The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover

That particular phrase from Lord Acton about absolute power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely is always the one that brings to mind J. Edgar Hoover and his Federal Bureau of Investigation. And it's altogether fitting and proper we should describe the FBI as his, seeing as how he ran it for 48 years and under 8 presidents.

I am glad that they showed that Hoover came into the Bureau as a reformer. It was a patronage cesspool under previous directors, in fact it had existed for 17 years before J. Edgar Hoover took over and had four previous directors. Hoover did do those kinds of reforms, made it a merit based agency given his ideas of what was meritorious. He set up a national fingerprint data base, something one can't conceive of in law enforcement now. And certainly the FBI did do yeoman service in apprehending and eliminating some of the well known gangsters of the twenties and thirties.

If Hoover had retired in 1945 with the close of World War II his historic reputation would be just about where it was in 1945. Sad to say he didn't, he got heady with power because he had dirt on everybody who was anybody in any field you want to name. That's intoxicating stuff.

I've never thought of Hoover as gay, a crossdresser or anything else in a sexual way. I think the man just had a low sex drive. A lot of that was rumors put about by enemies. He certainly made a legion of them. If power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, than Hoover never tasted those kind of rewards.

Broderick Crawford does a good job as the implacable and austere Hoover, however the film is essentially a one dimensional look at a most complex man. If Hoover was gay, his relationship with Clyde Tolson is handled most discreetly even five years after Hoover died.

This turned out to be the farewell film performance of Dan Dailey who played Tolson. Tolson apparently could smooth a lot of Hoover's rough edges out and on at least one occasion the film shows Tolson saving the publicity minded Hoover from a real public relations disaster.

A lot of familiar players dot the cast of The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover so if you're a stargazer you'll like the film. Still Hoover's long and varied career over some tumultuous American history requires a better study than this.

Larry Cohen's biopic of the man who was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is a staccato, star-studded affair. It covers his professional life from the Palmer Raids - played by James Wainwright - to the older man - played by Broderick Crawford - as the evolution of a man from a rights-obsessed young lawyer, into an older man, jealous of his public image and power, willing to blackmail politicians and fire men who wear too-flashy ties.

Given the length of Hoover's career (52 years in total), it turns into a highlights in history affair, with long gaps. Not only are the six years between the Palmer Raids and his appointment as Bureau Director ignored, but almost twenty years between the beginning of US involvement with the Second World War and the Kennedy administration.

It has a large number of older actors, which should please fans of old movies. Its cast includes Jose Ferrer, Celeste Holm, Dan Dailey (in his last movie), Howard Da Silva, June Havoc, and Lloyd Nolan. They certainly add a luster to the production, as do the old automobiles on the streets in the early scenes, and scenes shot on actual location around Washington D.C. However, the vast array of incidents allows little depth in the story. Perhaps a mini-series is called for, if anyone still cares.

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.

In the period of 1924 to 1972, J. Edgar Hoover was not only the powerful director of FBI, but also a very arrogant, corrupt and manipulative man, full of obsessions and paranoia. 'The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover' shows along 112 minutes running time, parts of the personal and political life of this American personality. There is lots of insinuation that J. Edgar Hoover was homosexual, but anyway the movie shows a very complex and destructive man, who destroyed many lives and having many politics in his pocket. The movie summarizes too much the period of forty-eight years that J. Edgar Hoover was ahead of FBI and is afraid of taking position about his homosexuality, but anyway is a good movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): 'FBI – Arquivo Secreto' ('FBI – Secret File")

Casting Broderick Crawford as Hoover was a stroke of genius on the part of the casting director of this film. He's perfect for the part. He brings out the gruffness and arrogance of the character, while simultaneously showing the insecure, low self-esteem inner man that Hoover is portrayed as being.

We see him first as a young idealist, working in the Justice Department, wanting to protect the legal rights of immigrants and fighting the internal corruption of the FBI in the 1920's. Then he becomes the "Top Cop" of the nation and a publicity seeker with the help of Walter Winchell. And finally as an old man jeolously guarding his power and firmly entrenched in the political system. But more importantly, we see the dual nature of his morality: on the one hand, his fastidious approach to sexuality and his ego crushing sensitivity to his own unattractiveness; and on the other hand, his sessions-------bottle in hand--------listening to the sexual encounters on FBI surveillance tapes.

The film is not without humor, however. Look for a scene about disposing of a fly in Hoover's office.

In some ways, a waxworks of a film with actors looking and sounding like famous political leaders, but more importantly a record------part fact, part fiction------of a very complex man, who's personality and inner demons helped to form the concept of justice in the American public's mind from the 1930's until his death.