Director(s): Sidney Lumet

Rating & Run Time: (R) 2 hours and 1 minute

Release Year: 1976

Peter Finch (in his final role, one that won him a posthumous Oscar) plays veteran news anchor Howard Beale, who makes a controversial on-air announcement that shocks the nation and grabs their attention to a degree unprecedented in the history of the media. An early exploration of the “viral sensation” and the fickle nature of the news cycle, Sydney Lumet’s stark and uncompromising work sees what happens to a world that’s ready to rally behind the cry of “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”