All language subtitles for The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (Larry Cohen, 1977).english

The man is dead.

The Director died this morning.

A coronary.

I'll be right there.

I know what to do
about the files.

NIXON: It is with a profound
sense of personal loss

that I learned of the
death of J. Edgar Hoover.

This truly remarkable man

has served his country for 48
years under eight presidents.

As Director of the FBI with
unparalleled devotion and ability

and dedication.

For 25 years, from the time I came to
Washington as a freshman Congressman.

He's been one of my closest,
personal friends and advisors.

And every American,
in my opinion

owes J. Edgar Hoover
a great debt.

For building the FBI

into the finest law enforce...

You've been after Hoover's
ass for over thirty years, Dave,

you're gonna miss him.

Sure. I'm going to miss having my
room searched, my phone tapped.

[LAUGHS]

Boy, that city will have something
on everybody in this town.

I wonder what's going to
happen to that information now.

MAN: How many years
were you an agent?

DWIGHT: I quit after
almost 20 years.

Hoover shipped me out to Detroit

because I got hot nuts
over a secretary.

Can you believe that?

You know how Mr. Hoover
was about anything sexual.

Well, whatever is in that
file, I want to have it.

I'm not speaking
for myself alone.

There are a good many others...

All of us are afraid now

that what he held may
fall into Nixon's hands.

I guess Nixon's been
wanting to get his hands

on the Bureau ever since they turned
him down to be an agent years ago.

I'll see what I can do, sir.

We've waited a long time for
this to happen, Mr. President.

NIXON:
Thanks to Mr. Hoover's files,

we're finally going to
pay back all those people

who've been kicking us around.

And I'm particularly interested
to see what Hoover had on us.

AIDE: He'll shred them before
he lets us get our hands on them.

The President has to
move in physically

and simply take
possession of those files.

DWIGHT: If it wasn't for the files, there
might never have been a J. Edgar Hoover

or an FBI as we know it.

Back after World War One,

the Bureau of Investigation was the most
corrupt branch in the Federal Government.

It was a nest of strike breakers
and crooked appointees.

Mr. Hoover was just an
obscure clerk

in the
Alien Registration Section

who had a fixation
about Communists and radicals.

He started spying on them
on his own time.

[SPEAKING ITALIAN]

[CROWD CHEERING]

DWIGHT: September 16th, 1920,

the J.P. Morgan Bank
on Wall street was bombed.

38 were killed.

The public demanded something
to be done about these radicals.

And the only man who knew anything
about them was J. Edgar Hoover.

He came up with the idea of deporting
all aliens who were Communists.

But he wanted to do it legally.

[ALL CLAMORING]

[SCREAMING]

We ought to put
all these Reds on a boat

and take it out to sea
and set fire to it.

Well, you're Mr. Palmer's
man, aren't you?

You boys in Washington
sure threw us a hot potato.

Why are these people
being held incommunicado?

Well, just take a look at 'em.

Half of 'em can't even talk.

We'll be well rid of the lot.

HOOVER: It's the same thing
at the other houses of detention.

Hundreds of persons
are being picked up

that don't belong to any
communist organization.

Your people set it up. We're
just following out orders.

I wrote those orders.
There was to be no violence.

They resisted arrest and they
got what was coming to 'em.

It was your job to make the
arrests, not to mete out punishment.

You throw a lot of weight
around for such a young fellow.

Are you familiar with rule 22
of your immigration regulations?

I thought we were supposed to
deport them, not kiss their asses.

Every one of those aliens has the
right to legal council before his hearing.

I want them given
that immediately.

You're a real bleeding
heart, ain't you?

I'd like to make use of your
telephone to call Washington.

You go ahead. Ryan, show
him where the phone is.

For all the good it'll do him.

Just get out of there, Edgar.
Nobody cares about it.

We're responsible. I drew up
the justification for these raids.

But I relied on Rule 22.

Rule 22 has been suspended.

Attorney General Palmer doesn't
want these aliens to have lawyers.

All these people
were picked up illegally.

We're kicking them out
of the country, aren't we?

Let 'em complain to their
friends back in Moscow.

[ALL CLAMORING]

Please, do you speak English?

Anybody speak English?

You're stepping on too
many toes, young fellow.

You're finished in the Justice
Department I promise you that.

Coming?

I live with my father.

I knew we had
something in common.

I live with my mother.

Well, come on in, Edgar.

Well, this is it.

Father's not here. He's gone
to visit my sister in Mobile.

Sometimes it gets
a bit lonesome. But...

I see how it could.

Would you like to hear
a new piano piece?

Thank you very much.

Please, sit down.

Come on over and
have a seat by me.

Edgar.

What is it?

Edgar, you must think
me terribly forward.

You're a very pretty girl,

and I'm glad you like me.

I do. You're so very sweet.

Come on, come sit down.

I want you to stay with me?

That's okay.

I have to do everything,
but I understand.

I don't mind.

Who put you up to this? What?

Don't look so innocent. Am I being kidded?

I mean, why else
would a girl want me?

A girl like you.
Unless somebody paid her.

I like you, Edgar.

Is there a photographer
in the hall?

Are you joking?

You fool. Stop.

What are you looking for?
Are you crazy?

You know there's
nothing in there.

Stop!

Is it so little
you think of yourself?

Come in, Mr. Hoover.

Mr. Attorney General.

So you're the young man that we
have to thank for the Palmer raid.

Unfortunately I drafted those legal briefs
that were responsible for the arrests.

You're aware that I was a
outspoken opponent of those raids.

And you defended the
conscientious objectors during the war.

Yes.

Rather an odd choice
for an Attorney General,

but I imagine President
Coolidge had his reasons.

Won't you sit down?

I expected this to be
a very brief meeting, sir.

You thought I'd be asking
for your resignation.

The Bureau of Investigation's
director, Mr. Burns,

was fired this morning.

I suppose this Teapot Dome
scandal means the end of the Bureau.

On the contrary.

See, I waited for over a month.

The problem was that
we had to get a successor

who I could trust.

I have decided, young man,
that I want you to become

the acting director of the
Bureau of Investigation.

Say, by the way,
how old are you? 29.

Oh, that's right.
Yeah, the Boy Scout.

Well, what do you say? Do
you want the job or don't you?

I'll accept the job, Mr. Stone,
under certain conditions.

What conditions?

Appointments to the Bureau
are to be based on merit only.

Promotions will be given
with proven ability,

and the Bureau will be responsible
only to the Attorney General.

Well, that's an innovation.

But it's the only way
I'd give it to you.

Well, now you can go to work.

No, Sir.
I want it in writing.

In writing?

I want the Bureau staffed
with lawyers and accountants.

The highest caliber of men.

Is there anything else? No, Sir.

Not for now.

