They were summoned o the fancy penthouse of a gambler/racketeer kingpin, an "operator" named Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) - an apt name for a smart financial operator.The news was broken to him by Max Schumacher who was president of the News Division at UBS.The two old friends got properly pissed -In the middle of a drinking marathon on a nighttime street in Manhattan, Beale""s boss and old friend and admirer Max Schumacher (William Holden), the head of the network news, speak ogether about their maverick days in the early 50s in the radio news business when television was just beginning.Bo asked Clark: "Must be tough coming back...to work." Clark lamented the fact that some things had changed that he wasn""t expecting, although Jimmy confided that Lois was "still in love with you-know-who.[Note: The film""s themes mirrored two historical incidents in the US: (1) the Congressional HUAC Committee""s hearings o pressure witnesses to name names (Spartacus"" defeated followers refused to divulge his identity), and (2) the 1960""s Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and liberate those who were oppressed.One of the mercenaries who was fighting with the French was American legionnaire Richard "Rick" O""Connell (Brendan Fraser), accompanied by cowardly weasel-like French assistant Beni Gabor (Kevin J.