The FBI Story
Encyclopedia
The FBI Story is a 1959
American
drama film
produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy
. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen
and John Twist
is based on a book by Don Whitehead
.
) opens the film narrating the story of a young man, Jack Graham (Nick Adams), who took out life insurance on his mother and planted a bomb in her luggage for Columbia Airlines Flight 21 that she was taking from Denver, Colorado
, to Portland, Oregon
, November 1, 1955. (John "Jack" Gilbert Graham
was convicted and executed for killing the 44 (not 49) people on United Airlines Flight 629
).
Next we see Hardesty as he recounts his history as an FBI agent during a lecture. The lecture becomes the narration of flashbacks as he tells of his life as an agent combating various crimes and criminals, including the Ku Klux Klan
, Pretty Boy Floyd
, Baby Face Nelson
, John Dillinger
, and spies.
Then he recounts his first involvement as a government clerk in Knoxville, Tennessee in May 1924, and his proposal to a librarian, Lucy Ann Ballard (Vera Miles
). They marry with the idea that Hardesty will resign from the FBI and start practicing law. On his way to Washington D.C. his partner, Sam Crandall (Murray Hamilton
), tries to talk him out of resigning. Then listening to the new director, J. Edgar Hoover
, he becomes inspired to stay. He meets Lucy Ann for a shrimp dinner at Herzog's Seafood Restaurant and tries to evade her questions about his resignation, but she soon tells Chip that she is pregnant, and she lets him stay in the bureau, "for a year".
The next day Chip is sent south to investigate the Ku Klux Klan. He is moved around until he is sent to Ute City, Wade County, Oklahoma (The real case was in Osage County
, the Osage Indian murders
, between 1921 and 1923) to investigate a series of murders of Native Americans who had oil rich mineral rights and land. The FBI lab ties the doctored wills and life insurance policies of the murder victims to a local banker, Dwight McCutcheon (in real life a rancher, William "King of Osage" Hale; played by Fay Roope), with the typewriter that he used. Lucy Ann loses a baby during this time.
On June 17, 1933, Three FBI agents, McAlester Oklahoma Police Chief Otto Reed, and Kansas City police officers, were escorting Frank "Jelly" Nash from a train to a car outside the Union Station in Kansas City. When they got into the vehicle, another vehicle pulled up behind them, three men (Verne Miller, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and Adam Richetti) got out and opened fire on the car with Nash and the law enforcement officers. Otto Reed, Bureau Special Agent Raymond J. Caffrey, and Kansas City Policemen W. J. Grooms and Frank Hermanson, were all killed in what is now called the Kansas City Massacre
(Nash was not intentionally shot as the film shows, his friends were there to free him). Following the Kansas City Massacre average citizens and civic groups decided that they had had enough and started to demand actions against gangsters like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly
, and Bonnie and Clyde
. The Kansas City Massacre changed the FBI, prior to this event the agency did not have authority to carry firearms (although many agents did) and make arrests (they could make a "citizen's arrest", then call a U.S. Marshall or local law officer), but a year later Congress gave the FBI statutory authority to carry guns and make arrests. Hardesty and Crandall are very excited by the Weyburn Bill (the right for agents to carry firearms), calling it "a real Christmas present", but Lucy Ann does not like the idea at all.
After receiving a tip, Hardesty and Crandall head to Spider Lake, Wisconsin
on April 22, 1934, but after barking dogs alerted the gangsters they scattered. They then head to a nearby country store to call the Chicago office. When they get there they find two men sitting in a car, with Baby Face Nelson (William Phipps), holding them hostage. Nelson comes up shooting, mortally wounding Crandall. (The real incident did occur on April 22, Baby Face Nelson, was hiding out with John Dillinger, but it was at the Little Bohemia Lodge just outside Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
, the two agents were Special Agents J. C. Newman and W. Carter Baum, Baum is the agent killed in the shootout. With them was also a local constable not shown in the film. Nelson was holding two hostages in a house, and when the car came up, Nelson, wanting to take the vehicle, rushed forward shouting for the occupants to get out, but then opened fire on the car shooting all three lawmen).
