Great Scene: “The Insider”

An incendiary story. Corporate interests. The news. Something has to give.

A few weeks ago, I put the call out on Twitter for some suggestions for the Great Scene series. Got a LOT of responses. We are working our way through them with today’s suggestion from @Kremsicles.

Movie: The Insider (1999), written by Eric Roth & Michael Mann.

IMDb plot summary: A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a “60 Minutes” expose on Big Tobacco.

Scene Setup: Bergman and Wallace go to a meeting with CBS Corporate about the Wigand interview. A legal concept has emerged, known as Tortious interference. If two parties have an agreement, such as a confidentiality agreement, and one of those parties is induced by a third party to break that agreement, the party can be sued by the other party for any damages. It is revealed that the more truth Wigand tells, the greater the damage, and a greater likelihood that CBS will be faced by a multi-billion dollar lawsuit from Brown and Williamson.

Here is the scene in the script:

INT. CBS, HEWITT'S OFFICE - DAY

LOWELL
What now?

DON HEWITT
Kluster's coming over.

Hewitt's on an unrelated call. Lowell crosses to look out
the window, a manila folder (the filing) under his arm with
whatever he found out, like a bomb, feels distant from these
people. The door opens, and Eric Kluster, the President of
CBS News enters...

ERIC KLUSTER
Hello, Lowell, Mike, Don.

Hewitt hangs up the phone.

ERIC KLUSTER (CONT'D)
There has been so much soul searching
about this Wigand, I've decided we should
cut an alternate version of the show
without his interview.

LOWELL
So, what happened to Ms. Caperelli's
checking with outside counsel first, all
that crap?

ERIC KLUSTER
That's happening. And, hopefully we
won't have to use the alternate, but we
should have it in the can.

LOWELL
I'm not touching my film...

ERIC KLUSTER
I'm afraid you are.

LOWELL
No, I'm not...

ERIC KLUSTER
We're doing this with or without you,
Lowell. If you like, I can assign
another producer to edit your show...

Lowell's stunned. He looks like he's been hit with a
hammer...

LOWELL
Since when has the paragon of
investigative journalism allowed lawyers
to determine the news content on "60
Minutes"?

DON HEWITT
It's an alternate version. So what if we
have an alternate version? And I don't
think her being cautious is so damned
unreasonable.

ERIC KLUSTER
(wry)
So, now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen,
Mr. Rather's been complaining about his
chair again.
(laughter)

As they start to leave...

LOWELL
(mild)
Before you go...

And Lowell takes out...

LOWELL (CONT'D)
I discovered this. SEC filing...
(he gets their attention)
For the sale of the CBS Corporation to
Westinghouse Corporation.

MIKE WALLACE
What?

DON HEWITT
Yeah, I heard rumors.

LOWELL
It's not a rumor. It's a sale.
(rhetorical answer)
If Tisch can unload CBS for $81 a share
to Westinghouse and then is suddenly
threatened with a multibillion-dollar
lawsuit from Brown & Williamson, that
could screw up the sale, could it not?

ERIC KLUSTER
(serene)
And what are you implying?

LOWELL
(to Kluster)
I'm not implying. I'm quoting. More
vested interests...
(reading from SEC filing)
"Persons Who Will Profit From This
Merger...
(beat)
Ms. Helen Caperelli, General Counsel of
CBS News, 3.9 million. Mr. Eric Kluster,
President of CBS News, 1.4 million..."

DON HEWITT
Are you suggesting that she and Eric are
influenced by money?

LOWELL
Oh, no, of course they're not influenced
by money. They work for free. And you
are a Volunteer Executive Producer.

DON HEWITT
CBS does not do that. And, you're
questioning our journalistic integrity?!

LOWELL
No, I'm questioning your hearing! You
hear "reasonable" and "tortious
interference." I hear... "Potential
Brown & Williamson lawsuit jeopardizing
the sale of CBS to Westinghouse." I
hear... "Shut the segment down. Cut
Wigand loose. Obey orders. And fuck
off...!" That's what I hear.

DON HEWITT
You're exaggerating!

LOWELL
I am? You pay me to go get guys like
Wigand, to draw him out. To get him to
trust us, to get him to go on television.
I do. I deliver him. He sits. He
talks. He violates his own fucking
confidentiality agreement. And he's only
the key witness in the biggest public
health reform issue, maybe the biggest,
most-expensive corporate-malfeasance case
in U.S. history. And Jeffrey Wigand,
who's out on a limb, does he go on
television and tell the truth? Yes.
Is it newsworthy? Yes. Are we gonna air
it? Of course not. Why? Because he's
not telling the truth? No. Because he
is telling the truth. That's why we're
not going to air it. And the more truth
he tells, the worse it gets!

DON HEWITT
You are a fanatic. An anarchist. You
know that? If we can't have a whole
show, then I want half a show rather than
no show. But oh, no, not you. You won't
be satisfied unless you're putting the
company at risk!

LOWELL
C'mon, what are you? And are you a
businessman? Or are you a newsman?!
Because that happens to be what Mike and
I do for a living...

MIKE WALLACE
Lowell.

LOWELL
(runs on)
"Put the corporation at risk"...? Give
me a fucking break!

MIKE WALLACE
Lowell.

LOWELL
These people are putting our whole reason
for doing what we do...on the line!

MIKE WALLACE
Lowell!

LOWELL
What?

MIKE WALLACE
I'm with Don on this.

And there it is.

Here is the movie version of the scene:

Two things. Lowell’s monologue is top-rate writing.

Second: You want to know where we are today with the specter of corporate interests overriding actual news reporting? The Insider is Network two decades later, a satire become a tragic reality… and it’s only gotten worse.

If you have a suggestion for a Great Scene, let me hear from you.

For more in the Great Scene series, go here.