'GOOD NIGHT' A FINE PORTRAYAL OF 1950S AMERICAN JOURNALISM.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

ONE OF THE most telling moments in George Clooney's stately, steely drama ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' is its inclusion of a period TV commercial for Kent cigarettes where a patronizing pitchman salutes his audience's discernment and, that said, then goes on to extol the health benefits of a pack-a-day smoking habit.

After the spot runs, newsman Edward R. Murrow (expertly played by David Strathairn) is seen interviewing future Vegas piano player Liberace, who explains to Murrow why it's important not to rush into marriage. Unless, say, Princess Margaret is ready, willing and able to be Mrs. Liberace.

This deft one-two punch makes its point: Don't believe everything you hear, whether it comes from a salesman, a showman or a senator on a witch hunt. Like everything else in this fine film, Clooney makes his point with a scalpel, not a baseball bat. And that elevates ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' from civics lesson to thoughtful art.

The stylish black-and-white movie, which Clooney directed and co-wrote with Grant Heslov, tells the story of Murrow's mid-1950s confrontation with red-baiting Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The action is mostly set within the confines of CBS' studios and doesn't offer historical background or provide any information about Murrow's life outside the job. ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' is, instead, about the job and how television journalism today could use a few good men like Murrow.

Contemporary relevance isn't limited to the job of news-gathering. ``We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home,'' Murrow says during one broadcast, later adding that ``we must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.'' It isn't difficult to see the parallels Clooney is drawing between McCarthy's take-no-prisoners brand of politics and George W. Bush's love-it-or-leave-it approach to the War on Terror, prisoners' rights and the Patriot Act.

Yet ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' (the words of the title were Murrow's broadcast sign-off) is no mere polemic. The movie marvelously evokes the bygone boys club era of American journalism. And why not? Clooney (who plays Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly, in a supporting role) clearly has something of a romantic fetish for this kind of classic, chain-smoking, man's man thing, having updated it with the two ``Ocean's'' movies and now with this throwback. This time he just happens to have a message inside the lining of his designer suit.

Strathairn gives the movie its moral authority, exposing both Murrow's courage and fear, command and self-doubt, pride and occasional preening. Clooney knows what an asset he has, constantly fixing his camera on Strathairn's face, the tight close-ups revealing a man knowing he would pay a price for doing the right thing. It's a powerful history lesson, as pertinent today as it was a half-century ago.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK - Three and one half stars

(PG: brief language, mild thematic elements)

Starring: David Strathairn, George Clooney.

Director: George Clooney.

Running time: 1 hr. 30 min.

Playing: Pacific's The Grove Stadium 14 in Los Angeles, Loews Cineplex Broadway in Santa Monica.

In a nutshell: George Clooney connects the past to the present in this fine examination of one of journalism's shining moments.

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George Clooney, left, portrays TV news producer Fred Friendly, and David Strathairn is veteran newsman Edward R. Murrow in ``Good Night, and Good Luck.''