Ratings for a national TV network soar one night when news anchor Howard Beal (Finch) announces his impending suicide on the air. Pleasantly intrigued network heads give Beal his own show--"Mad Prophet of the Airwaves", on which he raves about television's counterproductive influence on society. Friend and program director Max Schumacher (Holden) attempts to shield Beal (now clearly deranged) from unfeeling executives wishing to further exploit the situation. William Holden was a man with "voice"; a sort of primal authority extending from his vocal chords. He was a good actor too prompting Hollywood scripts to provide Holden's characters at least one passion-driven monologue per film intended to vocally 'stamp' the movie (think Sunset Blvd, Born Yesterday, Stalag 17, etc.). Here he has like 3 or 4 such rants and yet is almost (though not altogether) overshadowed by Peter Finch's oscar-winning performance of a man driven to fanatical 'revelations' about television's vacuous hold over the masses. Faye Dunaway is the cold-hearted executive willing to sacrifice humanity for higher ratings and only prevented so by Schumacher, an on-the-outs program manager and Beal's longtime friend. In his only scene, Ned Beatty delivers a core truth (worth at least some 'real world' validity) about network television's partnership with corporate enterprise.
Ironic Footnote: (SPOILERS!!!) Howard Beal dies at the end of the movie and Finch himself died from a heart attack only months prior to being awarded a (posthumous) best-actor oscar for 'Network'.
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