The film then quickly recounts Hardesty's (fictional) involvement in the capture and/or deaths of numerous infamous mobsters of the day including "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson, and "Machine Gun" Kelly (who coined the popular term "G-Men" during his arrest, shouting "Don't Shoot G-Men, Don't Shoot" upon being apprehended.) Chip's three children quickly mature into young adults; as Chip attends a speech and dance at his daughter's high school graduation, the joyous mood is suddenly shattered by news of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. With the US entry into the war, enemy aliens (Americans of Japanese and Italian descent) are quickly rounded up by the FBI and sent to concentration camp, though the film argues that it was a necessary act to prevent possible espionage and collaboration with the Axis Powers. In order to shoulder the new burden, the ranks of the "bureau" are quickly doubled from about 2500 to more than 5000 agents. One of those aspiring new agents is the deceased Sam's son George who is constantly frustrated and worried that he would never live up to his father's reputation. After another day of difficult training, George is invited by Chip to a barbecue at the Hardesty household where a romance is clearly budding between the young man and Chip's oldest daughter. While dancing in the backyard, the party is suddenly interrupted by George's only son who plays the Marine Hymn on the phonograph before announcing his enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps. Lucy is naturally horrified; she wishes for her son to finish school and fears that he will never survive the war, though Chip has some support for the young man's decision. Soon after wards, George completes his FBI training and is sent off to a secret mission abroad; Chip's son joins the Marines just in time for the battles of Saipan and Iwo Jima in the Pacific. Meanwhile, the now aging and whitehaired Chip is sent by the FBI to relieve the duties of three agents in an unspecified South American country after their identities had been compromised (the CIA did not yet exist at the time, and U.S. wartime covert activities in Latin America were directed by the FBI's Special Intelligence Service
). The first two agents are easily found and sent back to the United States before they are captured by local authorities; the third agent is operating deep in the jungle and Chip has to traverse through the overgrown wilderness with a guide named Mario to reach him. The third agent is then revealed to be none other than young George who has been intercepting various secret enemy radio messages. As local authorities move in to arrest the trio, George intercepts one last message, reporting an illegal shipment of platinum to Buenos Aires before destroying all of the equipment and codebooks with a detonator. As they flee across a rope bridge towards the Brazilian border, Mario returns to the enemy shore and blows up the bridge with the remaining detonator, saving the two FBI agents but at the cost of his own life. Seeing loyal companion swept away by the river, Chip expresses hope that Mario's body will be taken to the ocean, visiting the sea having always been the guide's dream. The film then cuts to George's marriage to Chip's daughter in the United States, presumably taking place several months later. As the wedding celebration continued, Chip and Lucy suddenly receive a telegram at the door, informing them of their son's death in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Heartbroken by their loss, Chip and Lucy nonetheless continue serving their country with courage as the Axis powers are defeated and America slowly enters the Cold War.
The last investigation, "50-Cent Clue", involves an espionage case of a New York City clothes cleaners finding a hollow half-dollar with microfilm inside. The microfilm contains a series of numbers, which the FBI tries to decipher. (The real case involved a nickel, not a half-dollar, and took four years to unfold, not the short matter of days in the film. On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy, collecting for the Brooklyn Eagle
, was paid with a nickel that didn't sound and feel right to him. But it wasn't until a KGB agent, Reino Häyhänen
, wanted to defect in May, 1957, would the FBI be able to link the nickel to KGB agents, including Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
(aka Rudolph Ivanovich Abel) in the Hollow Nickel Case
. The deciphered message in the nickel turned out to be worthless, a personal message to Häyhänen from the KGB in Moscow welcoming him to the U.S. and instructing him on getting set up).
The film then ends with the conclusion of Hardesty's speech to his fellow FBI agents, walking out of the building he is greeted by his family, including his own granddaughter wearing an old hat that sang the tune of Yankee Doodle ; the same hat that Chip had bought for his own children decades ago near the beginning of his career. Chip says, "I guess I'll never understand how one little family can collect so much junk," and drives away. Various scenes are then shown, depicting the family driving past various Washington DC landmarks such as the Washington Monument, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial while patriotic music is played in the background before the credits roll.
had great influence over the production, with J. Edgar Hoover
acting as a co-producer of sorts. Hoover even forced LeRoy to re-shoot several scenes he didn't think portrayed the FBI in an appropriate light, and played a pivotal role in the casting for the film. Hoover and LeRoy were personal friends, but Hoover only approved the film after he had a file of "dirt" created on LeRoy. Hoover had to approve every frame of the film and also had two special agents with LeRoy for the duration of filming. Hoover himself appears briefly in the film.
to produce his long-running television series of The F.B.I.. The film naturally deals with the FBI's successes and has exciting scenes depicting its war on gangsters in the 1930s. One critic compared the sequences to the memorable gangster films Warner Bros. made during that decade.
