Directed by Emile de Antonio • 1964 • United States

This groundbreaking political documentary distills 188 hours of televised footage from the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings into a compelling narrative that reveals the aggressive tactics employed by senator Joseph McCarthy in his paranoid investigations into supposed Communist infiltration of the American government. The film presents the proceedings without narration or added commentary, allowing the raw footage to speak for itself. The result is an unfiltered look at McCarthy’s confrontations with Army counsel Joseph Welch—including the pivotal moment when Welch famously questioned McCarthy’s decency—and a vivid window into a critical moment in American history.