Photo By Melinda Sue Gordon

George Clooney as Fred Friendly and David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck.

The famous commentary from CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow first heard on the March 9, 1954, news program See It Now occupies a central spot in actor/director George Clooney's slick, smart Cold War drama, Good Night, and Good Luck. Murrow, portrayed vividly by veteran character actor David Strathairn, looks into the studio camera, a smoking cigarette hanging from his fingertips, and defines his reasoning for the just-broadcast segment, "A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy," with passion and intelligence.

"The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies," Murrow says. "And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it -- and rather successfully."

When it comes to re-creating Murrow's on-air crusade against McCarthy and his Communist witch hunts, Clooney (who co-wrote the script with the film's producer/actor, Grant Heslov) chooses subtlety over melodrama. The famous actor and sophomore filmmaker keeps matters as cool as the film's classic Jazz soundtrack and black-and-white photography.

Speeches, especially those as well spoken as Murrow's, are certainly effective, but Clooney emphasizes the film's silent moments, even above McCarthy's clownish Red Scare tirades.

A 1958 Radio and Television News Directors Association banquet honoring Murrow is the launching pad for a clever flashback to his greatest glories -- the fall 1953 See It Now telecast of "The Case of Milo Radulovich" about a Michigan Air Force reservist dismissed as a security risk, followed by his legendary "Good Tuesday" broadcast in March 1954 and finally McCarthy's clumsy televised rebuttal on April 6.

Good Night, and Good Luck unfolds via the See It Now episodes and the colorful backdrop of early television. The film looks beautiful thanks to cameraman Robert Elswit's creative use of cramped CBS sets, black-and-white photography and the chaos that precedes each broadcast. But Clooney makes sure that Murrow and his fellow broadcasters always take dramatic priority no matter how stylish the setting.

In the film's best scene, CBS Chairman William Paley (Frank Langella) sits alone in his top-floor office and watches his desk phone light up and ring without answering. Murrow's anti-McCarthy segment has just aired, and Paley chooses to delay his inevitable defense of CBS' star newsman for another day.

Phones play an important role in Good Night, and Good Luck. Paley is concerned about calls from angry advertisers and CBS trustees. Murrow and his crew -- producer Fred Friendly (Clooney), director Don Hewitt (Heslov) and the rest of the See It Now reporters (Robert John Burke, Reed Diamond, Tate Donovan, Tom McCarthy and Matt Ross) -- look worriedly at the studio phones anticipating an angry call from Paley.

A security guard at CBS headquarters watches See It Now on lobby monitors, an everyday-Joe example of the trust and attention Murrow earned from people across America. Murrow works in a culture of fear, a time when CBS demanded loyalty oaths from all their employees. Of all the precise period details -- the studio cameras, newsreel footage and newspaper headlines -- the fear of being labeled a Communist and fired from one's job is what Clooney captures best.

Good Night, and Good Luck is chilling to watch -- as it should be. Remember that even Lucille Ball was accused of being a Communist.

Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey Jr. provide a humanistic side to the Red Scare story as CBS employees Shirley and Joe Wershba, who hide their marriage from their supervisors due to a company policy that forbids employees from marrying. Clarkson, the lone woman in the story, brings class and a much-appreciated feminine presence to the testosterone-heavy picture.

Jeff Daniels is smug as Sig Mickelson, the CBS administrator focused on advertising revenue and staff layoffs. Ray Wise shows the human toll of McCarthyism as CBS newscaster Don Hollenbeck. Langella, possessor of the most compelling speaking voice in film, lights up the screen as Paley, an authoritarian quick to remind Murrow who signs his paycheck.

All the CBS players come to life, but newsreel clips of McCarthy are used throughout the film rather than re-creating the role via an actor. Clooney likely felt that McCarthy's round face and fuzzy eyebrows that blend into a single stripe of hair across his broad forehead needed to remain buried.

Strathairn, best known for John Sayles' films like Return of the Secaucus 7 and Limbo and standout work in other films such as Blue Car and L.A. Confidential, captures Murrow both physically -- they share a lanky build and dark hair -- and emotionally. Straithairn is good at being subdued, but when Murrow responds to McCarthy's attacks that he's a Communist sympathizer and was on the Soviet payroll in 1934, he gains the force of a prizefighter. He's commanding at just the right moments.

Clooney plays Murrow's friend and producer Friendly, and he boosts the film with an easygoing performance. As an actor, Clooney stumbles as often as he sprints. His best performances, often charming rogues, revolve around his charisma, bedroom gaze and sex appeal: Out of Sight, Three Kings, Ocean's Eleven and its sequel Ocean's Twelve.

Clooney is more consistent as a filmmaker, taking an impressive step forward from the quirky Confessions of a Dangerous Mind with the stylish and rock-solid Good Night, and Good Luck. The influence of his father, former Cincinnati news anchor and journalist Nick Clooney, is clear and noble. But to simply qualify Good Night, and Good Luck as a civil liberties message movie disregards its great performances and riveting storytelling.

It's also important for Clooney, who for the first time in his career has little need for his chiseled visage. Good Night, and Good Luck demonstrates the emotional substance behind his good looks. Grade: B