“Network” to Broadcast in NYC

Sidney Lumet, a five-time Academy Award® nominee and recipient of an Honorary Oscar® in 2004, will be the special guest at the “Monday Nights with Oscar” screening of the 1976 Best Picture nominee “Network” on Monday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy Theater in New York City.

Lumet, the film’s director, will participate in a post-screening conversation with Robert Osborne, Hollywood Reporter columnist, host of Turner Classic Movies and official biographer of the Academy Awards®.

“Network” features Peter Finch as Howard Beale, an aging news anchor who threatens to commit suicide on-air after being fired by his network for poor ratings. As his rant “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” attracts a burgeoning audience, he becomes an unexpected, double-edged asset to the network.

The film received ten Academy Award nominations and took home four Oscars® - for Actor in a Leading Role (Finch), Actress in a Leading Role (Faye Dunaway), Actress in a Supporting Role (Beatrice Straight) and Original Screenplay (Paddy Chayevsky). Its three wins in the acting categories distinguish it as one of only two films in Academy Awards history to have accomplished such a feat (the other was “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1951).

Finch himself made history by becoming the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar (he died two months before the Awards ceremony).

“Network” also garnered nominations for Actor in a Leading Role (William Holden), Actor in a Supporting Role (Ned Beatty), Cinematography (Owen Roizman), Directing (Lumet), Film Editing (Alan Heim) and Best Picture (Howard Gottfried, producer).

The print for this screening of “Network” is provided courtesy of Warner Bros.

The Academy Theater is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City. Tickets for the screening are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID.