Read All About It: Movies about the Newspaper Business

By Michael Lyons

In Steven Spielberg’s most recent film, “The Post,” (nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress Oscars this week) there’s a scene which includes quick shots of fingers tapping on typewriter keys, typeset moving, a printing press and rolls of newspapers unfurling out of the presses.

The scene is one of the excellent film’s many important messages:  informing audiences of the work, the toil, the blood, sweat and ink that goes into a newspaper bringing us the news of the world.

Times change.  Today, with many holding the news of the world on the smart phones in their hand, newspapers have joined a long list of many mainstays of our world that are watching the sun set on their industry.

“The Post,” which stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, brilliantly relays the true story of how “The Washington Post” reported on “The Pentagon Papers” in 1971, exposing a cover-up in our government around the Vietnam War.

Additionally, Spielberg’s film also, and quite brilliantly, provides a look behind the scenes of the now fading newspaper world.  With “The Post” regenerating interest in the importance of newspapers and newspaper journalism, it seems the perfect time to look back at other films that centered on the world of front page headlines.

Here are some other memorable movies about the newspaper business:

“His Girl Friday” (1940)

Director Howard Hawk’s screwball comedy tells the tale of a reporter (Rosalind Russell), who is trying to leave the newspaper life behind to get married.  She must break the news to her editor (Cary Grant), who is also her ex and doesn’t want her to get married, so he tempts her with something no reporter can resist: the chance to cover the latest, greatest and biggest story to come along.

Hawks snappy dialogue and rat-a-tat style not only set the standard for the screwball comedy genre(and it WAS a genre in the ‘40’s), but it’s also a remake of one of the greatest newspaper stories ever: “The Front Page.”  The Broadway play, written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur had already been brought to the screen in 1931 and would be again in 1974 (starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) and then again in 1988 as “Switching Channels”(with Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner, where the setting was relocated to Cable news).

It’s “His Girl Friday,” however that set the gold standard for the story, by changing the gender of one of the characters and adding an element of romance to the proceedings.  Comedies don’t get more classic than this.

“All the President’s Men” (1976)

No conversation of “newspaper movies” would be complete without this film, which can now almost be considered a sequel to “The Post.”  Directed by Alan J. Pakula with a gritty realism that came alive in the ‘70’s, the film re-tells a tale that was still fresh and stinging at the time, as it relays the story of how “Washington Post” reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal that ended the presidency of Richard Nixon.

In “All the President’s Men,” we are given a glimpse into the world of rolled up sleeve and loose tie newspaper journalism, while watching a gripping thriller, made all the more watchable by the fact that it actually happened.  One of the ‘70’s many “paranoia movies” that questioned all that many had faith in, “All the President’s Men” is a groundbreaking masterpiece.

“The Paper” (1994)

Ron Howard does what he does best here, directing an ensemble cast and getting the best out of everyone: Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Randy Quaid and Robert Duvall.  

“The Paper,” tracks a day in the life of the fictional Manhattan tabloid newspaper, “The New York Sun,” as its staff finds itself on the precipice of breaking a major story that could clear the names of two young men who are accused of a serious crime.

Keaton is at his manic best as the driven editor; Glen Close, is all clenched frustration as the managing editor who goes toe-to-toe with him; Robert Duvall, is quiet wisdom as the editor-in-chief.  They are just some of the film’s great performances.  Funny, thrilling and timely, “The Paper” is one of the most underrated films of the ‘90’s.

“State of Play” (2009)

This movie is not just underrated, it’s all but forgotten, which is a true shame.  In it, Russell Crowe plays an investigative journalist, who is looking into the mysterious death of a young woman, who had an affair with a prominent Congressman, played by Ben Affleck.

Also starring Hellen Mirren, Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman, “State of Play” not only works as an effective mystery, but because it was made within the past decade, it’s sub plot involves the slow moving, sad demise of newspapers, while celebrating the importance of courageous journalism.  This not only makes the film timely, but extremely important, as well.

“Spotlight” (2015)

A surprise winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture (and deservedly so), “Spotlight” tells another real-life story, this one involves a team of investigative journalists who write the “Spotlight” section of “The Boston Globe” and their work that brought to light a child sex abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic priests.

A solid ensemble cast that includes Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams (again), as well as Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci and John Slattery.  “Spotlight” is not just an extremely gripping newspaper mystery, but a shocking, heartbreaking drama that stays with you long after you see it.

Toward the end of “The Post,” Meryl Streep’s character, Katherine Graham calls the news “a rough draft of history.”

These are just some films that celebrate all that newspapers do, every day, to bring that “rough draft” to us all.

Sources: IMDb 

Wikipedia