DWIGHT: My father was in the
Bureau of Investigation under Burns,

attached to the
Oklahoma City field office.

When Mr. Hoover took over,

he summoned many of the agents
to Washington to meet with him.

Among them my father and another
young agent named Melvin Purvis.

HOOVER: We're no longer going to
be known as the Bureau of Easy Virtue.

Tapping of telephones
will be forbidden.

I want investigators,
not eavesdroppers.

Drinking, non-payment of
debts, easy sexual practices

will lead to summary dismissal.

Pretty impressive, huh?

He's just a clerk.

One of those night school lawyers
who joined Justice to beat the draft.

I, uh, Bob

I understand he wants to
start a crime laboratory and

put in a national
fingerprint file.

Now those aren't bad ideas.

Webb... I give him six months.

Excuse me, sir. Shannahan.
Bureau of Investigation.

May I have a word
with you, please?

You guys don't carry
any guns, do you?

It's become open season
on FBI agents.

I am sick of the newspapers and pulp
magazines glorifying these gunmen.

Making heroes out of outlaws.

It's about time
to fight fire with fire.

You know something?

The press seems to enjoy writing stories
about these bank robbers and killers.

They're supposed to be colorful.

I think it's time we acquired
a little color ourselves.

DWIGHT: Hoover brought in
Henry Suydam

to create a publicity image
for the Bureau.

You write a series of articles
for an American Magazine.

Hard-hitting
crime-busting stories.

That'll excite the reader.

Where'd you get that busted
nose, Edgar? In a fight?

He had a cyst removed from
his nose when he was 11.

Well, we'll compromise.

You were hit in the snoot
by a pitched ball.

A few fibs can't hurt.

Look, I've never actually
arrested anyone.

I'm an attorney, not a cop.
An administrator.

You'd better start thinking
like America's top cop.

"Top Cop"

has a nice ring to it.

I have a friend in New York, a popular
columnist named Winchell, Walter Winchell.

I met him. He gave us some
good leads in the Lindbergh ransom.

He's starting a nationwide
radio program shortly.

He might be very helpful.

Mr. and Mrs. United States, hats oil
to America's top cop, J. Edgar Hoover.

Top cop Hoover, who wages
a never-ending war

in all 48 states
against that criminal army

that threatens each and every man,
woman and child in this great country.

DWIGHT: When Roosevelt
was elected,

it seemed like Mr. Hoover, a
Republican appointee, would be replaced.

Then in Kansas City, police and

FBI men were escorting gangster Frank
Nash back to Hot Springs, Arkansas when...

[WOMAN SCREAMING]

Police Chief Reed, two detectives
and one FBI man were killed.

Two other FBI men were wounded.

The nation's sympathy
went out to the Bureau,

and it saved the Director's job.

[WOMAN SCREAMING]

Yeah. We carry guns now.

Don't shoot, G-man.
Don't shoot.

G-man. Machine Gun Kelly has given
us the hook we've been looking for.

G-man, I want to see that
on the newsstands.

In the publications.
In the headlines.

WINCHELL: One after another,
public enemies,

Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson,
Ma Barker and her son Fred Barker,

have been cut down
in their tracks by your agents

of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.

Another feather in the cap of
bloodhound John Edgar Hoover.

Real life "Dick Tracy" Hoover,

whose very name strikes terror in
the hearts of the nation's underworld.

Purvis, how is it in Chicago?

Record heat wave in the city.
23 deaths.

Mr. Dillinger will make it
an even 24.

Our informant called.
Ana Cumpanas.

She says she'll finger
Dillinger for us,

if we drop deportation
proceedings against her.

They're going to either the
Marbro or the Biograph Theater.

What's playing there?

You should be there, Edgar.

If he were to get away again,
Nanny, it might prove embarrassing.

For the Bureau.

MAN: Dillinger!

[WOMAN SCREAMS]

I'm going to be
bigger than Hoover.

[SIREN BLARING]

Dillinger is dead.

How many bystanders?

Two. But they'll be all right.

What about our informant,
Mrs. Cumpanas?

Keep her from talking to
the press and deport her.

Yes, sir.

There's no romance
in a dead rat.

DWIGHT: After that, Hoover always
had a kind of obsession about Dillinger.

He kept his death mask in his
outer office, like a hunting trophy.

But he couldn't stand it that he
hadn't shot Dillinger personally.

Purvis.

Particularly when Purvis began
getting his name in the newspapers.

How do you do,
Mr. Hoover? Get in.

I see you and the press
have become fast friends.

You don't have to worry
about me anymore, Mr. Hoover.

I'm resigning.

I'm going on the radio
for Post Toasties.

I always kinda liked
Post Toasties.

You ought to try
the radio, Mr. Hoover.

I bet you'd sell
a lot of breakfast cereal.

I've been reading a good deal
of your publicity.

And I don't believe anybody is

doing more injury to honest
law enforcement in this country,

than you are with your
publicity seeking feats.

A detective who
advertises his exploits

every opportunity he gets.

Who spends the public money

to get his name spread all
over the pages of newspapers

in flaming headlines.

Senator.

How many actual men have
you arrested in your career?

[CLEARS THROAT]

My duties here in Washington
keep me out of the field.

You mean, America's "Top Cop"

hasn't even made one arrest
in his entire career.

I've got to make
a goddamn arrest.

And no small fish.
It has to look good.

This son of a bitch Purvis is
making a celebrity out of himself,

while I'm supposed to be
a desk jockey.

How about Alvin "Creepy"
Karpis? That big enough?

DWIGHT: Karpis, was the last
surviving member of the Ma Barker gang.

Mr. Hoover wanted to
arrest him single-handed,

but everybody else
got into the act.

Let's go.

HOOVER: You're under
arrest, Karpis.

The man himself.

Give me your cuffs.

Handcuffs.

Well, who's got the cuffs?

Shit!

Sorry, Mr. Hoover.

What about this? Tie his hands with that.

[LAUGHING] Your boys are
pretty nervous, huh?

Probably worried about you.

Hey, where you going? Why?

'Cause, if it's the federal post
office building you're looking for,

you're driving in the
wrong direction.

Are you lost,
young man? Yes, Sir.

Don't worry, I can
tell you where to go.

I was planning to rob it.

Now when you get to
the next corner take a left.

Before my next arrest,
I promise you

I'll bring my own handcuffs
and a road map.

Mr. Hoover.

Before any more photographs
are taken, you get a tie on.

DWIGHT: Purvis' notoriety faded.

He opened up his own
detective agency,

but Hoover saw to it that Purvis
didn't keep any important clients.

Kind of quietly put him out of
business, you see, ruined him.

And finally Purvis broke.

Hello. You're there, aren't you?

You're always there.

I know.

I hear the click.

I always hear the click.

I've got a message for you.

I want you to give it to Hoover.

