|
The FBI Story (1959),
Director: Mervyn LeRoy, Rated Approved
The
fury of America's fight for decency!
  Starring:
James Stewart, Vera Miles, Murray Hamilton, Larry Pennell, Nick
Adams, Diane Jergens, Jean Willes, Joyce Taylor, Victor Nillan,
Parley Baer, Fay Roope, Ed Prentiss
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
- good
"Let me repeat again -
get to know this weapon. Craftiness can solve many a criminal
case, but with hoodlums you sometimes need a good conscientious,
hard-working machine gun." - Firing range instructor
Why watch this?
Learn about the FBI's origin and its many techniques.
Plot Summary: This
story chronicles the career of dedicated agent Chip Hardesty as
he guides viewers through the bureau's historical evolution.
Through a series of flashbacks, he navigates the agency's
shifting focus from early criminal investigations to battling
prominent gangsters and tracking foreign spies. Throughout his
professional triumphs, Hardesty constantly balances the extreme
demands of his perilous job with his personal life and the
wishes of his steadfast wife.
| |
Dad's Preview:
This police procedural, near-propaganda, film gives us
the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
from its early days, as the agency takes on the
country's increasing crime problem. We cover a lot of
bases here as agent Hardesty and his family move around
the country. He takes on the Ku Klux Klan in the deep
south, the murders of Native Americans in Oklahoma over
oil rights, and depression era gangsters, including Baby
Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and John Dillinger.
Hardesty's noble, yet dangerous, career has a massive
impact on his wife and family. Stewart is dependable as
Hardesty, and Vera Miles gives a fine performances as
his very concerned spouse. This is a brief, yet bland,
primer on the nation's largest crime-fighting
organization. |
|
Mervyn
Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures |
