WUSA 1970

Drama

Runtime

115 mins

Language

English

Directed by

Stuart Rosenberg

Made by

Paramount Pictures

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WUSA Plot Summary

Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for WUSA (1970). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.

A drifter named Rheinhardt, Paul Newman, arrives in New Orleans and quickly scans a shelter, where he discovers his old acquaintance Farley, Laurence Harvey, running a scam as a preacher and owing him money.

Seeing a familiar name on a shelter, he encounters Farley, Laurence Harvey, who is still deep in his con, and Rheinhardt takes note of the tiny debt he’s owed and the uneasy balance between old grudges and new opportunites.

Rheinhardt goes to a bar, where he sees a woman named Geraldine, Joanne Woodward, threatened by a pimp who misreads her as soliciting on his turf.

Rheinhardt and Geraldine move in together, living in cheap housing surrounded by hippies. He gets a job at a conservative talk radio station called WUSA. The owner, Bingamon, Pat Hingle, is a white supremacist who uses the station to spread propaganda, with the constant refrain that something is wrong in the country and that things were better in the past.

Rheinhardt reads the station’s reactionary editorials while he socializes with hippies who detest it. One of his neighbors is an earnest man named Rainey, Anthony Perkins, whose job is to survey welfare recipients. Rainey relies on a wealthy man named Clotho, Moses Gunn, to guide him to beneficiaries. Clotho introduces Rainey to several people who are scamming the welfare system.

Rainey eventually discovers that Clotho is working for Bingamon, making sure that Rainey’s survey finds rampant fraud. WUSA uses that fraud as content for their editorials, feeding the hate-filled atmosphere that the station helps cultivate. The more Rainey learns, the more horrified he becomes, and when Bingamon hosts a hate rally, Rainey tries to assassinate him but shoots and kills another man instead. During the ensuing chaos, Rainey attempts to flee with his gun, but the crowd beats him to death.

Rheinhardt is ordered to the lectern to calm the crowd, but he makes a speech that only adds to the din. As Geraldine flees the rally, she is arrested and found with marijuana. Threatened with years in jail for felony possession, she hangs herself in a cell. Rheinhardt visits her grave before leaving town as cynical as he was when he arrived.

WUSA Timeline

Follow the complete movie timeline of WUSA (1970) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.

Arrival in New Orleans and discovery of Farley's scam

A drifter named Rheinhardt arrives in New Orleans and checks into a shelter where a familiar name helps him recognize Farley, an old acquaintance running a scam as a preacher. Farley owes Rheinhardt money and pays part of the debt, revealing the tension beneath their reunion.

New Orleans

Geraldine threatened by a bar pimp

Rheinhardt goes to a bar and witnesses Geraldine being threatened by a pimp who suspects she is working on his turf. The intimidation underscores the danger and street-level violence surrounding her.

Bar, New Orleans

Rheinhardt and Geraldine move in together

Rheinhardt and Geraldine move into cheap housing surrounded by hippies, starting a fragile domestic arrangement. The bohemian setting highlights the clash between their worlds and the instability of their lives.

Cheap housing with hippies, New Orleans

Rheinhardt takes a job at WUSA

Rheinhardt secures a job at the conservative talk radio station WUSA, whose white supremacist owner Bingamon uses the platform to spread nostalgia-filled propaganda. The broadcasts push a refrain of corruption and a return to better times.

WUSA studio

Rheinhardt observes editorials and hippie neighbors

While at WUSA, Rheinhardt reads reactionary editorials and socializes with hippie neighbors who detest the station’s message. The contrast deepens his internal conflict about his role and the political climate.

WUSA and neighborhood

Rainey begins welfare surveying

A neighbor named Rainey is hired to survey welfare recipients and relies on a wealthy fixer, Clotho, to guide him to beneficiaries. Clotho introduces him to several people who are exploiting the system.

Neighborhood

Clotho works with Bingamon to manipulate Rainey

Clotho secretly works for Bingamon, steering Rainey to uncover fraud that the station can weaponize in its editorials. The manipulative scheme shows how data can be cooked to fit a political agenda.

Rainey’s network and Bingamon’s influence

Bingamon hosts a hate rally

Bingamon hosts a hate rally designed to inflame the crowd and amplify bigoted rhetoric. The event becomes a volatile backdrop for the escalating violence and corruption surrounding the story.

Rally venue

Rainey’s failed assassination and death

Rainey attempts to assassinate Bingamon but shoots and kills another man instead. In the ensuing chaos, the crowd turns violent and beats him to death as he tries to flee.

Rally site

Rheinhardt calms the crowd but worsens it

Rheinhardt is ordered to the lectern to calm the crowd, but his speech only adds to the din and anger. The moment underscores his powerlessness and the breakdown of order at the rally.

Rally site

Geraldine arrested and commits suicide

Geraldine flees the rally but is arrested for marijuana possession. Threatened with years in jail, she hangs herself in her cell, a tragic consequence of the violence and desperation surrounding them.

Jail cell

Rheinhardt visits the grave and leaves town

Rheinhardt visits Geraldine’s grave and then leaves town as cynical as when he arrived. The journey ends with him carrying a deep disillusionment about the people and politics he encountered.

Geraldine’s grave; New Orleans

WUSA Characters

Explore all characters from WUSA (1970). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.

