10 Amazing Acting Performances To Watch On Netflix

Faye Dunaway won her only Oscar here, playing network executive Diana Christensen in master Sidney Lumet’s satirical follow-up to Dog Day Afternoon. As a woman who will do pretty much anything to boost ratings, Dunaway creates a chilling character; one who won’t let something like being in the middle of sex stop her from talking shop.

Delivering screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky’s stiletto-sharp dialogue like her life depends on it, Dunaway cuts a voracious figure as Diana, not for a second worrying about the ever-decreasing mental health of her anchor because she knows that madness equals ratings, and ratings equal success.

Not the ultimate Dunaway role—that would be Chinatown—but certainly her most explosive one. It's testament to her performance that she's not overshadowed by the also Oscar-winning Peter Finch, who gets the showier role of Howard Beale: 'Mad Prophet of the Airwaves'.