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... Full review

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... Full review

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... Full review

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,... Full review

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... Full review

In a well-crafted semi-documentary style, this film traces the career of John Edgar Hoover across the 48 years of his directorship of the FBI. The drama is interlarded with genuine news footage of key events, and as a whole the... Full review

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. ... Full Review

Broderick Crawford impressively impersonates J Edgar Hoover in a melodramatic whizz through the celebrated lawman's most famous cases When it comes to exploitation movies, there are no flies on Larry Cohen. Although he enjoyed a spot of respectability late in his career on the back of his well-received Phone Booth screenplay, The Private Files Of J Edgar Hoover is far more representative of Cohen's work, at least as far as the subject matter is concerned. ... Full Review

The Invaders , a Quinn Martin production (as the announcer intones at the top of the show), can be handily described as the missing link between The Fugitive and The X Files . ... Full Article