21:32,345 --> 01:21:35,765
But it was not the words.
It was the characters.
1677
01:21:35,849 --> 01:21:37,601
It was the intentions.
1678
01:21:37,684 --> 01:21:42,272
No character can survive
being badly performed.
1679
01:21:42,355 --> 01:21:44,149
If you don't have great actors,
I don't care how good
1680
01:21:44,232 --> 01:21:46,735
the writing is,
it's going to be terrible.
1681
01:21:46,776 --> 01:21:50,947
So, yeah, Peter Finch,
Faye Dunaway, Bill Holden,
1682
01:21:50,989 --> 01:21:55,285
Robert Duvall,
George C. Scott, Diana Rigg,
1683
01:21:55,368 --> 01:21:57,579
yeah, they made a difference.
1684
01:21:58,538 --> 01:22:01,583
And they found what
was living between the words
1685
01:22:01,625 --> 01:22:03,627
in those brilliant screenplays.
1686
01:22:03,668 --> 01:22:06,463
But I don't know that we need to
rank which was more important,
1687
01:22:06,546 --> 01:22:08,715
because the truth is,
they served each other.
1688
01:22:08,798 --> 01:22:12,510
This was just everybody bringing
their best at the same time.
1689
01:22:12,594 --> 01:22:14,512
I approached him.
1690
01:22:14,596 --> 01:22:16,556
I was fledgling
and I approached him at--
1691
01:22:16,640 --> 01:22:19,059
They used to have these great
Writers Guild Award dinners.
1692
01:22:19,142 --> 01:22:20,936
And I saw him and Robert Towne,
1693
01:22:20,977 --> 01:22:22,812
for God's sake,
sitting at the same table.
1694
01:22:22,896 --> 01:22:24,314
I approached him.
1695
01:22:24,356 --> 01:22:27,359
And Paddy,
on "Altered States,"
1696
01:22:27,442 --> 01:22:29,569
I always wondered
whether it was possible
1697
01:22:29,653 --> 01:22:33,823
for a writer to write people
smarter than he was or she was.
1698
01:22:33,865 --> 01:22:36,201
And he did it.
1699
01:22:36,284 --> 01:22:37,702
I mean, you know,
he had to write geniuses in
1700
01:22:37,786 --> 01:22:39,412
"Altered States."
1701
01:22:39,496 --> 01:22:40,997
He had to write a flat-out
genius and make it convincing,
1702
01:22:41,039 --> 01:22:43,375
and he did.
1703
01:22:44,501 --> 01:22:48,088
Arthur says you're very shy.
He wants me to draw you out.
1704
01:22:48,171 --> 01:22:51,007
Draw me out?
That doesn't sound like Arthur.
1705
01:22:51,049 --> 01:22:52,759
Well, what he actually
said was you were
1706
01:22:52,842 --> 01:22:56,596
a high-handed, arrogant prick,
a little nuts, but brilliant,
1707
01:22:56,680 --> 01:22:58,223
and that if I ever got
you talking,
1708
01:22:58,306 --> 01:23:00,350
I would find you fascinating.
1709
01:23:00,433 --> 01:23:02,227
That sounds more like Arthur.
1710
01:23:02,310 --> 01:23:03,603
He says you're doing
some work with him and
1711
01:23:03,687 --> 01:23:05,689
- Alan Hobart at Payne Whitney.
- Yes.
1712
01:23:05,772 --> 01:23:07,524
Well, what sort of work?
1713
01:23:07,607 --> 01:23:09,359
Toxic-metabolite stuff
for more or less
1714
01:23:09,401 --> 01:23:11,152
replicating Heath's
and Friedhoff's strategies,
1715
01:23:11,194 --> 01:23:12,737
trying to find
maverick substances specific
1716
01:23:12,821 --> 01:23:14,197
to schizophrenia.
1717
01:23:14,239 --> 01:23:16,032
I think we're chasing our tails.
What do you do?
1718
01:23:16,074 --> 01:23:18,368
Well, "Altered States"
is so interesting
1719
01:23:18,451 --> 01:23:20,453
because, first of all,
Paddy Chayefsky was
1720
01:23:20,537 --> 01:23:24,416
the only screenwriter in history
who had the power
1721
01:23:24,499 --> 01:23:28,211
to fire the director,
but he could not fire two.
1722
01:23:28,253 --> 01:23:30,755
And I think--
And on "Altered States,"
1723
01:23:30,839 --> 01:23:33,633
he fired the first
and then got Ken Russell,
1724
01:23:33,717 --> 01:23:36,886
and that wasn't
the happiest arrangement ever.
1725
01:23:58,408 --> 01:24:00,243
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
1726
01:24:00,326 --> 01:24:02,412
Is it a Chayefsky movie?
Is it not a Chayefsky movie?
1727
01:24:02,454 --> 01:24:04,039
He took his name off of it.
1728
01:24:04,080 --> 01:24:06,624
I just remember,
you talk about a big swing,
1729
01:24:06,708 --> 01:24:09,335
I think that it's
underrated in that
1730
01:24:09,419 --> 01:24:11,546
it's not in the discussion
as much as it should be.