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen
Richard L. Breen
Richard L. Breen was a Hollywood screenwriter and director. He began as a freelance radio writer. After a stint in the US Navy during World War II, he began writing for films and worked alone and in collaboration with such distinguished writers as Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.He won an Oscar...
and John Twist
John Twist
John Twist was an American screenwriter whose career spanned four decades.Born John Stuart Twist in Albany, Missouri, he began his career in the silent film era, providing the story for such films as Breed of Courage, Blockade, and The Big Diamond Robbery. He earned his first screenwriting credit...
is based on a book by Don Whitehead
Don Whitehead
Don Whitehead was an American journalist. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom. He won the 1950 George Polk Award for wire service reporting....
.
Plot
John Michael ('Chip') Hardesty (James StewartJames Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
) opens the film narrating the story of a young man, Jack Graham (Nick Adams), who took out life insurance on his mother and planted a bomb in her luggage for Columbia Airlines Flight 21 that she was taking from Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, November 1, 1955. (John "Jack" Gilbert Graham
Jack Gilbert Graham
John "Jack" Gilbert Graham was a mass murderer who killed 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in his mother's suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629.-Crime:...
was convicted and executed for killing the 44 (not 49) people on United Airlines Flight 629
United Airlines Flight 629
United Airlines Flight 629, registration N37559, was a Douglas DC-6B aircraft, named "Mainliner Denver," which was blown up with a dynamite bomb placed in the checked luggage. The explosion occurred over Longmont, Colorado while the airplane was en route from Denver, Colorado to Portland, Oregon,...
).
Next we see Hardesty as he recounts his history as an FBI agent during a lecture. The lecture becomes the narration of flashbacks as he tells of his life as an agent combating various crimes and criminals, including the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, Pretty Boy Floyd
Pretty Boy Floyd
Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was an American bank robber. He operated in the West South Central States, and his criminal exploits gained heavy press coverage in the 1930s. Like most other prominent outlaws of that era, he was killed by law enforcement officers...
, Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...
, John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
, and spies.
Then he recounts his first involvement as a government clerk in Knoxville, Tennessee in May 1924, and his proposal to a librarian, Lucy Ann Ballard (Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
). They marry with the idea that Hardesty will resign from the FBI and start practicing law. On his way to Washington D.C. his partner, Sam Crandall (Murray Hamilton
Murray Hamilton
Murray Hamilton was an American stage, screen, and television actor who appeared in such memorable films as The Hustler, The Graduate and Jaws.-Early life:...
), tries to talk him out of resigning. Then listening to the new director, J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, he becomes inspired to stay. He meets Lucy Ann for a shrimp dinner at Herzog's Seafood Restaurant and tries to evade her questions about his resignation, but she soon tells Chip that she is pregnant, and she lets him stay in the bureau, "for a year".
The next day Chip is sent south to investigate the Ku Klux Klan. He is moved around until he is sent to Ute City, Wade County, Oklahoma (The real case was in Osage County
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
, the Osage Indian murders
Osage Indian murders
The Osage Indian Murders were a series of murders of Osage Indians in Osage County, Oklahoma, traced to a gang led by William "King of Osage Hills" Hale, with the aim of gaining access to the oil wealth of tribe members....
, between 1921 and 1923) to investigate a series of murders of Native Americans who had oil rich mineral rights and land. The FBI lab ties the doctored wills and life insurance policies of the murder victims to a local banker, Dwight McCutcheon (in real life a rancher, William "King of Osage" Hale; played by Fay Roope), with the typewriter that he used. Lucy Ann loses a baby during this time.
On June 17, 1933, Three FBI agents, McAlester Oklahoma Police Chief Otto Reed, and Kansas City police officers, were escorting Frank "Jelly" Nash from a train to a car outside the Union Station in Kansas City. When they got into the vehicle, another vehicle pulled up behind them, three men (Verne Miller, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and Adam Richetti) got out and opened fire on the car with Nash and the law enforcement officers. Otto Reed, Bureau Special Agent Raymond J. Caffrey, and Kansas City Policemen W. J. Grooms and Frank Hermanson, were all killed in what is now called the Kansas City Massacre
Kansas City Massacre
The Kansas City massacre was the shootout and murder of four law enforcement officers and a criminal fugitive at the Union Station railroad depot in Kansas City, Missouri, on the morning of June 17, 1933. It occurred as part of the attempt by a gang led by Vernon Miller to free Frank "Jelly" Nash,...
