The FBI Story (1959)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Richard L. Breen (screenplay) &
John Twist (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

October 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

The fury of America's fight for decency !

Plot:

A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Gangster | Ku Klux Klan | FBI Agent | Parricide

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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)

Runtime:

149 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Norway:16 | USA:Approved (certificate #19140) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

46th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Security checks were performed on all those involved on the film's production.

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).

Quotes:

John Michael Hardesty: On Sunday morning he left the house. He couldn't be going to work. Since he was a Communist, we knew he wasn't going to church.

Movie Connections:

References Kansas City Princess (1934)

Soundtrack:

Pretty Baby

Riveting Back In '59; Not Much Now

When I was a very young teen, I saw this in the theater and was just awed. The different segments were very dramatic and stayed with me for decades.

So after a long, long absence, seeing this again in the late '90s turned out to be a major disappointment. As a kid, this movie was exciting, but it sure isn't now. It's two-and-a-half hours long and moves pretty well but too much time is spent on the marriage of Jimmy Stewart-Vera Miles ("Chip and Lucy Ann Hardesty").

As one who watches a lot of modern- day crime movies, it was odd to see one with absolutely no profanity in it and very little blood, but that's because it's a 1959 film. We see the FBI cracking down on the KKK, anti- Native Americans, the Communists, spies, etc. Some of those parts are exciting, but nothing like when it came out almost 50 years ago. Now, it's almost ho-hum stuff.

For me now, this movie is more of a nostalgia piece than anything else. Frankly, I doubt if I would watch it again.