1731
01:24:11,588 --> 01:24:13,506
But even I knew it was
an imperfect movie
1732
01:24:13,590 --> 01:24:16,760
when I saw it as a kid,
but there's enough in it
1733
01:24:16,801 --> 01:24:19,596
that is unlike any other movie
that you've ever seen
1734
01:24:19,637 --> 01:24:23,349
that I think it's like--
it's the Chayefsky deep cut.
1735
01:24:23,433 --> 01:24:25,143
...know deep in our hearts
that he may be onto something
1736
01:24:25,226 --> 01:24:26,936
that is beyond our
own comprehension.
1737
01:24:26,978 --> 01:24:29,689
Now, because I believe him,
I want this thing stopped!
1738
01:24:41,451 --> 01:24:44,120
I read the novella
on my honeymoon,
1739
01:24:44,162 --> 01:24:45,789
and the nature of the story
1740
01:24:45,872 --> 01:24:50,251
requires him to solve
the meaning of life at the end.
1741
01:24:50,293 --> 01:24:52,504
There was no other way
to end it.
1742
01:24:52,587 --> 01:24:53,671
And he did it.
1743
01:24:53,755 --> 01:24:56,466
And it was like
2:00 in the morning,
1744
01:24:56,549 --> 01:25:00,637
and I was, I think, reading
in the bathroom of my honeymoon.
1745
01:25:00,678 --> 01:25:03,223
And I cried
for the second time in my life.
1746
01:25:14,400 --> 01:25:16,236
I believe it was
in the hospital.
1747
01:25:16,319 --> 01:25:19,697
Paddy and Bob,
sort of half-jokingly,
1748
01:25:19,781 --> 01:25:22,826
but not jokingly,
made a pact with each other.
1749
01:25:22,867 --> 01:25:24,661
If Bob died first,
1750
01:25:24,702 --> 01:25:28,498
Paddy would give a very long
and very boring eulogy.
1751
01:25:28,581 --> 01:25:35,505
And if Paddy died first, Bob
said he would do a tap dance.
1752
01:25:35,588 --> 01:25:38,591
Now, it was presented
with a tinge of disrespect,
1753
01:25:38,675 --> 01:25:40,760
obviously, because it was
a joke, like, you know,
1754
01:25:40,844 --> 01:25:44,806
I'll do something as stupid as
tap-dance at your memorial,
1755
01:25:44,848 --> 01:25:48,393
you know,
at Riverside Memorial Chapel."
1756
01:25:48,476 --> 01:25:52,939
It was a joke,
but it wasn't a joke.
1757
01:25:54,566 --> 01:25:56,693
At Paddy Chayefsky's
funeral in New York,
1758
01:25:56,734 --> 01:26:02,448
which I attended,
and it was solemn.
1759
01:26:02,532 --> 01:26:05,034
I mean,
it was very solemn for me.
1760
01:26:05,118 --> 01:26:11,708
And Bob Fosse, who, as close as
friends can be, got up and said
1761
01:26:11,791 --> 01:26:15,420
that he and Paddy
had made a deal.
1762
01:26:15,503 --> 01:26:18,548
And I asked
E.L. Doctorow about it.
1763
01:26:18,590 --> 01:26:20,592
Doctorow was there,
and he said it was just
1764
01:26:20,675 --> 01:26:27,891
a very sad and solemn soft-shoe,
very quiet, very internal.
1765
01:26:27,932 --> 01:26:31,060
And he started
to do a dance, tap dance,
1766
01:26:31,102 --> 01:26:34,606
and by the third step,
he was collapsing in tears.
1767
01:26:34,689 --> 01:26:37,483
I don't remember anything
but that
1768
01:26:37,567 --> 01:26:42,780
and being there in the place
and the kind of day it was.
1769
01:26:42,864 --> 01:26:47,619
Fosse said, "I can't
imagine my life without you."
1770
01:26:47,702 --> 01:26:50,997
And that's true.
That is true.
1771
01:26:51,080 --> 01:26:54,209
Fosse declined after Paddy died.
1772
01:27:15,146 --> 01:27:17,690
In the epitaph,
I think one word used is
1773
01:27:17,774 --> 01:27:19,192
"humanist."
1774
01:27:19,275 --> 01:27:22,445
Yes, humanist for sure.
1775
01:27:24,322 --> 01:27:27,116
Yeah.
Cared about the human condition,
1776
01:27:27,200 --> 01:27:29,744
wanted to make sure that
we were all rigorously honest
1777
01:27:29,786 --> 01:27:32,288
with ourselves about
what the human condition was,
1778
01:27:32,372 --> 01:27:34,332
what human frailty was,
what human potential was,
1779
01:27:34,415 --> 01:27:37,418
what human evil could be.
1780
01:27:40,630 --> 01:27:43,967
He was just X-raying all of us,
1781
01:27:44,008 --> 01:27:47,136
both in the micro
and in the macro...
1782
01:27:48,263 --> 01:27:52,350
and giving us a bill of health
that was not always flattering,
1783
01:27:52,433 --> 01:27:55,520
but was exceedingly necessary.