Mad as Hell

October 28, 2013
Network, the satirical masterpiece that won four Academy Awards in 1976, remains a cultural touchstone even for those moderately enthusiastic about cinema. Its writer’s name, Paddy Chayefsky, has become much less recognizable in comparison since his death in 1981 despite his long and storied career in television and movies. Itzkoff, a culture reporter for the New York Times, reminds us of Chayefsky’s unique career trajectory and deeply idiosyncratic writing style in this chronicle of the writer’s greatest work. Prior knowledge of Network and the state of Hollywood in the early- to mid-1970s is extremely helpful; although Itzkoff nicely sums up each major player’s biography and filmography, seeing the screenplay’s evolution appeal best to those who are familiar with its final form. There’s still plenty to enjoy for those who have yet to see the movie, though—Itzkoff peppers his straightforward and balanced narrative with plenty of juicy anecdotes, including Peter Finch’s briefly monastic upbringing and Chayefsky’s furious attacks on antisemitism. But Itzkoff’s real achievement is in his chilling analysis of Network as prophecy, demonstrating through interviews with Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert, Bill O’Reilly, and others that Chayefsky’s satire has become our reality.

December 15, 2013
Compellingly told story of the making and cultural effect of the 1976 Hollywood satire of the TV industry. Best known for the signature rant ("I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!") of its tragic antihero Howard Beale, Network appeared at a moment when paranoia went mainstream in American movies. (The film competed for audience and awards that year with such other dark crowd pleasers as Taxi Driver, All the President's Men and Marathon Man.) New York Times culture reporter Itzkoff (Cocaine's Son: A Memoir, 2011, etc.) naturally keeps his eye most closely on auteur Paddy Chayefsky, an irascible brick house of a man from the Bronx who won fame with his proletarian love story Marty (1955) and a reputation for stubborn insistence on fidelity to his scripts. The author shows how the idea developed over lunchtime conversations with Chayefsky's close friends, including the choreographer Bob Fosse and playwright Herb Gardner, how he researched it by observing the NBC newsroom in action, and how he labored over the language in his starkly utilitarian office in midtown Manhattan. Itzkoff also zooms in on Chayefsky's supporting players as they joined the project: the easygoing workhorse Sidney Lumet in the director's chair; former Hollywood golden boy gone slightly to seed William Holden, hired to play the adulterous and conscience-stricken news director Max Schumacher; the notoriously "difficult" Faye Dunaway as ratings-crazy programming director Diana Christensen; and Peter Finch, who eagerly left retirement to lobby for the role of Beale. A solid behind-the-scenes movie book. While fans of the film will find the book irresistible, others may be less convinced by Itzkoff's case for Network's prescience and cultural significance, supported though it may be by the opinions of Bill O'Reilly, Keith Olbermann, Anderson Cooper and others in the news industry.

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February 15, 2014

The mid-1970s witnessed a renaissance in American cinema, with Network (1976)included among the many classics of that period. What makes that film all the more remarkable is that the driving force behind it was not the vision of the director or skill of the actors, but the tenacity of an often-sidelined player in the moviemaking process. Oscar-winning screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, though, built his career upon a refusal to be sidelined. Itzkoff (Cocaine's Son; Lads), culture reporter for the New York Times, chronicles the making of the film from the first seeds of Chayefsky's idea through casting, production, promotion, and ultimate critical and commercial success. Throughout, he illustrates the tension between the creator and the works produced. An interesting wrap-up comparing Network's prophecies to the modern mass media news scene, along with a few judicious touches of Hollywood gossip, bring a wide general appeal to this work. VERDICT This thoroughly researched book deserves a place on the shelf of every aficionado of 1970s cinema. Strongly recommended for cultural historians of the period and readers interested in behind-the-scenes memoirs as well.--Neil Derksen, Pierce Cty. Lib. Syst., Tacoma

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
In Itzkoff's account of the durable 1970s film Network, the angriest man in the movies isn't the TV news anchor whose on-air crack-up propels the film's action. He's screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, whose distinctive stylenaturalism punctuated by long, articulate, strictly artificial haranguesand proprietorship about his work (only his words, all of them, were to reach the soundtrack) made him the rare writer considered the auteur or prime creator of his films (usually the director takes that credit). Accounting for Chayefsky's anger proves hard for Itzkoff to put in so many words as he frames long, absorbing chapters about the preproduction, shooting, and reception (prominently including the many Oscars it won) of Network within briefs on Chayefsky before and after it. Most obviously, the writer kept his temper simmering to deal with the producers, directors, actors, and others who wanted to change things. Chayefsky also kept a passion for the worth of the common person throughout his career, and every insult to human dignity infuriated him. A making-of film book that's also a piquant biography.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)