[GUN FIRES]

DWIGHT: Murder Inc. boss Lepke
was the nation's number one fugitive.

Hoover warned the underworld

that every Italian gangster would be fair
game for the FBI if he didn't get Lepke.

The syndicate itself ordered
Lepke to surrender to Hoover.

Hello, Edgar, we've been
waiting for you.

Uh, this is Mr. Hoover.

Edgar, meet
Louis Buchalter Lepke.

My pleasure, Mr. Hoover.

You wanna go through
the pockets now?

No need to search him.
He's not armed.

Would you wait in the front
seat of my car, Mr. Lepke?

You bet, Walter.
Anything you say.

Don't worry, Edgar.
You'll get all the credit.

Single-handed,
America's "Top Cop."

But don't forget the deal.

You're going to take him
as a federal prisoner,

so he won't have to be handed over
to New York State to face the chair.

His ass is going to burn
in Sing Sing.

Edgar.

You are one son of a bitch.

DWIGHT: Thus when the books
and the movies started,

it was all strictly controlled.

Nothing critical was ever
written about the Bureau.

The bestselling books
that bore Hoover's name

were actually written by employees
of the Crime Records Division.

federal employees
on the federal payroll.

So Hoover received
the author's royalties

for work that was done by government
employees under government salary.

Edgar, you didn't acquire this
bird in a pet shop, did you, dear?

You're right, Mother.

There's a prisoner named Stroud
allowed to breed birds in his cell.

I paid him five dollars for it.

Mmm-hmm.
Well, he belongs in a cell.

This particular canary
happens to be

an artificially colored sparrow.

You've been taken advantage
of again son. Gullible.

DWIGHT: After his mother died,
the Director was left alone.

Well, he had a maid,
of course, to look after him.

But for all intents and
purposes, he lost his best friend.

HOOVER: I am not criticizing
the so-called glamour girl.

They're attractive in their way
but they don't seem real or sincere.

And they certainly don't
live up to my expectations

of what a woman should be.

I've always held girls
and women on a pedestal.

Something to be looked up to.
Honored, worshipped.

If men would remember this
and keep them there,

their married life
would be a lot better.

I've had this idea about
women all the days of my life.

ROOSEVELT: I'd like to know more
about this German-American Bund.

Let's find out whether
they're just a bunch of

Lindbergh lovers

or whether they're
actual Nazi agents.

Well, that would entail going
underground, planting informants.

Placing wiretaps.

I've been against wiretaps
ever since I took over the Bureau.

Probably unconstitutional.

Well, let's not ask
Congress anything.

I've had enough trouble
with them as it is.

Well, we're already
breaking the law,

passing along classified
information to British Intelligence,

so why don't we
just go right ahead?

We'll both go to jail together.

All right, Edgar,

you've always wanted
to play a master spy.

Go to it. Mr. President, you wouldn't

uh, like to give me that
in writing, would you?

No, it's not for the record.
Just don't get caught

DWIGHT: This conversation with Roosevelt
was the only authority Mr. Hoover ever had

to tap the phones
of American citizens,

burglarize their homes
and bug their bedrooms.

And he kept right on doing
it for the next 30 years.

Care to meet Ginger Rogers?
She's sitting over there.

Yeah, I know the lady.
I used to take her mother out.

So now we know, huh? It was
purely a friendship, that's all.

Oh, for a moment there I
though the boss was slipping.

I can't tell you how many
times I tried to introduce him

to a couple of very
agreeable chorus girls.

Take a fling. J. Edgar
Hoover won't catch you.

[ALL LAUGH]

Look, I don't fit in.
Take a look at this kisser.

Did you ever see anybody
look more like a cop?

Or a hood.

HOOVER: All right,
I've heard enough.

You see, Edgar's in a
very delicate position.

I mean, he keeps himself
so busy at that Bureau

he hasn't got time
to consider marriage.

And a man in his position
can't very well afford to

uh, be caught
playing around, huh?

But if you don't
they'll get you for that.

You know, sort of sly
innuendos, limp wrist stuff.

All right, all right,
stop razzing me.

RUNYON: I've never seen him
walk out this mad.

REYNOLDS: I don't think he
liked the subject matter very much.

Come on, we were
just ribbing him.

He's right. Look what
women have done to us.

Taken all our dough.

Broken our hearts.

Maybe, uh, maybe
Edgar never got started.

REYNOLDS: You don't,
you don't suppose...

What are you mugs saying?

You wouldn't pull the same
line of stuff on Cardinal Spellman.

BENCHLEY: He's a priest.

What the hell, so is Edgar.
And we ordained him.

22 minutes before
air-time, Mr. President.

And Mr. Hoover
is in the outer office.

I know you're hot
under the collar, Edgar.

I see I've been preceded
by the liberal opposition.

I suppose you know
Mr. Earl Warren,

the Attorney General
of California.

How are you?

All right, Edgar, speak your
peace and get it over with.

Well, I was wondering if the Japanese
are gonna get their property back

when the war is over.

I think our first task
is to win the victory, Edgar.

It makes about as much sense as
rounding up the Italian-Americans.

You're the last person I
would have expected to object.

The only thing I object
to is stupidity.

Now they bombed Pearl Harbor,

and you're letting the Japs
in Hawaii go completely free.

What in the hell are you
arresting them in California for?

Let's say we're just...
Guaranteeing their safety

by putting them where
they won't provoke violence.

Oh, that's a new twist.

Arresting the
perspective victim, huh?

Edgar realizes that right must
yield to the necessities of war.

Mr. Lincoln was criticized
at one time.

And I suppose I should
be criticized in my time, too.

We're going ahead
with this project, Edgar.

I trust you understand that.

I do now, Mr. President.

Oh, and uh, be a good soldier
and stand silent.

Yes, Sir.

DWIGHT: My father had been
transferred to the New York field office.

One night he and my mother
where on their way to watch the fight

between Joe Louis
and Billy Cohn.

WEBB: Hold it!

FBI.

You'll be okay, Webb

I got an ambulance coining.
You'll be okay.

Mr. Hoover's
going to be embarrassed.

A lousy purse snatcher.

My kid wants to be a G-Man.

He'll be one.
He'll be one.

DWIGHT:
That's how my father died.

Shot down by a purse
snatcher who was never caught.

The shape of crime
was changing in America.

The gangs, the bank robbers,
the kidnappers,

were giving way to organized
crime, which was going underground.

Hiding its operations behind
legitimate business fronts.

But crime on the streets
was beginning to grow.

Senseless violent crime,
that would some day

make people afraid to
leave their homes after dark.

INSTRUCTOR: Just a little bit.
Getting that arm straight.

Let's, uh, watch that weak hand
so we don't get a hold through it.

Give it over.

Stroke that trigger twice.

[WHISTLE BLOWS AND GUNS FIRE]

Break up that wrist.

