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The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover (1977)

Director: Larry Cohen

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From Time Out Film Guide

Rattling compulsively along through myth and history like some factoid TV mini-series, but constantly informed by a radical intelligence and humour, Cohen's analytical biopic surprisingly resolves into a complex investigation of the forces of realpolitik and sexual politics which created an arch-villain/monster from a moralist boy-scout lawyer. The movie may have the look of tabloid sleaze, but it never trades in the simplistic put-down or facile political optimism. If the idea of Hoover as a tragic figure hardly squares with the '70s consensus, then the playing, especially of Broderick Crawford as Hoover, does much to shift the prejudice; while at the point where post-Watergate cinema would usually present us with a revelatory crusader, Rip Torn's uptight FBI agent (our narrator) peters out into confused impotence. Genre fans can take comfort, however, since some expectations are happily served... Dillinger dies again.

Author: PT 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Larry Cohen

Producer: Larry Cohen

Cast: Broderick Crawford, José Ferrer, Michael Parks, Ronee Blakley, Rip Torn, Celeste Holm, Michael Sacks, Dan Dailey, Raymond St Jacques, Howard da Silva, June Havoc, Lloyd Nolan, John Marley full cast

Duration: 112 mins


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