The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977)

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen (written by)

Release Date:

December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

The files that escaped the shredder have become an incredible motion picture. From the Kennedys to Martin Luther King. From cab drivers to Congressmen. From housewives to hostesses. He had something on 58 million people. It was all in his files. Now you can see how he used it.

Plot Keywords:

Chicago Illinois | Lawyer | 1930s | Arrest | Suicide

Cast

Broderick Crawford	...	J. Edgar Hoover
James Wainwright	...	Young Hoover
Michael Parks	...	Robert F. Kennedy
José Ferrer	...	Lionel McCoy
Celeste Holm	...	Florence Hollister
Rip Torn	...	Dwight Webb
Dan Dailey	...	Clyde Tolson
Ronee Blakley	...	Carrie DeWitt (as Roneé Blakley)
Howard Da Silva	...	Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt
John Marley	...	Dave Hindley
Michael Sacks	...	Melvin Purvis
Raymond St. Jacques	...	Martin Luther King
June Havoc	...	Hoover's Mother
Lloyd Nolan	...	Attorney General Harlan Stone
Andrew Duggan	...	Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson

Runtime:

USA:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:PG | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel - 1127 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Larco Productions

Trivia:

Larry Cohen cast Lloyd Nolan because of his work in such films about the FBI as 'G' Men (1935), The House on 92nd Street (1945) and The Street with No Name (1948), noting that he couldn't imagine making an FBI film without him.

Quotes:

Lionel McCoy: [sarcastically] Give my regards to the Wizard of Oz!

Movie Connections:

References Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

A dish-the-dirt, cranked-out cheapie.

I saw this film theatrically (in a revival) and was astonished. It was an attempt to turn Hoover into Citizen Kane, with the supposed "burning" of Hoover's secret files the equivalent of the burning of "Rosebud." Crawford does make an interesting Hoover - considering he was most famous for playing America's first TV cop in "Highway Patrol," seeing him play a deliberately abusive cop is fun. But he's the only actor who pulls off his part convincingly; the other actors look distracted, like they're worried that their paychecks might not clear. The script plods from event to event - blackmail on Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and others - and gets numbing. (The film came out before revelations that Hoover may have been a transvestite and homosexual - seeing Crawford in drag might have provided an extra kick.) Supposedly, this was filmed without official approval around the original FBI headquarters in Washington, which caused some official heat. But aside from that courage, you don't get the feeling of getting inside Hoover's life, which other movies have done. You get the feeling you're being told this story by a gossipy wife under the hair dryer in a salon.