The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover **** (1977, Broderick Crawford, James Wainwright, Michael Parks) – Classic Movie Review 10,241

Writer-producer-director Larry Cohen’s 1977 biographical drama The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover stars a notable cast headed by Broderick Crawford, José Ferrer, Michael Parks, Ronee Blakley, Rip Torn, Celeste Holm and Dan Dailey. He had files on 58 million people.

The prolific Larry Cohen writes and directs a fascinating biopic of J Edgar Hoover, the FBI boss from 1924 to 1972 under eight US presidents, and it is a whacking great part for Crawford, who seizes it gratefully and gleefully – and he is just great. James Wainwright plays Young Hoover.

Apart from the riveting, partly embroidered yarn, written and well handled by Cohen, it is worth seeing just for the marvellous cast of old old-timers going through their paces. Other interesting casting is Michael Parks as Robert F Kennedy, Andrew Duggan as Lyndon B Johnson, Raymond St Jacques as Martin Luther King, June Havoc as Hoover’s Mother and Howard Da Silva as Franklin D Roosevelt.

Also in the cast are Lloyd Nolan, John Marley, Michael Sacks, Ellen Barber, Lloyd Gough (as Walter Winchell), Brad Dexter, Jennifer Lee Pryor, George Plimpton, Art Lund, Tanya Roberts, James Dixon, Jim Antonio, William Wellman Jr, Mary Alice Moore, Ellen Barber, Fred J Scollay and Jack Cassidy (as Damon Runyon).

RIP Larry Cohen, who died on 23 March 2019, age 82.

RIP Michael Parks, who died on 9 May 2017, age 77.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,241

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