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September 28, 2005

David Strathairn who plays Ed Murrow and Murrow’s son Casey to headline screening & discussion of “Good Night, and Good Luck” at The Fletcher School, Sept. 29 at 8pm

Medford, MA-- In what promises to be a most unusual event, David Strathairn, the actor who plays Edward R. Murrow in an important new Hollywood film, and Casey Murrow, the real-life son of the legendary CBS broadcaster, will be on hand to participate in an advance screening and Q&A session of “Good Night, and Good Luck” on Sept. 29, beginning at 8:00 p.m. and held at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

This event is co-sponsored by The Fletcher School’s Murrow Center, in association with Warner Independent Pictures. Conceived by actor George Clooney with Grant Heslov, the film is set in the 1950s at the height of the Cold War hysteria over Americans accused of belonging or sympathetic to the Communist Party. A public clash erupts in connection with Murrow’s famous 1954 “See it Now” broadcasts when the newsman responded to McCarthy’s denunciation of him as a Communist.

“Good Night, and Good Luck” will open in the Boston market Oct. 7.

Besides Strathairn as Murrow, the impressive cast includes George Clooney [Fred Friendly], Robert Downey Jr. [producer Joe Wershba], Patricia Clarkson [Shirley Wershba], Jeff Daniels [Sig Michelson], and Frank Langella [CBS President Bill Paley.]

Shot entirely in black and white, “Good Night, and Good Luck” employs the novel technique of using actual film footage of Joe McCarthy rather than casting an actor to play the role. Even before its national opening, the film has been a hit at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, and only this past week opened the prestigious New York Film Festival where received a rave review by A.O. Scott in The New York Times.

Established by The Fletcher School in 1965, the Murrow Center houses most of the late newsman’s books, papers, photographs and other documents – more than 2000 -- which were donated by the school by Janet Murrow in the aftermath of her husband’s death in 1965 at the age of 57.

Contact: Terry Ann Knopf, terry.knopf@tufts.edu (617) 627-2778

Posted by jessica at September 28, 2005 09:39 AM