(Nash was not intentionally shot as the film shows, his friends were there to free him). Following the Kansas City Massacre average citizens and civic groups decided that they had had enough and started to demand actions against gangsters like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly
George Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
, and Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were well-known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934...
. The Kansas City Massacre changed the FBI, prior to this event the agency did not have authority to carry firearms (although many agents did) and make arrests (they could make a "citizen's arrest", then call a U.S. Marshall or local law officer), but a year later Congress gave the FBI statutory authority to carry guns and make arrests. Hardesty and Crandall are very excited by the Weyburn Bill (the right for agents to carry firearms), calling it "a real Christmas present", but Lucy Ann does not like the idea at all.
After receiving a tip, Hardesty and Crandall head to Spider Lake, Wisconsin
Spider Lake, Wisconsin
Spider Lake is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 391 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 108.9 square miles , of which, 99.2 square miles of it is land and 9.6 square miles of...
on April 22, 1934, but after barking dogs alerted the gangsters they scattered. They then head to a nearby country store to call the Chicago office. When they get there they find two men sitting in a car, with Baby Face Nelson (William Phipps), holding them hostage. Nelson comes up shooting, mortally wounding Crandall. (The real incident did occur on April 22, Baby Face Nelson, was hiding out with John Dillinger, but it was at the Little Bohemia Lodge just outside Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Manitowish Waters is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 646 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Manitowish Waters is located in the town.-Tourism:The town is best known for its chain of lakes...
, the two agents were Special Agents J. C. Newman and W. Carter Baum, Baum is the agent killed in the shootout. With them was also a local constable not shown in the film. Nelson was holding two hostages in a house, and when the car came up, Nelson, wanting to take the vehicle, rushed forward shouting for the occupants to get out, but then opened fire on the car shooting all three lawmen).
The film then quickly recounts Hardesty's (fictional) involvement in the capture and/or deaths of numerous infamous mobsters of the day including "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson, and "Machine Gun" Kelly (who coined the popular term "G-Men" during his arrest, shouting "Don't Shoot G-Men, Don't Shoot" upon being apprehended.) Chip's three children quickly mature into young adults; as Chip attends a speech and dance at his daughter's high school graduation, the joyous mood is suddenly shattered by news of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. With the US entry into the war, enemy aliens (Americans of Japanese and Italian descent) are quickly rounded up by the FBI and sent to concentration camp, though the film argues that it was a necessary act to prevent possible espionage and collaboration with the Axis Powers. In order to shoulder the new burden, the ranks of the "bureau" are quickly doubled from about 2500 to more than 5000 agents. One of those aspiring new agents is the deceased Sam's son George who is constantly frustrated and worried that he would never live up to his father's reputation. After another day of difficult training, George is invited by Chip to a barbecue at the Hardesty household where a romance is clearly budding between the young man and Chip's oldest daughter. While dancing in the backyard, the party is suddenly interrupted by George's only son who plays the Marine Hymn on the phonograph before announcing his enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps. Lucy is naturally horrified; she wishes for her son to finish school and fears that he will never survive the war, though Chip has some support for the young man's decision. Soon after wards, George completes his FBI training and is sent off to a secret mission abroad; Chip's son joins the Marines just in time for the battles of Saipan and Iwo Jima in the Pacific. Meanwhile, the now aging and whitehaired Chip is sent by the FBI to relieve the duties of three agents in an unspecified South American country after their identities had been compromised (the CIA did not yet exist at the time, and U.S. wartime covert activities in Latin America were directed by the FBI's Special Intelligence Service
Special Intelligence Service
The Special Intelligence Service was a covert counterintelligence branch of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation located in South America during World War II. It was established during the term of U.S. President Franklin D...
). The first two agents are easily found and sent back to the United States before they are captured by local authorities; the third agent is operating deep in the jungle and Chip has to traverse through the overgrown wilderness with a guide named Mario to reach him. The third agent is then revealed to be none other than young George who has been intercepting various secret enemy radio messages. As local authorities move in to arrest the trio, George intercepts one last message, reporting an illegal shipment of platinum to Buenos Aires before destroying all of the equipment and codebooks with a detonator. As they flee across a rope bridge towards the Brazilian border, Mario returns to the enemy shore and blows up the bridge with the remaining detonator, saving the two FBI agents but at the cost of his own life. Seeing loyal companion swept away by the river, Chip expresses hope that Mario's body will be taken to the ocean, visiting the sea having always been the guide's dream. The film then cuts to George's marriage to Chip's daughter in the United States, presumably taking place several months later. As the wedding celebration continued, Chip and Lucy suddenly receive a telegram at the door, informing them of their son's death in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Heartbroken by their loss, Chip and Lucy nonetheless continue serving their country with courage as the Axis powers are defeated and America slowly enters the Cold War.