If you're satisfied with
your position holster up.

You want an instructor to
take a look at it, give a holler.

Holster up.

Pick up your brass box
take one step forward.

Come to a ready gun position.
Elbow on the hip...

DWIGHT: In 1951, after graduating law
school at Southern Methodist University

I applied to join the Bureau.

It was something I looked
forward to all my life.

I entered the training
program at Quantico, Virginia.

And that's where I had my
first meeting with Mr. Hoover.

Good afternoon, Mr. Hoover.
Dwight Webb, Putnam, Texas, Sir.

Webb, Texas, huh?

You have a tendency
to five o'clock shadow.

Shave twice a day. Yes, Sir.

Orchids to Commie hunter
J. Edgar Hoover,

who leads the fight against
pinkos and fellow travelers,

who would hand our nation
over to Mr. Joseph Stalin.

And Mr. and Mrs. America

don't ever forget, that for every one of
those 850,000 Commie party members,

there are 10 Commies
working underground.

DWIGHT: The gangsters were gone.

But now Mr. Hoover
had the Communist menace

to keep the FBI
up in the headlines.

And he used his stooges
in Congress to spread fear.

A fear that would dictate American
foreign policy for the next 20 years.

MCCARTHY: ...issued this warning.

There were still eleven agents,

10 Communists,
and 11 sympathizers

and 24 suspects on that
State Department payroll.

And I ask you Senators,
how is this possible?

Who, who was
protecting these communists?

The big question is,
where McCarthy got that chart.

The suggestion is you've been
feeding him confidential FBI files.

I wonder where they
got that idea?

The trouble with you is
you don't do your homework.

I tell you that there are 23
homosexuals in the State Department.

Then you turn around and
announce to the whole world it's 40.

Edgar, I, uh, I need 300 government
security risks. I promised to name them.

You pulled that figure
out of the hat.

I couldn't give you
three that would stick.

They don't have to stick.

You can go way back
to the '20s for the names.

Oh, shut up and play cards Joe.

I'm generally well-liked.
People do like me.

But I don't understand why
they're so down on me now.

You accused a man
of 20 years of treason.

Then offer to buy him a drink.

And you're surprised when
he tries to spit in your eye.

Edgar, sometimes
I have the feeling

that you're only using me
to get even with Truman,

because he didn't
give you the CIA.

If Truman won't let me fight the
Communist menace overseas,

I still have the power to
weed out any security risks

in his Executive Branch
right here at home.

Look, Joe, I'll give you all
the information you need,

but for Christ's sake, will you
please get it right for a change?

You know, some day they're
gonna get us. Both of us.

You, not me.

I'm not gettable.

AGENT: Brunette's held up in that
house across the street, Mr. Hoover.

Where's New York's finest?

Well, two of the local
detectives tracked him down.

They're up at the cafe
having coffee.

That's why I don't allow
coffee breaks.

Let's grab 'em
before they get back, huh?

Well, shall I alert
the precinct first? Oh, the hell with that.

Brunette belongs to us,
not them.

But his wife's in there, sir.

Well, If they want to share the
same fate as Bonnie and Clyde,

we'll give them every chance.

Come on, Walter follow me.

I don't know what's keeping
the boys from the Mirror..

Oh, that's tough luck, Walter.

Well, should I clear
the area first?

Get rid of that red polka dot
tie. Only pimps wear those.

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Hoover's going to get
somebody killed tonight.

Let's let them know we're here.

What if he opens fire?

Brunette... this is
J. Edgar Hoover.

The hell it is.

We want you alive.

Now come on out
and send your wife out.

Why don't you come on in
and ask her to dance, Hoover?

Or don't you like girls?

Give 'em the teargas.

Another one.

HOOVER: Open fire.

We're coming out.

We're coming out.

[COUGHING]

She can't walk, she's shot.

Somebody go in and get her.

[COUGHING]

AGENT: Get that dog
out of there.

Hoover, you asshole.
You shot my wife.

That asshole's Winchell,
I'm Hoover.

I hope you rot in hell
Mr. Hoover.

You big nelly, faggot, queer.

Well, at least
she recognized you.

Yes, sir, can I get you
something, Mr. Hoover?

Did I ever give you a tip?

Well, uh, there's never been a
check, so there's never been a tip,

but that's all right,
Mr. Hoover.

Go on, sit down, sit down.

Well, that's highly irregular.
I don't think I can.

Oh, it's all right.
Sit down.

Frank, you know
your daughter, Jodie?

The one that goes to
City College. Yes, Sir.

Well, tell her that social club she
joined is a communist front organization.

I don't want my favorite waiter's
daughter on the subversive list.

I understand, Sir.

And another thing uh,

your son, the one that got
that girl pregnant in Jersey.

How'd that all come out?

You know about that, too?

Uh-huh.

It's been taken care of.

Well fine, I'm glad to hear it.

We checked her out.
Boy, she'd been around.

You know, a girl
tried to trap me once.

A girl by the name of
Carrie DeWitt.

Ah, she was a beautiful girl.

She died in Memphis a week ago.

Is your mother still alive?

Don't you know, Mr. Hoover?

My mother's been dead
for 17 years and I miss her.

I'm sorry.

Do you know Rudyard Kipling?

Look, I don't know no Rudyard
Kipling, and I don't want to know him.

He was a novelist, a poet.

When I was a boy my
mother taught me a verse.

"The Dirty Road."
I memorized it.

I used to say it for her
and it pleased her.

It pleased her very much.

"If you can dream and not
make dreams your master

"If you can think and not
make thought your aim

"If you can meet
triumph with disaster

"and treat those two
impostors just the same

"If you can bear to hear
the words you've spoken.

"Twisted by knaves
to make a trap for fools

"or watch the thing that
you gave your life to broken.

"Then stop, build 'em up
with worn out tools

"If you can force your heart
and nerve and sinew

"to serve your turn
long after they are gone

"And so, hold on when
there is nothing in you.

"Except the will that says:
'Hold on.'"

That's very nice,
Mr. Hoover. Uh...

If you can please excuse me.

Bring me another one
of these, will you?

Yes, Sir.

Son of a bitch.

That son of a bitch.

He has no right
to cut people up like this.

[SOBBING]

DWIGHT: The only serious
threat to Mr. Hoover's power

began with the election of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

No, Bobby, you wouldn't.

Besides, uh, McNamara
would take a dim view

of you looking over
his shoulder.

[LAUGHS]

The problem is I've got
myself a Cabinet and uh

I don't know anyone in it.

Not, uh, close.

I got the feeling you've
discussed this with dad.

Look, um...

I'm going to take
the rap for civil rights,

so I may as well
take all the credit.

I got to have you.

I need you there
more than anywhere else.

But it's dangerous, Jack.

There are a lot of
people saying I'm not...

