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

Also Known As:

FBI:n salaisuudet (Finland) [fi]
Ich bin der Boß (West Germany) [de]
J. Edgar Hooverin salainen arkisto (Finland) [fi]
Los archivos privados de Hoover (Spain) [es]

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:

This was Dan Dailey's last movie, released 10 months before his death at age 64.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

vacuums up the dirt

The life and career of America's "top cop", J. Edgar Hoover, whose tenure as Director of the FBI lasted more than fifty years, is here presented in this docudrama style film by maverick director and writer Larry Cohen, with a solid A and B list cast of actors. Focusing on Hoover the man and the Director, the film seeks to portray his psychology and ruthless tactics, as well as his confrontations with presidents and other national figures. There's Hoover the small minded closeted homosexual prude and Hoover the ruthless power hungry force, a weird and dangerous combination that wielded unchecked power for decades from his office. With James Wainwright playing the younger Hoover, who takes over a struggling and demoralized FBI and remakes its public image with publicized staged arrests and the use of gossip monger Walter Winchell who proved to be his eager accomplice. The later, older Hoover morphs into Broderick Crawford, and has now become embedded in the job, impossible for any President to force out. The uniqueness of the film lies in the Cohen style which is as evident here as it is in Q or any other of his films. It definitely isn't Hollywood, though the faces are.