The last investigation, "50-Cent Clue", involves an espionage case of a New York City clothes cleaners finding a hollow half-dollar with microfilm inside. The microfilm contains a series of numbers, which the FBI tries to decipher. (The real case involved a nickel, not a half-dollar, and took four years to unfold, not the short matter of days in the film. On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy, collecting for the Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
, was paid with a nickel that didn't sound and feel right to him. But it wasn't until a KGB agent, Reino Häyhänen
Reino Häyhänen
Reino Häyhänen, was an ethnic Finn Soviet Lieutenant Colonel who defected to the United States.-Birth and education:...
, wanted to defect in May, 1957, would the FBI be able to link the nickel to KGB agents, including Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher was a noted Soviet intelligence officer...
(aka Rudolph Ivanovich Abel) in the Hollow Nickel Case
Hollow Nickel Case
The Hollow Nickel Case , refers to the method that the Soviet Union spy Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher used to exchange information between himself and his contacts, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin and Reino Häyhänen.-Background:On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy , collecting for the...
. The deciphered message in the nickel turned out to be worthless, a personal message to Häyhänen from the KGB in Moscow welcoming him to the U.S. and instructing him on getting set up).
The film then ends with the conclusion of Hardesty's speech to his fellow FBI agents, walking out of the building he is greeted by his family, including his own granddaughter wearing an old hat that sang the tune of Yankee Doodle ; the same hat that Chip had bought for his own children decades ago near the beginning of his career. Chip says, "I guess I'll never understand how one little family can collect so much junk," and drives away. Various scenes are then shown, depicting the family driving past various Washington DC landmarks such as the Washington Monument, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial while patriotic music is played in the background before the credits roll.
Production
The Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
had great influence over the production, with J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
acting as a co-producer of sorts. Hoover even forced LeRoy to re-shoot several scenes he didn't think portrayed the FBI in an appropriate light, and played a pivotal role in the casting for the film. Hoover and LeRoy were personal friends, but Hoover only approved the film after he had a file of "dirt" created on LeRoy. Hoover had to approve every frame of the film and also had two special agents with LeRoy for the duration of filming. Hoover himself appears briefly in the film.
Cast
- James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
..... John Michael ('Chip') Hardesty - Vera MilesVera MilesVera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
..... Lucy Ann Hardesty - Murray HamiltonMurray HamiltonMurray Hamilton was an American stage, screen, and television actor who appeared in such memorable films as The Hustler, The Graduate and Jaws.-Early life:...
..... Sam Crandall - Larry PennellLarry PennellLarry "Bud" Pennell , aka Alessandro Pennelli, is an American television and film actor.Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, he is mainly a supporting actor, best known for his role as "Dash Riprock," the conceited, image-conscious, and macho Hollywood movie star courting "Elly May Clampett" in the...
..... George Crandall - Nick Adams ..... John Gilbert ('Jack') Graham
- Diane Jergens ..... Jennie Hardesty
- Jean WillesJean WillesJean Willes was an American film actress. She appeared in approximately 65 films between 1934 and 1972.-Career:...
..... Anna Sage - Joyce Taylor ..... Anne Hardesty
- Victor MillanVictor MillanVictor Millan, whose real name was Joseph Brown, was an American actor, academic and former Dean of the theatre arts department at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California. Victor Millan was Brown's pseudonym used during his acting career, which spanned decades.-Early life:Brown was born...
..... Mario
Critical reception
The film found minor success when first released, but was poorly received by critics. The most common criticism was the film played more like propaganda than a stand-alone film. These critiques are based in fact, as the film's production was greatly associated with the real FBI and J. Edgar Hoover. Today, the film has largely been forgotten, though it has been released on DVD. This film also inspired producer Quinn MartinQuinn Martin
Quinn Martin was one of the most successful American television producers. He had at least one television series running in prime time for 21 straight years , an industry record.-Early life:...
to produce his long-running television series of The F.B.I.. The film naturally deals with the FBI's successes and has exciting scenes depicting its war on gangsters in the 1930s. One critic compared the sequences to the memorable gangster films Warner Bros. made during that decade.