Qualified to, uh,
run the Justice Department.

And then there's Hoover.

You don't think
you can handle him?

Well, no one ever has.

Mr. Hoover is in
favor of your appointment.

That's a surprise.

Why? He was six years younger
than you when he took over the Bureau.

You both got your start
uh, trying to

hunt Reds and uh

you made your names
trying to nab racketeers.

He had this thing about Dillinger,
you got your Jimmy Hoffa.

Maybe, in fact,
you're too much alike.

I think Mr. Hoover has me
pegged as an easy mark.

Bobby, you just have to
remind him

that you're his boss.

All right, now,

Mr. Attorney General.

Let's grab their balls
with both hands and go.

We'll make the announcement
at two o'clock.

There's, uh, gonna be
a lot of people

pissed off at this appointment.

What's wrong with giving a
kid a little legal experience

before he starts practicing law.

Yes, Mr. Attorney General.

Yes, uh, who is this?

This is Mr. Hoover's secretary.

Well, the next time
I call on this telephone

I want the Director
on the other end of the line.

So, put the telephone
on his desk

and tell Mr. Hoover
I want to see him.

What time will you be coming by?

Tell, uh, Mr. Hoover
to come by my office.

I'm afraid he's in a meeting,
Mr. Kennedy.

I said now!

MAN: It's policy to go
to his office.

Well, that policy is being
changed as of today.

Tell the Director
I'm growing impatient.

Kennedy's office again.
He's still waiting.

I'll be in the Attorney
General's conference room.

He'll be right over.

Looks like the Attorney
General has passed the word.

What's your name? Collins, Sir.
Franklyn J. Collins.

How long have you been with the
Bureau? One year, seven months, Sir.

Send him a copy
of Masters of Deceit

transfer him to
Knoxville, Tennessee.

He'll have plenty of time to
improve his mind down there.

...secret ambition is

to reappoint a
Supreme Court Justice.

Not a chance.

You, uh, hear that Edgar?

Mr. Hoover, the Attorney
General would like you to join him

in Mr. Goldfarb's office.

He's giving me the runaround.
Walking me over this whole building.

Now you keep out of this. Let
me handle it in my own way.

Mr. Director.

Is it something urgent?

Well, I was, uh,
looking over the

employment statistics and uh

surprising how few Negroes
are on the payroll in the...

We have Negroes.

No, aside from your
five chauffeurs.

Well, you know we don't recruit.

Well, I think we should uh,
be cognizant of the

outside criticism of the Bureau.

Well, very few blacks apply.

And very few can pass the exams.

Yes, well, I think
you can manage it

in the way that you place
some of the few token Jews

that you have in
invisible positions

I know you'll manage this
task with all due speed.

Mr. Kennedy, we uh...

We hire on merit,
not race, creed or color.

But I'll do what I can. Yes, you uh...

Do what you can
and I'll do what I can.

You know what, uh,
puzzles the hell out of me

is that every year, uh,
the crime rate goes up

and you get more money
and the Bureau gets bigger,

the Mafia seems to flourish
with all of that.

That word again. Mafia.

It's a myth. A fiction
for mystery readers.

Oh, is that your
official position?

It doesn't exist?

There's organized crime,
but no national syndicate.

Besides, that's a problem for
local law enforcement, not us.

Oh, yes, that's the uh, the story
about the 50 men on the case

for three years and they come
up with one mob conviction.

Yes, that's bad statistics.

You'd have these 50 men
out there arresting car thieves

and bringing them back into... It would
look good on your yearly report to Congress.

I'm not going to subject my
men to that kind of corruption.

What are you uh...
What are you saying?

I don't understand.
I'm confused.

Are you acknowledging the
fact now that there is a Mafia?

Cosa Nostra, or whatever
you want to call it.

Any investigative agency that ever
went after the mob was contaminated by it.

There has never been one
case of bribery in my Bureau.

And there never will
be as long as I live.

Yes, I'm sure you do a wonderful
job protecting the Bureau.

What I'm worrying about is
protecting the public.

If you're so hot and
bothered about gangsters,

why are you doing
business with them?

What was that?

I'm referring to Mr. Giancana.

Yes, well,
that matter is, uh, solved.

It's uh, the President is not
seeing Mrs. Campbell at this time

and I, uh,
as far as I'm concerned...

I am not talking about sharing a
bed companion with a gangster.

Or using the White House phone
to receive calls

from Mr. Giancana's residence.

I've already ironed that out
with the President.

Did you

personally uh, tap those phones?

What concerns me now is the
CIA employing Mr. Giancana

for the purpose of
assassinating Fidel Castro.

I don't believe that.

Check it out.

I... I will.

I don't supposed you'd mind
massive wiretaps surveillance

on the Mafia chiefs,
as you call them.

No.

Prepare the authorizations
on 'em.

Sign them.

Fine.

Oh. and I uh, appreciate
your walking to my office.

Well, I needed the exercise.

Oh!

In that case I'll
be sure that I can

help you anyway I can to
fulfill that program of exercise.

Rough? It was a pushover.

He was so shaken
by the Giancana connection,

that he went for the
wiretaps right away.

But he always had a
weakness for wiretapping.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Do you know I could smell it?

They were drinking
beer in there.

[RINGING]

Yes, Mr. Attorney General?

I just wanted to see
if you were there.

All right, Williams.
This is the FBI.

The money's on the way
from the bank.

Just relax.

Yeah, he's let most
of the passengers go.

He's keeping 17 hostages.

Yes, Sir.

Well, right now
I've convinced the hijacker

there's a malfunction
in the engine.

Does he buy it?

I got two guys working on it.

Yeah, well stall him.
Give us time.

I don't know how long
I can make him believe it.

I'm with the Director now.

The Bureau's not going to
lift a hand to help TWA.

But, boss, you've forbidden all the
Bureau personnel to ever fly TWA.

Isn't that enough?

The last time we helped
TWA with a hijacker,

son of a bitching pilot
called us trigger happy.

I gave Tildagast the chance
to fire that pilot.

And even dug up his service record
to prove he was sick in the head.

No. TWA backed him up.

I'll talk with the Director.

Boss you know damn well
it's our responsibility.

Clyde, please don't ruin my day.

Just get my agents
off the field. That's it.

Hey, you aren't going to believe
this, but we just got orders to pull out.

There must be some mistake.

Yeah, the orders
are from up top,

just walk away, like it
isn't even happening.

Uh, this is Webb, you know,
there is a wild man in here.

He's got a gun and a
lot of helpless people.

We'd like to go in
and take him. Over.

Mr. Hoover says vacate
the field. Move out.

Okay.

McCoy, wait a minute.
Let me tell you..

Wait for me in
Mr. Kennedy's office.

Listen, I'm on my way
to the Attorney General.

