Citizen Cohn (1992) (TV)

Director:

Frank Pierson

Writers (WGA):

Nicolas von Hoffman (biography)
David Franzoni (written by)

Release Date:

22 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He was McCarthy's loyal partner. The Kennedys' worst enemy. The F.B.I.'s best friend. The country's greatest nightmare.

Plot:

As lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn lies dying of AIDS in a private hospital room, ghosts from his past visit him as he reflects on his life and loves.

Plot Keywords:

AIDS | Hospital | Flashback | Lawyer | Senator

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 10 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

James Woods	...	Roy Marcus Cohn
Joe Don Baker	...	Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Bologna	...	Walter Winchell
Ed Flanders	...	Joseph N. Welch
Frederic Forrest	...	Dashiell Hammett
Lee Grant	...	Dora Cohn
Pat Hingle	...	J. Edgar Hoover
John McMartin	...	Older Doctor
Josef Sommer	...	Albert Cohn
Daniel Benzali	...	Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Iva Schlesinger
John Finn	...	Sen. Charles Potter
Frances Foster	...	First Annie Lee Moss
Allen Garfield	...	Abe Feller
David Marshall Grant	...	Robert F. Kennedy
Joe Grifasi	...	Gerald Walpin
Daniel Hugh Kelly	...	Congressman Neil Gallagher
Karen Ludwig	...	Ethel Rosenberg
Peter Maloney	...	Ray Kaplan
Novella Nelson	...	Second Annie Lee Moss
Jeffrey Nordling	...	G. David Schine
Fritz Weaver	...	Sen. Everett Dirksen
Chuck Aber	...	Sen. John L. McClellan
Lamont Arnold	...	Male Nurse
Steve Aronson	...	Judge Kaufman
Nigel Bentley	...	English Reporter #2
Bernard Canepari	...	New York Judge
Phillip Cook	...	Monroe
Sam Coppola	...	Carmine Galante
Brandon Danziger	...	Young Roy Cohn
Patricia Dunnock	...	Female Nurse
David Early	...	Chauffeur
Dick Feagler	...	Newsman
Jeff Gally	...	FBI Man
Fanni Green	...	Juror #9
Alan Haft	...	Disbarment Court Bailiff
Lance Lewman	...	Young Doctor
Larry John Meyers	...	Frank Raichle
Zachary Mott	...	Sam Garfield
Vito Pisani	...	Court Bailiff
Marty Roppelt	...	German Reporter
Joe Petruzzi	...	Peter Frazer (as Joe Salter)
Joseph Scoren	...	Milo Gandini (as Joseph Scorsiani)
John Seitz	...	Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens
Jack Skelly	...	New York Waiter
Pip Theodor	...	English Reporter #1
Robin Thomas	...	Reporter
Daniel von Bargen	...	Clyde Tolson
Don Wadsworth	...	English Reporter #2
Anthony Walsh	...	Sen. Karl Mundt
Rick Warner	...	Robert Morgenthau Jr.
Kate Young	...	French Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Amen	...	Mobster (uncredited)
Nikolai Bulganin	...	Himself (Parade Saluter) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gary Cooper	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John W. Iwanonkiw	...	Courtroom Reporter (uncredited)
Lyndon Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Douglas MacArthur	...	Himself (Parade Saluter) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Georgi Malenkov	...	Himself (Parade Saluter) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolphe Menjou	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vyacheslav Molotov	...	Himself (Parade Saluter) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pat Nixon	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dave Petti	...	Senator (uncredited)
Earl Warren	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Pierson

Writing credits (WGA)
Nicolas von Hoffman		(biography)
David Franzoni		(written by)

Produced by
Doro Bachrach	....	producer
Linda Gottlieb	....	executive producer
Alan Haft	....	associate producer
Mark Rosenberg	....	executive producer
Daniel Schneider	....	associate producer
Paula Weinstein	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Thomas Newman

