To get a list of movies involving journalism, I researched 40 sources that listed or discussed movies involving journalism or journalists. Some were discussion sites, others more comprehensive essays and the rest “best of” lists. I discarded a few that didn’t treat the subject seriously. In the 40 that appeared worth considering, I gave one point for each movie title mentioned positively.
Eight movies were mentioned at least 32 (80%) of the time. These are listed below in chronological order and appear to be movies that anyone with a serious interest in journalism should see. Of the remaining 62 titles, 13 appeared at least 20 (50%) times. Those are posted by year and title after the top eight.
The most-mentioned movie appeared 36 times, one more than the next. Play the guessing game on which ones if you want; that’s not what I’m here to do.
There is no claim to accuracy or objectivity in public taste, which is really what I have collected here. Personally, I dislike a few of the movies in the top eight. However, I think there’s enough in this that it would even serve a purpose in the cloistered halls of the University of Kings College School of Journalism where this discussion had its beginnings.
Watch. Enjoy. Discuss.
Must See: eight movies, each with at least 32 mentions
1940 His Girl Friday
When veteran Chicago newsmen Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote the original story in 1927, they certainly gave it legs. First came the original Broadway comedy (1928), then four movies (1931, 1940, 1974, 1988), two more stage plays, a radio play, and a television show. In all of them, two reporters, one trying to get out of the business, find themselves not only covering but involved in a jail break. In this 1940 version, perhaps the best, director Howard Hawks took the Hecht/MacArthur script from The Front Page (1931) and added sexual tension by making one of the reporters female. The result was a fast-paced classic comedy, keeping the competition for a big story and lots of humour based on news and political practices of the day. The movie was #19 on the American Film Institute’s 100 years of comedy list.
1941 Citizen Kane
Written, directed and starring Orson Wells, it is considered to be the best American film of any kind ever made. Citizen Kane shows the life of fictional media tycoon Charles Foster Kane, based on legendary William Randolph Hearst. The movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one for best writing. Through Wells as Kane, we get a unique and moving picture of the power at the center of the media business and what it can do to those few who hold it. Hearst publications threatened attacks on anyone advertising the picture or showing it. With only a few halls willing to risk Hearst’s wrath, Wells lost money on its first week’s run. However, critics quickly labelled it a magnificent motion picture. "Staggering and belongs at once among the greatest screen achievements", said The New World Telegram.1976 All the President`s Men
In American politics and journalism, this story and this movie shaped the future. After Watergate, the central theme here, trust in politicians changed, and so did the political desire to control mass media. For young journalists, “getting someone” became the way to a big story and an established reputation. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play the two Washington Post reporters who wouldn’t give up on the Watergate story and are credited with bringing down President Richard Nixon. Based on the book by reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the movie shows the pressures and methods active in a real newsroom. There was much conflict with the authors over how well the movie represented the book, but in the end it was a great success, nominated for eight Academy Awards and winning four. Accurate? Perhaps. A movie anyone interested in journalism should see? Certainly. 1981 Absence of Malice
The son of a dead gangster (Paul Newman) gets his life ruined by the stories of a reporter (Sally Field). Former editor Kurt Leudtke of The Detroit Free Press was the writer. The picture was nominated for three Academy Awards.Newman sparked a personal war with the New York Post when he claimed that he made the movie as a direct attack on The Post for running an inaccurate photo caption about him. The Post’s response was to ban all stories involving Newman, even removing his name from movie listings.
“a showcase for its actors, who give depth and color to a polished though fairly conventional entry in the fading genre of newspaper movies”, wrote one critic.
1986 Salvador
This picture did very poorly at the box office but quite well with some critics. Director and co-writer Oliver Stone’s view of the Salvadorian civil war shouldered both blame and worth.Veteran photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) is a nasty and arrogant drunk who has successfully covered every dirty war for 20 years. Finally out of favour everywhere, he staggers into El Salvador, hoping to get the shots that will outweigh his reputation. Boyle finds himself witness to horrible events the world does not yet know about, stirring the potential crisis that ever haunts news people: What comes first, journalist or human being?
Many in the United States accused the movie of being anti-American. A New York Times critic wrote that Stone: “offers an interpretation of history, laying blame on conservative forces in the United States for abetting the horrors in El Salvador."
1999 The Insider
An unusual and controversial movie starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer. It is based on an episode of the TV show 60 Minutes seen through the eyes of a tobacco industry executive. The 60 Minutes piece originally could not be shown until it was re-edited to suit CBS then-owner Laurence Tisch, who was connected to the tobacco industry.It’s a true story in which Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) goes public about the industry’s knowledge of tobacco’s health risk in an interview with Mike Wallace (Plummer) arranged by CBS producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino). All face the wrath of the tobacco industry and CBS itself, which may be about to be sold to a tobacco-connected corporation.
In journalism today, should the truth stand in the way of a good story? This movie is about a reporter who didn’t think so, rose very high because of that, and fell even further. It is the true story of Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), his career at The New Republic, and those around him he affected. Writer and director Billy Ray was addicted to Woodward/Bernstein type journalism and wanted the full truth told about Glass and how he rose to media prominence by falsifying half the stories he wrote. He also wanted to show American political journalism with all its warts.
Before filming started in Montreal, Ray held a screening of All The President’s Men for his crew, ironic since film critic Roger Ebert would later say Shattered Glass deserves to be ranked alongside that film.
2005 Good Night and Good Luck
According to who you read, this movie is either about Murrow showing America the truth about the scandal that was Senator Joseph McCarthy or Murrow’s self-destruction through his arrogance. No matter. It shows real people in real events; journalism the way people like Murrow wanted it to be, and the arrival of money as the thing that would stop it from being that way.
This is a George Clooney project in black and white, the medium of Murrow. Clooney directed, co-wrote, and performed.
Should Also See (at least 20 mentions)
1931 The Front Page
1975 The Passenger
1976 Network
1979 The China Syndrome
1982 The Year of Living Dangerously
1982 Missing
1983 Under Fire
1984 The Killing Fields
1987 Broadcast News
1994 The Paper
2003 Veronica Guerin
2008 Frost/Nixon
2009 State of Play