Customer Reviews

The FBI Story

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this movie when I was eight and into cop stories. This movie really got me interested into Jimmy Stewart and into a classic movie fan. (Stewart was born only 25 minutes from my home.) This is a great adventure flick with lots of action as well as some heart and humor to it. Vera Miles plays Stewart's often distraught wife about his job with the FBI. This film is a must for any Stewart/action movie fan!

Unlike the reviewer below who used this space to espouse his political views and whine about the FBI's behavior in real life, I'll talk about the actual movie. This is a good, fun movie that is very black and white in its storytelling. Much like Dragnet and shows of that ilk, the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad in this. The fact that the FBI isn't like that in real life doesn't make this a bad movie. It was designed as a puff piece on the FBI, so naturally it's biased towards them. However, using Hardesty's family to showcase the changing FBI is a great storytelling device and Jimmy Stewart really brings this to life. It takes what could be bland and makes it an interesting and fun vehicle. We all know things aren't as simple and easy as things are portrayed in this movie, but this is an enjoyable good guys versus bad guys escapist drama.

This is one of my favorite old movies that has not been released on DVD. This is a great story with great actors. It is hard to believe that with all the junk being released on DVD that a great movie like this is still not yet available. Come on guys wake up and release this movie on DVD. I will be first in line to buy it.

The FBI Story is a very entertaining film about the experience of one FBI agent (played by Jimmy Stewart) and his family from the birth of the agency, through the gangster years of the 30s, World War II and the early 1950s. Stewart along with Vera Miles and Murray Hamilton give fine performances in a film that is both serious & fun, well-paced, entertaining and in some moments, very moving. A fine film that I would recomend to anybody.

1959 film which chronicles the early days of the Federal Bureau of Investigation through the eyes of one it's g-men, played by Jimmy Stewart. Film starts with the small scale cases that agents were assigned to, such as an investigation of financial thieves in the 1920's. Film continues from the 20's all the way into the 1950's, covering such topics as the famous era of gangsters in the 1930's, exposing German operatives in South America during WWII, and tracking down Russian Spies in America during the first full decade of the Cold War, the 1950's. The FBI Story covers the evolution of the agency and the emotions of a family towards their father's dangerous job in the FBI. Good movie, that does well at explaining the happenings in the film. Film gives good insight into how the FBI operated back then, using occasional narration alongside the story.

This movie is a view of the FBI that was approved by J. Edgar Hoover himself, so it has lots of propaganda and at least two major errors -the famous Kansas City massacre of the FBI agents was erroneously attributed to Pretty Boy Floyd and there was no proof that Ma Barker was in the Barker gang. Nevertheless, it's lots of fun. High drama, a good script and famous criminal names move the story along. It slows a bit when the James Stewart character has family problems, but that's okay. It has a slam-bang beginning and even a great musical score. Everybody in the movie is terrific.

This is an entertaining and well-made film, even though it's just a little dated now. A notable achievement of the film is Max Steiner's score. The 1.85:1 picture is enhanced for widescreen TVs and looks sharp and clear.

There are some pretty absurd statements in some of the reviews below, from people on both the left and the right ends of the political spectrum. Listen, this film was produced with the full cooperation and participation of the FBI, so of course it's going to be unabashed propaganda for the bureau. But so what? The FBI Story was produced 50 years ago in a very different world. What's the point of being angry about it now? It's still entertaining to watch. Stewart is always an engaging actor, and Vera Miles is very good as his long-suffering wife. It goes on a little too long, otherwise I'd give it 5 stars.

One thing nobody has mentioned is how good this DVD looks. I love the old Technicolor movies from the 50's, and this one looks great. The scenes in the South American jungle, wherever they were actually shot, are a riot of color, and the whole film is a treat for the eyes.

The FBI Story is a glossy greatest hits puff piece that works well as feelgood hokum until a sledgehammer last half hour that has aged incredibly badly and which probably seemed horribly out of date even in 1959 after films like Pickup on South Street. The first third focuses on the more admirably libertarian parts of the Bureau's history - fighting the KKK, protecting newly oil-rich Native Americans - before moving onto the likes of Dillinger, Ma Barker and Pretty Boy Floyd, with added family dramas along the way. Unfortunately, the last half hour is outrageous McCarthyesque propaganda, where democracy doesn't apply if you choose to vote for those impolite communists ("It was Sunday and he was a communist so we knew he wasn't going to church." is a typical line). But by then it's become clear that this is as much about J. Edgar Hoover's priorities and self-mythologizing as it is the organisation he ran, his claims about the Bureau being non-political and a joint organisation where no one individual is more important than the team at odds not just with history but with what we see onscreen. The end caption even credits him with `making this world of ours a much safer place.' Partially because he disapproved of Warner's choice of actor's politics, Hoover remains an offscreen divine presence, filmed in the same manner that Jesus Christ was pre-King of Kings, albeit with much more reverence. A voice on the phone, a shadow on the wall, an inspirational back of the head, his words are enough to hold Jimmy Stewart spellbound and persuade him to rip up his resignation while his praise leaves him so satisfied you almost expect him to light up a cigarette. And the final inspiring shots of Washington landmarks while a propeller hat plays a cracked version of Yankee Doodle Dandy... well, let's just say that the past is another country and leave it at that.

Warner's widescreen transfer is good, but the only extra is the original trailer.

This is definately the best movie made about the FBI. Stewart is as always, great, in a role made just for him. The movie follows Stewart and his carrer through the Bureau. It starts in the 20's, and goes through until the 50's. He solves famous cases, fights the Ku Klux Klan, fights gangsters, and still manages a family. Vera Miles is great as his wife, with Murray Hamilton as his best friend and fellow agent. This is one of the best depictions of the Bureau, showing its' victories and always giving credit to its' agents. It shows the coruage and bravery of the agents and the men who help out in their labs. The film is definitely the best depictoin of the FBI in film history.