A correction was made to this article on April 7, 2005.
GOOD MORNING: Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw — with today’s newsmen in the news, a visit with another truth-seeking broadcaster, Edward R. Murrow, seemed timely. Thus, I looked at Ed Murrow’s famous “See It Now” program of March 9, 1954, on Stage 3 at CBS Radford where George Clooney was directing “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Clooney clicked on the monitor and I watched and listened to these words: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must always remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk into fear. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular. … We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are the defenders of freedom wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” Murrow was decrying the actions of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his committee. Clips of McCarthy’s diatribes were interspersed in the program, to which CBS toppers including Bill Paley and Fred Friendly and sponsor Alcoa, gave their blessing. They all feared negative reaction. It didn’t happen: Daily Variety‘s March 11, 1954 front-paged: “L.A. Audiences Approve Murrow’s TV Attack on McCarthy.” And editor Joe Schoenfeld congratted Murrow: He “who is constantly bringing light into dark corners thereby adding immeasurably to the prestige of television, proved once again Tuesday night that he is one of the greatest reporters of our time.” While it is David Strathairn who magnificently carbons Murrow, it is McCarthy himself who is on screen. “We couldn’t have an actor play McCarthy, he was just too sinister,” Clooney said as we watched. Strathairn, who played atomic bomb co-creator J. Robert Oppenheimer in “Day One” on CBS in 1989, told me he’d had “sleepless nights after playing that role — and I know I will after this one, too.” There are also film clips from Murrow’s “In Person” interviews with Liberace and Gina Lollobrigida. But Clooney said Murrow wasn’t fond of that show — he did it so he could have “See It Now.” … The Studio City Stage 3 was filled with a replica of Murrow’s CBS stage and offices. Clooney, cast and crew (all working for scale in the black-and-white WB film) moved quickly on the 30-day sked with only two exteriors on the $7.5 million feature, which may go to the Venice Film Fest. On the set were Robert Downey Jr. (next in “Fur”) and Patricia Clarkson, who play Shirley and Joe
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Wershba of Murrow’s staff, and Grant Heslov, co-scripter with Clooney and co-producer who also plays Don Hewitt. (At that time Hewitt was a button pusher on the Murrow TV set.) Issues of the N.Y. Times of the day are on the set for players to acquaint themselves with news of the day, Clooney said. … George no longer plays basketball between takes — he is still in pain from an accident suffered during the making of WB’s “Syriana.” He showed me the tape covering an area where he’d taken a spinal injection the previous day. And oh yes, motorcycles are also verboten. He’ll edit “Good Night and Good Luck” in a post-production studio he has built in an 18th century former silk factory he bought adjoining his Lake Como villa in Italy. He’s thinking of “The Good German” as his next film.
POPE JOHN PAUL II was no stranger to showbiz — as both writer and performer and with his astute choice of press secretary Joaquin Navarro-Valls. Hollywood press agents Lee Solters and partner Jerry Digney had set up Vatican meetings when (client) Ray Charles and company were appearing in Rome in the 1980s. The veteran team of flacks came up with a great piece of old-fashioned press agentry when their client, the Harlem Globetrotters were stopping in Rome on their Global tour. Through the help of Cokie Roberts and congresswoman Lindy Boggs, Digney says, they were able to arrange for the Pope to become an Honorary Globetrotter. A former athlete (skiing was his forte), the pope said yes and the team flew to Rome on a moment’s notice. They presented the pope with a special (framed) team jersey celebrating the Globetrotters’ 75 anniversary.
I HAD KNOWN Grace Kelly in her days as a Hollywood star. She was gorgeous, always gracious and even, on occasion, good copy. And when she became Princess Grace, we kept up contact through friends, press agents and personally. And so when in the South of France I’d phone to try and visit her. In 1974 she asked us to the Palace. She showed Selma around the place, took her upstairs to the living quarters. We returned the following year and she invited us to the Palace for dinner with a small group (including Fleur Cowles) and a screening to follow. “What are you showing?” I asked. ” ‘Three Days of the Condor’,” she replied. “Oh, I’ve seen it,” I rudely answered. Can you imagine!?! “I’m sure you won’t mind seeing it again,” she said firmly. Of course we went to dinner — and the screening. Prince Rainier didn’t like its political overtones and didn’t think the movie was very good. I told him Variety didn’t like it either, calling it “a seasonal commercial potboiler.” The prince did not appear on camera or attend any of producer Gary Pudney’s ABC World Music Awards or “Champions of Magic” both of which featured top showbiz names. Still, Pudney said, “Unless Rainier said ‘Yes’ nothing happened over there.” Meanwhile, Prince Albert was very involved and on camera with sisters Stefanie and Caroline on both shows. Albert has many friends in Hollywood and N.Y. and plays golf with Prince Edward of England … We visited Monaco when Blake Edwards was filming “Son of the Pink Panther” in 1993. Roberto Benigni starred in that version. The prince didn’t visit the set.
