4. Peter Finch - Network
United Artists"We're mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore!" Few catchphrases have captured the spirit of righteous indignation at the ills of the world more effectively than those words shouted by news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in Sidney Lumet's scathing satire, Network. After finding out the network is about to put him out to pasture on account of his declining ratings, Howard Beale announces on live television that he will commit suicide on air. After another angry outburst - in which his anti-establishment rant galvanises much of the viewing public into shouting "We're mad as hell!" from their windows - Beale is reinstated at the network and given a spot on which to vent his frantic diatribes. Peter Finch's "mad prophet of the airwaves" carries with it the weight of a man pushed beyond the brink, encapsulating and mocking the hysteria of the media. Network hold a mirror up to American society at the time of Vietnam and Watergate, offering a reflection of how the media transforms our perception of the world around us.