2, ENTERTAINMENT, THE HERALD, Wed. Dec. 29, W76 |

_ Peter Finch plays the role of

ten “You know, I really
:: petired from films for a few
- years before agreeing to this
project,” says Peter Finch,’
faking a short break from
the “grueling shooting
. ~s¢hedule needed to co: mplete
’ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 's
“Network”? for Paddy
Bae: “I simply turned
7 ck on acting and went
mons down to my farm in-
Jamaica and played gen-
“tleman farmer. But 1
~couldn’t stand the idleness.
“and when.I first read this.
» ‘ineredible. script, I-knew I
had ‘to bea part of. the
‘project.”
Casting a quick. glance at
-. §'Network’ oe synopsis
makes it clear why Finch
- -eould not “overlook the-
: chance to play a television
> -giachorman who goes crazy.
on the evening news. In
_. .-essence, “Network” deals
- with the corruption of honest
" news, the sensationalizing of
the entertainment.
- programming, -the
pressures of ‘personal -
_ ambition and the. power
- struggles'. behind — the
‘cameras. The role of Beale
offers Finch the opportunity .
to play _a complex and, .
/s magnificent - character, a:
, Sort of full’ blown: hellion:

‘rarely seen on the American _ 7
screen. | po Bat
“Tanned, relaxed, and
sitting apart from the oe
elaborate television. set
which’ ‘serves as the
background for ‘‘Network”’,
Finch conveys little of the
tormented character he will
play on the screen. It was.
not until the director , Sidney-.
“Lumet, called Finch ‘back to
the — lights ‘that . the
Australian-born. actor’ took.
on: the trappings. of.a man.
caught. in. the terrors of
schizophrenia, , . ©

- “Some people may ‘think
Beale is insane,” Finch
allows, choosing his
vocabulary as carefully as a
Gabor sister might choose a
diamond. “But.I don’t think” °;
so. I think what happened to.
Howard Beale was a ‘streak
of..sanity’. Certainly he .
‘seems to go crazy - right.
‘there on national television, §
but in another sense, that §
break from sanity allows .
-Beale to become something -
of a modern-day prophet.”

“What I admire in

writers,” says Finch; who 7
once supplemented . chis @
acting revenue asa reporter -
for: an”. Australian
newspaper, Hig: ‘the passion.
to ke a ‘moral: stand. All

a oA. newscaster Howard Beale’ (Peter. Finch) discusses his ¢ career: with
“, "programming executive Diane ‘Christenson. (Faye Dunaway)" in: ‘MGM's

“Network.

time,” he. explains, a

_ ‘problems “of, right and

ase! writers had that - _
a “Td t think it’s possible for

. taire,- hekov, | wi
Dostooveli. Today, I think:

‘a “society: to put aside
morality for- a time,”

&. it’s) remarkable . that.
? Solzhenitsyn should be alive.
- and writing the way he is.- continues ..Finch. ‘The
Germans | certainly put it
‘aside during Hitler's reign. 1

‘Unfortunately; he ‘isn’t:
7 appreciated the way ‘he
: have a friend in Jamaica, a

ould: be.

although it was. .
beautiful, it was drea es
boring. All the: problems: we
were swept off the very. °°.
clean streets andit was very ="
clinical. I never felt a part of oh
Switzerland the way T did .
Italy or England.

MIDWAY

~ CLOSED FOR NEWYEARSEVE a}

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ARICHARD LESTER
; Mature: a throughout.

7 day and: ‘age
_ every ything ‘written. is filled
y with indulgent . language.
_.He’s a. very. moral: writer.”

Finch dismisses the’ notion

) not . concerned: .
‘ questions. ‘of | ‘morality

Watergate. books. as

-examples..

right and wrong. because all
of the great: writers still sell.

“one. would. think they

 wouldn’t; And.then there’s .
“all: those Nixon: ‘books, |
} there’ 5 avery: moral lesson.
in those books: — ‘they're -

-deally. about. ‘the: wages ‘of

. vinced:.we’. still -have a

“Ts: renarkable in this
when

of morality. C
change their political stance
be because . they re tired of

that the general: populace i is.
owith .

and.
cites. both the . con nuing -
|. acceptance of the “great ‘fr

*masters”’ -and. the. flood of

before: It ta

‘tired.. It's much
find someone else to tell us
““Opviously
people still care.about moral .
> resurgence that comes.

y We live in a snide age, and

sin, -aren’t: they? I'm con-,
| order.
2 medieval mespect for the:

: ue

Hidden somewhere in 1 the ads ;

ver ‘fine lawyer, whe once
to. me, ‘You must
remember, people g get tired
Countries often

individual liberty. I had
never. thought about it

str le to have personal
om and people get
easier to

what to do. But when that
happens, .

along, and we say, ‘Hey,
who is that guy .with the

pistol and why i is he pushing.

‘me around?”

Finch, -who recently. ‘sold a a

his Jamaica farm :land,
cherishes: the ‘turmoil

manifested by a country”,
to find a new
-“T lived in Swit-.
zerland for quite a long:
" “> 5.trained by -

struggling:

THEATRE «|
_PASSES:

es work and‘

there’s . a.

“We went from. ‘Swits,
zerland to Jamaica, which -
was full of prplent ‘put.
somehow, found. the.
challenge stimulating | cand.
refreshing. -There’s.
humanity in Jamaica. I’m
not saying Switzerland is
inhuman, . but’ it. Jacks
“energy. They’ ‘ve had- 300.
years of going “in, one
direction ‘and they: are
overly. secure.” a ;

Finch, with his Jemnalean-
‘horn wife Eletha,.and their’
5-year-old. daughter, ‘Diana;
‘are. now - -planning : a> per:
manent. ‘move. . “tO. Lo 0s.

‘Jast time 1 was there to dea’
with it, took one look at the
‘construction: workers, “who,
‘acted like’ they had -been
‘Mack. Sennett,

+ |

and flew: the premifes:

Upon _gampleting
‘work’’, | Finch. .
; concentrate. his.
| -book. ‘he’s. ‘been, cvniting

-|\ the. title —‘‘Chutzpa ih’. vs

-, ea periences T've had, people
‘|, ve: met Hi all -

|| some’ time. ‘1. think: I.
really. a. “collection -Of ex

. tacked

professiona q riter a
writing comes :very.slowl,
‘lito me, so:I’m. ‘doing: this in
. the same way. I read Cheko'
wrote his stories ——: abi

Jthere and there,” 5:

Gere =i ae