I'm going to see to it that our
agents get those people off that plane.

All right, go ahead.

This is Mr. McCoy.

Tell the men
the preceding orders.

Go in and get that plane.

Mr. McCoy, I'm sorry,

but we have orders from
the Director to vacate the field.

Ed, this is Tolson.

It's all right, get those
people off the plane.

Yes, sir, Mr. Tolson.
Right away.

Okay, let's go.

I never knew you to
go against him before.

Well, Edgar will calm down
by morning. I hope.

Well, he's tired and
irrational. His time is past.

He ought to step down before he
tears down everything he's built up.

[LAUGHING] And who's going
to replace him? You?

See the men in the white coats.

Stay back.

Drop the bag.

Drop the bag.

Listen, Chief, I'm just here
to fix the hydraulic gear

so you can take this
plane off. You know?

Isn't that the rest of my money?

Well, I don't know anything
about that department chief,

I'm just here to fix the plane.

Then get off. Do you hear
me? Get off of my plane.

Yes. Do you hear me?

Yes, sir. Wait a minute.

Come on back. Just you.
Come on, come on.

Come on, get your hands up.

For Christ's sake,
do as he says. Come on, come on.

Keep your hands above your head.

See. I'll kill her.

Joe, let's get
the hell out of here.

Let the fucking police and
the FBI handle this mess.

Don't move.

You're both FBI agents.

When we get this plane
up in the air,

I'm gonna have 'em crash this
mother into the White House.

[LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY] Or the
Pentagon.

I'll be a national hero.

Take the hundred thousand dollars
they gave you. Nobody's stopping you.

You're supposed to be...

[PASSENGERS SCREAMING]

I hear you did quite
a job out at the airport.

Sadist. What I wouldn't
do for a Chesterfield.

Well, you know Mr. Hoover's regulations.
Only the boys are allowed to smoke.

I'll bring you a carton tonight.

About six o'clock?

Make it 8:30 or 9:00. I've got to
put in two hours of free overtime.

Pick up the statistics.

How do we know Mr. Hoover
isn't listening to us, right now?

We don't.

HOOVER: He brought Brumis
with him again.

He wants a Justice Department
employee to walk him.

Send him a memo that
bringing an animal in the building

violates Section 201 Chapter 8.

What the hell does he
care about rules?

An Attorney General who
smokes marijuana at parties.

Look what's going on
at Hickory Hill.

The drunken brawls. People getting
pushed in the pool with their clothes on.

And those sex things.

He's got a helluva lot of nerve coming
over to your field office on his own.

He's trying to humiliate you.

It's an old Washington gag, they're
making it so rough, you'll have to resign.

Resign? I can outwit him.

I've outwitted six presidents.

You know, old Joe Kennedy
used to bring little Bobby to see me.

He was eight years old.

He'd sit on my lap and ask
me if I was packing a rod.

I was his idol.

Yes, Mr. Director.
Mr. Tolson.

Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Freeman.

I was up, uh reviewing the field
office and meeting all the new faces.

If you want any information about
my men, please get it from me.

Ah.

Do you mind walking
a few blocks? Not at all.

Got a matter to
discuss with you.

The taps on the
Bobby Baker case.

Can I be assured
this will come to fruition.

I would need written
authorization on Mr. Baker.

Yes. I'm also going to need
it on Martin Luther King.

Oh, I see. If I don't sign both
of them then I don't get either.

Well, they're both
equally important.

You see Baker as a possible
criminal link to Vice President Johnson.

I see Dr. King as a possible
link to the Communists.

And I hope we're both wrong.

Well the idea that Dr. King
is associated

with any fellow travelers
is absolutely ridiculous.

Oh, Mr. Kennedy. Yes?

If you want to go on record
saying that Dr. King is betrothed

to subversive influences,
you go right ahead.

You're the Attorney General.
Not me.

No. Continue the, uh
surveillance.

I'll send the papers to your office
for your signature immediately.

Yes, you do that.

Bobby, the baby-faced bastard.

What? Bobby, the
baby-faced bastard.

[LAUGHS]

Well outside of the wiretaps,

we're going to put mics
in every hotel room

that Martin Luther King
stays in.

We'll get enough dirt on him to
expose his entire subversive movement.

That bastard's a degenerate
and I'm going to prove it, Clyde.

My dear lady,
Martin Luther King,

is the biggest damn liar
in the United States.

May we quote you on that?

I want you to quote me.
That's why I said it.

Kennedy revoked my White House press
credentials. You know what that means.

Well, you can see, I've got a
pretty heavy schedule here.

I've got a lot of important
people to spy on.

You drop back any time, Walter.

[FLY BUZZING]

There's a fly in here.

Bring in the fly swatter.

Excuse me, Mr. Hoover.

What's the matter?

The fly is on your shoulder.

Well, hit it.

How hard?

Hard enough.

Welcome.

[MUMBLING]

Sorry the kids couldn't
wait up. School tomorrow.

Well, some agent wrote this
anonymous letter to the Attorney General

complaining about Hoover.

And so I had to check all the typewriters
and find out who the troublemaker was.

What'll happen to him?

Give him a letter of censure. Then
they'll transfer him to Butte, Montana.

Ha, lovely.

Once he gets settled there
and he rents a house

and gets his kids into school,
they'll transfer him to Seattle.

You know, they'll bicycle
him around until he resigns.

Can't you appeal to Mr.
Hoover as a human being?

Are you kidding?
There was this psych

they moved out to the bricks,

because he gave Hoover a
bad tip on the stock market.

Mr. Hoover don't like
nobody but Tolson.

Then is it all worth it?

Well, you're working there,
aren't you, lady.

I mean, you know, best pay and

retirement in the government.

I guess I kind of admire the
old bastard, still, you know.

He reminds me of my father.

Let's go.

Too late to get a babysitter?

It's raining, we can stay here.

I have locks on the doors.
And the girls never wake up.

Well, I'd just feel a
little bit better...

You're such a prude.

[LAUGHS]

I'm a G-Man, ain't I?
It comes natural.

My dinner.

Who's a prude?

Mr. Attorney General.

I dropped by
to express my sympathy.

I heard somebody stole Mr. Hoover's
Christmas tree lights from outside his house.

I believe you had an
appointment tomorrow at...

I don't need an
appointment I'm his boss.

Is he alone?

Yes, but... Gentlemen.

HELEN: If you will just. [ROBERT SHUSHES]

Is this a habit? A regular
occurrence in the afternoon.

Does he need a nap? No, sir.

It could be a while.

If and when the Director
ever wakes up.

Tell him I've sent
20 Justice Department lawyers

down to Jackson, Mississippi to
look into the voter registration problem.

It should take some
load off the Bureau.

He's been working awfully hard.

Yes, I'll so inform Mr. Hoover.

Yes, do that.

