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The FBI Story (1959)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
October 1959 (USA) moreTagline:
The fury of America's fight for decency ! morePlot:
A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
1 win moreUser Comments:
Dated and Disappointing Propaganda more (34 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| James Stewart | ... | John Michael ('Chip') Hardesty | |
| Vera Miles | ... | Lucy Ann Hardesty | |
| Murray Hamilton | ... | Sam Crandall | |
| Larry Pennell | ... | George Crandall | |
| Nick Adams | ... | John Gilbert ('Jack') Graham | |
| Diane Jergens | ... | Jennie Hardesty | |
| Jean Willes | ... | Anna Sage | |
| Joyce Taylor | ... | Anne Hardesty | |
| Victor Millan | ... | Mario | |
| Parley Baer | ... | Harry Dakins | |
| Fay Roope | ... | Dwight McCutcheon | |
| Ed Prentiss | ... | U.S. Marshal | |
| Robert Gist | ... | Medicine Salesman | |
| Buzz Martin | ... | Mike Hardesty | |
| Ken Mayer | ... | Casket Salesman (as Kenneth Mayer) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
149 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound Recording)Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Factual errors: The movie shows George "Machine Gun" Kelly as being among the last 1930's era hoodlum to be arrested. In reality, he was the first to be arrested or killed by the FBI. He was captured in September of 1933, long before the arrests/kills of John Dillinger (July 1934), "Pretty Boy" Floyd (October 1934), "Baby Face" Nelson (November 1934), "Ma" Barker (January 1935), and Alvin Karpis (January 1936). moreQuotes:
John Gilbert Graham: [after being arrested for murder] In case I get any mail, you can send it to Canon City Prison for the next month or so. After that you can send it to Hell! moreSoundtrack:
(You May Not Be an Angel, but) I'll String Along with You moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (34 total)
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After resolving a case related to an explosion of an airplane with forty-nine casualties by a swindler using state-of-art technique, the experienced agent Chip Hardesty (James Stewart) gives a lecture at FBI Headquarter in Washington. He tells the story of the agency entwined with his own personal life since 1924, when FBI was a bureaucratic department that gave employment to god nephews of politicians. Along the years, the agency modernizes and faces Ku Klux Klan; deaths of Indians enriched with oil; the organized crime, when the agents are authorized to use weapons for the first time; the period of World War II; and the Cold War, acting as a counter-espionage agency. In his personal life, he gets married with Lucy Ann Hardesty (Vera Miles); they have three children; he loses his best friend and also agent Sam Crandall (Murray Hamilton), killed in action; his marriage has a crisis due to his dedication to the Bureau; his older daughter gets married; and he loses his son in World War II.
"The FBI Story" is a dated and disappointing propaganda of the FBI of Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, who certainly sponsored this flick. The idea is to show that the omnipotent and powerful FBI is composed by human beings, with flaws and family like any other ordinary American person. Chip and Lucy are the typical middle-class American family of the 50's. However, this film is bureaucratic and too long, and does not bring any emotion to the viewer, in spite of the good performance of James Stewart. The greetings in the very end are ridiculous. The DVD released in Brazil by Ocean distributor has a total lack of synchronization between sound and image. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "A História do FBI" ("The FBI Story")