Free Republic

Video LinkThis is a great story by Paddy Chayefsky.I love the Ernie Borgnine rendition and this one.Hope you enjoy it.

<p>Paddy Chayefsky presents the Oscars for Writing (Original Story and Screenplay) to Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for Annie Hall and for Writing (Screenplay Adapted from Other Material) to Alvin Sargent for Julia, at the 50th Academy Awards. Hosted by Bob Hope.</p>

Paddy Chayefsky and Politics at the Oscars AWESOME!

Let us go back forty years. Here is one of the greatest scenes in the history of the movies. Howard Beale is the presumptive Republican candidate for President of the United States. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, polls indicate that a majority of British voters are going to vote to pull out of the European Union on June 23. The international establishment is facing a two-front war. The Atlantic alliance is in visible disarray. This has not happened before. This is truly historic.

The other day I ran across a clip from the 1976 film "Network" -- of course, the "Mad As Hell" speech which is a perfect match for the political mood of the country today. But then I remembered there were some other great speeches & scenes, and when I reviewed them again, sure enough -- it right on the money for today! No, I am not saying that a writer in 1976 had some magical powers to predict the future, but yesterday's hyperbola is today's reality. How weird is that? Mad As Hell The MediaThe World is a Corporate Holding...

There are speeches yet to go at the Republican Convention, as I write this. President Bush will speak tonight, and of course the most important speech given at any party convention is the one by its nominee. Still, without fear of being proven wrong, in my opinion the most powerful and evocative speech at this Convention was given yesterday. By a Democrat, Senator Zell Miller. The title which summarizes his work is just one letter different from the catch phrase made famous in the Oscar-winning performance of Peter Finch in the 1976 classic, Network. Finch played Howard Beale, the TV...