User Reviews

Times have certainly changed since the days when the arrival of Mike Wallace would send chills down the spines of would be hustlers, liars and corrupt individuals. In those days his gotcha style journalism was hailed as a way of catching people off guard and getting to the truth of the matter. Many journalists who employ those methods today, such as Project Veritas, are condemned rather than praised. The fact is both deserve a certain amount of credit rather than condemnation. But Wallace was the first big name to start it all.

Composed of various old interviews and footage of Wallace when he was still alive, the film opens with him interviewing Bill O'Reilly and taking him to task for his confrontational style of journalism. What makes this odd is that as the film progresses we witness Wallace doing the same exact thing in various interviews. The same holds true with the off camera language used by Wallace at times, something O'Reilly was condemned for at one point in time.

Wallace states in the film that "A nation's press is a good yardstick of a nation's health. Take a look at the history of any nation that has lost its freedoms and you'll find that the men who grabbed the power also had to crush the free press". That's an incredibly true statement. Historically we've seen people like Hitler and Stalin crush the press. One has to assume the makers of this film feel that this is a current threat, thus using this to frame the film. But to date there is no sign of it happening.

Wallace also states during the film that "What we're defending is the people's right to know." There is a fine line in journalism between the people's right to know and the safety and rights of those being accused, badgered or interviewed. Wallace was one that knew enough not to step over those lines and it shows in this documentary as well as the memories of those who watched him each week on 60 MINUTES.

The film looks back at Wallace from start to finish, with his early days as a celebrity host of games shows and as a spokesman for various products. He stepped up to investigative gotcha style interviews with THE MIKE WALLACE INTERVIEW for a year in 1957. With controversial guests he would allow them to speak but would have that moment when you knew he was nailing them down. While the show only lasted a year it gave him a taste of what it was like.

In 1962 Wallace' was faced with the death of his eldest son. This shook him to his core. As he says in the film it made him want to do something more with his life than just host shows or work as an actor on radio. He took a job with CBS News and began filing reports for several years. The rest of the news team at CBS didn't welcome him with open arms though, considering him little more than a talking head, an actor. He had to work to gain the reputation as an honest journalist among them.

Another person who didn't quite fit in was producer Don Hewitt. He and Wallace struck up a friendship as outsiders. When Hewitt was given a last ditch opportunity to come up with a new show, he developed 60 MINUTES and took Wallace with him. The rest was history.

As some fellow journalists note during their discussions with Wallace there wasn't an interview that he did not dominate. He would enter a business with a cameraman at his side and begin questioning what was taking place. He would sit down with people and have the answers to his own questions before asking them, allowing them a chance to dig a hole for themselves. And he did it with skill. Wallace and his group were seen as hero reporters facing off against sweat stained victims. While the film does touch on the personal side of Wallace' life it doesn't do so in extreme detail, focusing instead on his life on camera. The director and editor have done a skillful job of compiling those brief moments when Wallace allowed himself to be interviewed as well as scenes from his various programs and interviews of others.

There is a definite skill seen in the footage on display here that few can master. And like him or not, Wallace did become a journalist in every sense of the word. I can't recall a time when I saw him display his own personal biases during an interview, something that makes him even more of a rarity these days.

If you're not familiar with Mike Wallace this is a good way to learn about him. If you remember Wallace then this is a great way to remember him. Either way the film is entertaining and informative and worth giving a watch.