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Movie Active Viewer Guide

Literary Devices

Setting: The time and place a movie or book takes place.

Describe the setting of the movie in the opening scene. Be sure to include what year or time period the movie takes place.

The movie tells a story using a flash back technique. What is the year or time period during the flashback?

Mood: The emotion that a movie or book makes you feel while watching or reading.

What is the mood in the country Oct. 14, 1953?

Plot: the map, plan, scheme, or main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.

What is the importance of the Don Hollenbeck subplot in the movie? Reminder: Don is a reporter, accused communist due to a newspaper who worked for, who killed himself. He was continually berated by O’Brien in his newspaper column. Additionally, his wife left him.

Media Literacy

Bottom Dollar Considerations. What is CBS boss William Paley’s first reason Murrow and Friendly shouldn’t air the Milo Radulovich story?

What are Paley’s reasons for changing the program?

What does his boss mean when he says Murrow will have to do a lot of “‘Person to Persons’ to make up for this”?

Media and Public Interest. Use the Venn Diagram below to compare and contrast Murrow’s program “See It Now” and his other program his other program “Person to Person”?

Person to Person

See It Now

Technical Details.

What is the effect of using the actual film footage of McCarthy, Radulovich, Annie Lee Moss and others?

What two commercials does the movie show from “See It Now”? How are they related to the movie’s content?

Bottom Dollar Considerations: The Price of Integrity. When CBS boss William Paley tells Murrow the sponsor won’t pay for the ads for his show, who does Murrow say will pay for them?

What is the significance of the phones not ringing after the McCarthy show airs? What sort of reviews does the show get in the next morning’s newspapers?

Corporate Interest and Censorship. Who wants to approve the footage of the Milo Radulovich story? How does William Paley change Murrow and Friendly’s show?

Reporting and Editorial.

Why do Murrow and Friendly indicate it is important \to tell the story of Joseph McCarthy March 9, 1954, almost completely with previously created tapes of him and use as much as possible “in his own words”? Murrow tells his boss, Sig Mickelson, he’s searched his conscience and doesn’t think there are always “two equal and logical sides to every story.” Mickelson accuses him of editorializing in his coverage. Do you agree or disagree with Mur-row’s statement? In your answer you should explain why you agree or disagree and explain how this statement applies to his coverage of McCarthy.

Bottom Dollar Considerations: The Price of Integrity. Murrow and Friendly face pressure from

both CBS corporate and the military when they want to produce controversial programs. In the chart below record what argu-ments CBS corporate and the military use against airing

them and how do Murrow and Friendly’s response to their arguments.

Arguments against Airing Response

Character Analysis

Analysis.

What do you know about Edward R. Murrow before he even says one word? What things about him help you learn these things about him before he has spoken?

How can you tell Murrow, Friendly and their crew are somewhat nervous about airing the McCarthy program? One of the lines in his speech is, “Our history will be what we make it.” How does this relate to the people to whom he is speaking? Murrow says he and Fred Friendly think people should “endlessly discuss” the balance between protecting what two things?

Relationships.

What is Murrow’s relationship with Don Hollenbeck and why is the report of his death significant?

Character Viewpoints and Feelings.

What are some early signs that some at CBS don’t totally agree with what Murrow and Friendly are doing? 13:57; 14:56 33:20; 34:19

What does Murrow predict McCarthy’s approach will be when he goes on air to rebut the show about him? Is he correct? 54:15; 1:15:57

After Viewing Critical Thinking

Questions

Television Broadcasting Today: Use a separate sheet of paper to complete these questions. You should staple your answers to this booklet.

In his 1958 speech, Murrow tells an audience of those involved in television, “Our history will be what we make it.” Do you think the industry has gone beyond the mere “wires and lights and a box” Murrow feared it might be? In what ways has it succeeded and in what ways has it perhaps failed? Analyze what Murrow means when he quotes Shakespeare and says, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars but in ourselves.”

Some say Clooney was drawing a parallel between today’s controversial balance of national security and personal freedoms with what occurred during the McCarthy era. What do you think and why? Support your stand.

Mood.

Refer back to page 3 in your Active Viewer Guide and review your answer in the “Mood” box. Think about your answer and the movie, then answer the following question.

How did Senator Joseph McCarty contribute to the mood in the county in October of 1953?

Connecting to Today: Diary Activity

Teens in the ‘50s watched the evening news in black and white and wondered what impact these events would have on their lives. They had plenty of issues to think about—serious ones such as the Korean War, nuclear war, McCarthy hearings, the threat of communism and the Civil Rights movement and less serious ones such as taking the new polio vaccine, new technology and the birth of rock and roll. What are some similar and different world events happening today that could impact teen lives? You should list at least three. Choose one of the issues from the ‘50s listed in the first paragraph and one of the issues happening today that you listed and complete the following activity.

1. Research the issues you chose. By the end of your research you should be able to summarize the main points about each issue.

2. Write at least six diary entries (totaling no less than 100 words) about your issues. You should have three for the 1950’s issue and 3 for the current event.

3. When you are writing your diary entries for your issue from the 1950’s, imagine that you are a teenager during that time period. Write about what you think about the issue, how you believe the issue would make you feel and act, etc. You can also include references to other topics from the time such as pop culture of the day (i.e. music of interest, television shows).

4. When you are writing about the current event, explore your thoughts on the issue, what the issue makes you feel, etc. You can also include references to other topics from today such as current pop culture.