And when you inform him,
tell him

it's the same young Turks that
made up my "Get Hoffa" squad.

But don't tell him
I sat on his table.

He might get mad. Yes, sir.

Ma'am.

What I would like to
do is stick a naked lady on

the couch next to him and
watch his face when he wakes up.

[BOTH LAUGH]

You got enough to hang that Kennedy
kid. Edgar, why don't you use it?

Yes, sir?

Webb, uh,

that tie.

I'm pulling you out of the field and
putting you in charge of the techs.

Sir, I'd go crazy sitting out
there all night listening to bugs.

Who have I offended, sir?

I'm certain that you're aware

of how the Director frowns on
fraternization with female employees

of the Bureau, and when
it's a married woman with

children, it's out of the
question.

Sir, Janice filed for divorce
before we ever met.

The Director does not impose limitations on
others that he does not place upon himself.

Sir, I don't believe this
came directly from Mr. Hoover.

Perhaps that's because you
don't know Mr. Hoover.

In that case, sir, I request
to speak to him personally.

I'm afraid the Director won't
be available for several weeks.

The racing season is
open at Del Mar.

You know, I suggest that you consider
writing a mea culpa letter of apology.

You write that letter, sir. This
was all your idea, not Mr. Hoover's.

It has come to my attention that
you've been operating a Bureau

vehicle for personal use.
Disciplinary action will probably result in

three weeks suspension.

Without pay.

Yes, sir.

Honey, you can't believe what
they're doing to me.

Please, Dwight, two special
agents visited Charles.

And whatever they
said to him, he took

my two daughters out of
school this morning.

Oh, those sorry bastards.
Well, we'll fight 'em.

No! Look, we had fun,
we've been friends, okay.

Fine. I can't fight.

I don't know how to.
I just get hurt.

Still the same characteristic
hard-hitting style, Edgar? But Dillinger?

I mean, aren't you reaching
back a little far?

Well, nostalgia goes over well at
dinner parties. It aids the digestion.

Hey, my deepest sympathy

on the passing of the
ambassador.

He was always a great
fan of yours.

We had a weakness for
the same horses.

You going to stay on
here at Georgetown?

Well, all my friends are here.

Well, if there's anything we
can do for you, anything at all.

I don't think any
of my maids are suspected

Communists, but I do have
one unfulfilled desire.

So what's that?

I've always want to go
for a ride

in one of
your bullet-proof Cadillacs.

Bullet-proof. But it doesn't
sound any different.

Yes, Florence, you're looking at an
old confirmed lace-curtain bachelor.

[LAUGHS] Everything they say
about me is true.

I'm stiff, smug,
and very self-satisfied.

[FLORENCE LAUGHS]

It's natural. A man who
spends his entire life prying

into other people's private lives,
should be jealous of his own.

But just what is it?

That you're afraid that we
might find out about you.

You should be one of my agents.

[LAUGHING] You don't allow
lady agents.

Either you have
no use for women or,

you're very much afraid of them.

Florence, why are you
acting like this?

I believe you really like
to be Dillinger.

Like the good boy who's
envious of the bad boy.

Only you're afraid to be bad.

The Dillinger's of this world break
all the rules and they're adored.

The worse they are the
more fascinating they are.

The women worship them.

Oh, I've read all the reports
about their sexual exploits and

[STAMMERING] Well, it disgusts
me, that's all.

You know, you're kind of
a funny person, really.

Why can't you ever laugh
at yourself. Be silly.

And go out and
get into some mischief.

To tell you the truth,
I just wouldn't know how.

Oh, you've peeked through enough
keyholes to know the facts of life by now.

You're making this very
difficult.

I know.

I'm offering my
services to you as a coach.

[LAUGHS]

Believe it or not,

I used to be quite a gay young
lassie before I married Wallace.

I'm going to have to
go, Florence.

Why?

Well, my driver's out in
the car, he's waiting.

I don't want him to...

You mean you'd like to try, but
you can't stand your driver knowing it.

There are no secrets in
Washington.

Oh, how they look forward
to those little

sexual tidbits I throw 'em.

I whet their appetite for it.

They demean each other,
wallow in that filth.

I'm pleased to say I'm no
part of that.

You're a purveyor of it.

I understand you distribute
obscene material all over Washington.

I've got to go, Florence.

MAN ON TAPE: The following
unedited material was recorded

at the Marriott Motor Lodge Twin
Bridges, suite number 12 on November 17th.

The voices are that of Henry Parkland
President of the National Machinists' Union

and Virginia Eclair, a campaign
worker who has a long record

of membership in Communist
front organizations.

[HENRY AND VIRGINIA SPEAKING
SOFTLY]

[PHONE RINGS]

VIRGINIA: Don't answer
the phone.

HENRY: Did you tell anybody
I was coming here? No.

Then why's the goddamn
phone ringing? I don't know.

Baby, I'm sorry I'm
so harsh with you...

[BOTH SPEAKING SOFTLY]

[HENRY AND VIRGINIA MOANING]

[TAPE STOPS]

[GUN FIRES]

[SIRENS BLARING]

Put me through to White
House extension 163

to Hickory Hill, please.

[PHONE RINGS]

Yes? This is Edgar Hoover.

Yes, Mr. Hoover?

I have some very bad
news for you.

Yes?

The President has been shot.

Is it serious?

I think so. I'm trying
to get the details.

I'll call you back when I
know more.

We have just arrived here
at Parkland Hospital.

Uh, it's hard to tell
what's really going on.

Yes? When? Uh huh.

He's gone.

Get me Hickory Hill again.

Why don't you let me call him.

No matter what my differences with the
Attorney General, it's my duty to inform him.

[PHONE RINGS]

Yes.

The President is dead.

[PHONE RINGING]

Now get that goddamn phone
back on my secretary's desk.

Mr. President, you should get
a kick out of this.

Some of your staunchest congressional
opponents of your Vietnam policy,

compromised by young
war protesters,

and two of them...

Two of them young girls
in their early teens.

Are you sure you haven't
overlooked the amatory adventures of

of the eager Kennedy boys?

Here are the reports.

Fully illustrated.

Now, how do they get
away with that?

Well, nobody prints anything
bad about the Kennedys.

Oh.

I had that kind of charm once.

I'm going to miss this

bedside reading
when you step down.

Are you trying to get
rid of me, Mr. President?

Isn't it about time?

You can have any
ambassadorship you want.

Over 70% of my top executives
are ready for retirement.

Well, once the ball starts rolling,
it won't be the FBI as we know it.

No. No.

But general opinion

says you ought to go.

You know, when I took over the
Bureau they called me "That Boy Scout."

Now they call me
"that senile old man."

Mr. President I thought
you wanted people

around you loyal enough
to kiss your ass

in Macy's window at high noon.

And say it smells like a rose?