Rheinhardt (Paul Newman)

A drifting, wary man who arrives in New Orleans seeking money and meaning. He becomes entangled with Geraldine after meeting her, and takes a job at the provocative WUSA radio station, where his skepticism clashes with the station’s propaganda. Throughout, he remains a critical observer of the forces around him, moving through the city’s counterculture and political machinations.

🧭 Drifter 🗣️ Cynical 👥 Observer

Bingamon (Pat Hingle)

Owner of the conservative WUSA station and a white supremacist figure who weaponizes propaganda to stoke fear and nostalgia. He uses editorials and orchestrated events to shape public opinion and expand his influence. His manipulation sets the events of the rally and the surrounding political theater in motion.

🗣️ Manipulator 🕰️ Reactionary 🗞️ Media Puppeteer

Geraldine (Joanne Woodward)

A woman who becomes Rheinhardt’s partner and a focal point in the story’s danger and vulnerability. Threatened by a pimp, she and Rheinhardt inhabit a harsh social landscape and confront the consequences of the rally’s chaos. Her arrest for marijuana and subsequent death reflect the personal tragedies entwined with political schemes.

💔 Victim 🕊️ Tragic 🏘️ Bar Resident

Farley (Laurence Harvey)

An old acquaintance running a scam as a preacher, he owes Rheinhardt money and emerges as a conniving figure within the city’s underbelly. Farley’s duplicity highlights the theme of opportunistic manipulation within a landscape of political rhetoric and social unrest.

🗣️ Schemer 🎭 Charlatan 🧭 Opportunist

Rainey (Anthony Perkins)

An earnest welfare surveyor who initially believes in reform yet discovers the depth of fraud and manipulation surrounding the beneficiaries. His growing horror at Bingamon’s machinations leads to a desperate attempt to act, which ends in tragedy as the crowd turns violent.

🕊️ Idealist 🧭 Honest 🏛️ Bureaucrat

Clotho (Moses Gunn)

A wealthy facilitator who guides Rainey toward beneficiaries and, behind the scenes, coordinates with Bingamon to steer the welfare narrative. Clotho embodies the role of a gatekeeper who enables systemic fraud through financial and social influence.

💰 Wealthy Enabler 🗝️ Gatekeeper 🧭 Manipulator

WUSA Settings

Learn where and when WUSA (1970) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.

Time period

Late 1960s – early 1970s

The events unfold in a contemporary era when television and radio shapes public opinion. The film depicts the rise of talk radio, media manipulation, and a climate of social upheaval, reflecting civil rights tensions and a distrust of institutions.

Location

New Orleans

New Orleans serves as the backdrop where Rheinhardt arrives and checks into a shelter. The city’s cheap housing and countercultural neighborhoods sit beside bar scenes where tensions simmer. The setting highlights a mix of hustles, counterculture, and emerging political propaganda that drives the story’s conflicts.

🏙️ Urban city 🎷 Jazz culture

WUSA Themes

Discover the main themes in WUSA (1970). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.

🎙️

Media Manipulation

The story centers on a conservative radio station that weaponizes fraud narratives to inflame listeners and justify propaganda. Rainey discovers that the station’s content is manufactured to support Bingamon’s agenda. The film shows how rhetoric can mold public perception and heighten societal divisions.

🏛️

Power & Ideology

Bingamon’s platform exposes how ideology and power are leveraged through media to control crowds and shape policy. A nostalgia-driven message appeals to fear and insecurity, masking exploitation as a return to ‘better times.’ The narrative reveals how wealth and influence influence public discourse and legitimacy.

🔥

Civil Unrest

A hate rally culminates in violence, puncturing the illusion of order and exposing the fragility of the social fabric. Rainey’s attempt on Bingamon ends in tragedy as the crowd turns against him. Geraldine’s arrest and ultimate death underscore the human cost of hate and political theater.

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WUSA Spoiler-Free Summary

Discover the spoiler-free summary of WUSA (1970). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.

In the heat‑slick streets of New Orleans, a drifting outsider drifts into a city humming with noise, politics, and restless ambition. The atmosphere feels both gritty and electric, a place where the scent of jazz mixes with the static of a radio broadcast that never quite stops shouting. It is a world where the lines between public discourse and personal survival blur, and the city itself feels like a character—full of contradictions, color, and an undercurrent of unease.

Rheinhardt, the film’s weary protagonist, arrives with a cynical edge and a propensity for keeping emotional distance. He quickly finds work as an on‑air announcer at the right‑wing station WUSA, a job that demands he repeat incendiary editorials he never truly believes. The station’s unwavering tone clashes with the hippie‑laden neighborhoods he inhabits, creating a constant tension between his professional façade and the more questioning world around him.

Living in cheap housing with a circle of free‑spirited neighbors, Rheinhardt is drawn into a fragile domestic partnership with Geraldine, a woman whose own resilience and vulnerability hint at deeper currents beneath the city’s surface. Across the hallway, Rainey, an earnest idealist, studies the very system Rheinhardt vocalizes, slowly exposing a hidden agenda that permeates the station’s broadcasts. Their interactions pull him away from detached cynicism and toward a place where personal convictions can no longer stay buried.

The film balances an atmospheric, almost noir‑like mood with sharp social commentary, letting the audience feel the pressure of competing ideologies pressing on each character. As the city’s underbelly and the station’s rhetoric intersect, Rheinhardt finds himself at a crossroads, forced to decide whether to remain a dispassionate mouthpiece or to confront the moral complexities that swirl around him. The tension remains palpable, leaving the viewer eager to see which path he ultimately walks.

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