Cinematography by
Paul Elliott

Film Editing by
Peter Zinner

Production Design by
Stephen Marsh

Art Direction by
Gary Kosko

Set Decoration by
Diana Stoughton

Costume Design by
Jill M. Ohanneson

Makeup Department
Deborah La Mia Denaver	....	makeup: James Woods
Rachel Kick	....	makeup artist
Matthew W. Mungle	....	makeup artist
Linda Williams	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael DeMeritt	....	dga trainee
Richard Oswald	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Paul Bucciarelli	....	scenic artist
Chris Call	....	property master
Thomas J. Garrigan	....	assistant property master
Gregory Jones	....	lead set dresser
Kenneth J. Kellers	....	set dresser
Eugene Pope	....	carpenter
Bob Smith	....	set dresser
Christian Stavrakis	....	set dresser (as Chris Stavrakis)

Sound Department
Anna Behlmer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Bergren	....	sound effects editor
David A. Cohen	....	sound editor
John Pritchett	....	sound mixer
Richard Thomas	....	sound effects editor
Dan Wallin	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
G.A. Aguilar	....	stunts (as George Aguilar)
Danny Aiello III	....	stunts
Andy Armstrong	....	stunt coordinator
Dana D. Bertolette	....	stunts (as Dana Bertolette)
Peter Bucossi	....	stunts
Timothy Butts	....	stunts
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts
J.T. Lannen	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Bender	....	electrician
Brian 'Buzz' Buzzelli	....	grip
Daniel Casey	....	camera intern
Jorgen Christenen	....	set lighting
Steve Cohagan	....	best boy electric
Louis DiCesare	....	gaffer
Richard Eliano	....	assistant camera
Richard Foreman Jr.	....	still photographer (as Richard Foreman)
John S. Moyer	....	best boy grip
Ethan Phillips	....	electrician
Rich Schutte	....	assistant camera
Bubba Sheffield	....	key grip

Casting Department
Donna M. Belajac	....	casting: Pittsburgh
Nancy Mosser	....	extras casting director
J. Ben Sykes	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Omneya 'Nini' Mazen	....	post-production executive
Marcelo Sansevieri	....	associate film editor

Transportation Department
Frank A. Serrao	....	driver

Other crew
Steve Battaglia	....	set production assistant
Deirdre Costa	....	assistant location manager
Eric Dilucente	....	production assistant
Brian Hartman	....	production assistant
Valerie E. Norman	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Breakheart Films
• Spring Creek Productions
• Viacom Productions

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO) (1992) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1997) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Elizabeth Bardsley & Associates  script annotation
• Otto Nemenz International  camera equipment provided by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

UK:107 min | USA:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Breakheart Films

Trivia:

In this film, Lee Grant played Dora Cohn, Roy Cohn's mother. In real life, just as Lee Grant's career was exploding ('Best Actress' winner at Cannes & nominee at Oscars), she fell victim to McCarthyism, being blacklisted in 1951 by the House Un-American Activities Committee for refusing to testify against her husband, blacklisted playwright/screenwriter Arnold Manoff. As a result, she got very little work for about 12 years.

Goofs:

Factual errors: As he is scattering ashes into what is purportedly the East River, Cohn says he consigns his mother to the waters of New Jersey, where she did not live. The East River does not border New Jersey.

Quotes:

Roy Marcus Cohn:Well, maybe I'm a little nearsighted. I cannot see the picture.
Joseph N. Welch:Yes, I do believe you have betrayed a certain nearsightedness...

Good entertainment, a bit loose with the facts

This movie has the failing of many 'made for HBO' films, a tendency to distort the truth to hammer home its point. Its portrayal of Cohn's personality is accurate enough, and chilling to watch, and in general, it follows Cohn's life fairly closely. However, it gives Cohn a bit more credit (or blame) than he deserves. It would have you believe that Cohn drove Joe McCarthy to his anti-Communist pogroms, when in fact McCarthy was a very determined and headstrong man, who needed no unknown NY lawyer to make him into a demagogue. It also vastly overstates Cohn's role in the persecution of Congressman Cornelius Gallagher, persecution that was actually driven by J. Edgar Hoover. It also omits the bizarre role of right-wing nut Lyndon LaRouche in destroying Cohn's credibility in the last years of his life. It does stand as a good overview of the general events of Cohn's fascinating, if venal, life. But it also makes him seem far more influential than he really was.