During the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, two network television cameras captured over 188 hours of footage. Emile de Antonio used this material as the basis for his first feature and what eventually became his greatest commercial success. Senator Joseph McCarthy takes center stage as his efforts to rout out Communists in the military are called into question in hearings that would eventually lead to his censure for conduct unbecoming. Originally constructed with voiceover narration by Mike Wallace, de Antonio scrapped the audio track for fear that the film would too strictly adhere to the conventions of television documentary. The result was one of the most important nonfiction films of the postwar era.