Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover, The (1977, Broderick Crawford, James Wainwright)

An ex-FBI agent (Rip Torn) recalls the career of J. Edgar Hoover (Broderick Crawford) from his start in law enforcement to his rise to power as FBI director. Hoover’s devotion to his mother, his conflict with Robert Kennedy (Michael Parks), and his rumored homosexuality all figure in the account. Made with great vigor by director-Producer:-writer Larry Cohen, this entertaining comic-book-like retelling of Hoover’s life boasts a superb cast of veteran character actors.

Hoover’s best-selling 1938 book Persons in Hiding inspired a quartet of B crime melodramas by Paramount: Persons in Hiding (1939), Undercover Doctor (1939), Parole Fixer (1940), and Queen of the Mob (1940).

production details
USA | 112 minutes | 1977

Producer and Director: Larry Cohen
Director of Photography: Paul Glickman
Editor: Chris Lebenzon
Music: Miklos Rozsa
Script: Larry Cohen
Art Director: Cathy Davis

cast
Broderick Crawford as J. Edgar Hoover
James Wainwright as Young Hoover
Michael Parks as Robert F. Kennedy
José Ferrer as Lionel McCoy
Rip Torn as Dwight Webb
Ronee Blakley as Carrie DeWitt
Hanns Manship as FBI agent
Celeste Holm as Florence Hollister
Dan Dailey as Clyde Tolson
Howard Da Silva as Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt
John Marley as Dave Hindley
Michael Sacks as Melvin Purvis
Raymond St. Jacques as Martin Luther King
June Havoc as Hoover’s Mother
Lloyd Nolan as Attorney General Harlan Stone
Andrew Duggan as Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson
Jack Cassidy as Damon Runyon
George Plimpton as Quentin Reynolds
Lloyd Gough as Walter Winchell
Brad Dexter as Alvin Karpis
Henderson Forsythe as Suydam
Tanya Roberts as Stewardess
George Wallace as Senator Joseph McCarthy