Better to have you on the
inside of the tent pissing out.

Then on the outside pissing in.

I'll issue a proclamation,

waiving the mandatory
retirement age in your case.

You know, Edgar, you're going
to be here after we've long gone.

I'd better be. Someone
has to look after the files.

Send Mr. King in.

Well come in,
Mr. King.

Well, I see we've been locking
horns in the newspapers lately.

I'm here to find out why you
have been tapping my telephones.

A year ago you were
told some of your advisors

had communist connections,
but you wouldn't break with them.

Would that account for your
planting microphones in hotel rooms

I occupied during my travels?

Oh, we've used the same
procedure on 14 others.

The Panthers, the Muslims,
the Klan.

Were you as free with the
recording of their private activities?

What do you mean "free"?

I'm led to believe that certain
tapes were offered to the newspapers

and played for the listening
pleasure of politicians friendly to you.

And that these same tapes,
were used by you,

to stop certain guests from
attending my Noble Prize banquet.

I really know nothing about
that.

I'm sure you're well aware that one
of these tapes was mailed to my...

Mr. King.

I've retained complete control of
all the recordings and transcripts.

You can rely on my discretion.

Does that mean I don't have
to bother committing suicide?

Like one of your anonymous
letters suggested.

I know nothing
about that either.

The damage is done,
Mr. Hoover.

But it might be worthwhile
for the people to know

how America's number one
blackmailer operates.

Don't give me all the credit.

I'd like you to
take a look at something.

The authorizations
for the wiretaps.

And you'll notice they're signed by the
Attorney General of the United States.

Robert F. Kennedy.

Yeah, they're genuine.

There's one covering SCLC
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

And another one in New
York, dated 10-10-63.

How did you get him
to sign these papers?

I only followed orders when Bobby
told me to wiretap you and Malcolm X

and other members of your
movement.

You know, you're going to have
to take a very firm stand against

Bobby on this.

Now who's going
to profit, Mr. King?

Your political enemies,
that's all.

The country has survived your
being in power over 40 years.

Well I guess we just have
to wait a little bit longer.

That's right.

How much more time have I got?

Oh, Mr. King.

Mr. King, I've

asked some of the newspaper
people to wait for you in the outer office.

I'm sure you'll find something very
nice to say about your FBI, won't you?

My meeting with Mr. Hoover led to a
clearer understanding on both sides.

Again I would like to,

commend the FBI for solving the murder
of the three young civil rights workers.

It renews my faith in democracy.

Thank you.

Martin Luther King dedicated
his life to love and to justice,

for his fellow human beings.

And he died because
of that effort.

In this difficult day, in this
difficult time for the United States,

it is perhaps well to
ask, what kind of a nation

we are and what direction
we want to move in.

For those of you who are black,

considering the evidence there
evidently is,

that there were white people
who were responsible.

You can be filled with bitterness,
with hatred and a desire for revenge.

We can move in that direction
as a country in great polarization.

Black people among black.

White people among white,

with hatred toward one another.

Or we can make an effort,
as Martin Luther King did,

to understand and to comprehend

and to replace that violence,
that strain of bloodshed

that has spread across our land,
with an effort to understand and love.

Let us dedicate ourselves to what
the Greeks wrote so many years ago,

"To tame savageness of man and
make gentle the life of this world."

Let us dedicate ourselves to
that and say a prayer

for our country and for
our people.

One of those men is a
pinhead. Get rid of him.

Still have the touch, boss.

ROBERT: I'm announcing, today,
my candidacy

for the President of the
United States.

I run to seek new policies.

Policies to end the, uh, bloodshed
in Vietnam and in our cities.

Policies to close the gap that
now exists between black and white,

between rich and poor.

Between young and old, in this
country and around the rest of the world.

I do not lightly
dismiss the dangers

and difficulties of challenging
an incumbent president.

But these are not ordinary
times.

At stake is not simply
the leadership of our party,

or even our country.

It is the right to moral
leadership of this planet.

If I retire before the
democratic convention,

I'll be able
to name my own successor.

Kennedy wouldn't dare fire a director
that's only been in for a couple of months.

That way we'd have our own
men on the inside, at least.

I can't believe it has
to end this way.

Well, anyway now you'll be able to build
your own home in La Jolla, near the track.

Oh, shut up, junior.

They haven't got us out yet.

[CROWD CHEERING]

So my thanks to all of you. And
it's on to Chicago. Let's win there.

I don't care what you say, boss, it
doesn't look like real grass to me.

Yeah, sure it does.

No, that looks like real grass.

That looks like fake grass.

Why don't you get a
new gardener?

Ah, he was awfully old.
I couldn't let him go.

Some of the agents came
up on their weekend off

and laid this down for me.

On their own time, mind you.

They said it looks
exactly like grass.

Well, the Washington
Redskins play on it.

Yeah, but this is your
lawn, not a football field.

Still looks like grass.

And look at the weeds
growing up in it.

It's grass. Grass.

I'm thinking of doing my
whole backyard in this stuff.

I can't. Don't you understand.
I need an additional source.

All right,
all right, you do that.

Hey, hey, wait a minute.

Oh, that hits awfully close
to home, doesn't it?

Well, that ought to shake 'em up
at Ninth and Pennsylvania Avenue.

"What American Bureau Chief, a
national hero for decades,

"has been engaged in a
lifelong homosexual affair

"with a key member
of his staff?"

Did I spell homosexual right?

Jesus Christ, Can
you have evidence for this?

Oh, Christ, there's been
speculation

about these guys for the last 20
years. They're always seen together.

At the race track, the ball
park. At lunch, at dinner.

Christ, I couldn't spend
that much time with my wife.

Well, maybe you should
have dated Tolson.

Two confirmed bachelors.
Neither one very attractive.

What woman would want them?

Hoover's married to the FBI. A strange
combination of jealousy and devotion.

They were at George Washington
University at the same time

and they're never seen
with any girls.

Come on now, let's
bring it out in the open.

And if Hoover wants
to deny that he's a fag,

why you'll give him
plenty of space, won't ya?

[LAUGHS]

Did you read that bastard
Hindley's column?

Yes.

Why the hell didn't you say so?

I didn't think it
worthy of comment.

I sent a couple of agents
over to Hindley's office

to tell him to put
up or shut up.

He couldn't have anything.
They'll go on snickering

behind our backs like we're a
couple of old fairies.

It's the old communist smear.
But I know who's in back of it.

They've been trying to persecute
me since the Palmer raids.

Let it pass.

Hoover wouldn't dare show his face
around here. He hasn't got the nerve.

I have to hand it
to the son of a bitch,

he's got the hide
of a bull elephant.

Hello, Captain. What
have you got for me today?

I've got a surprise
for you, sir.

How are you,
Mr. Tolson? Fine thank you.

Bring me a menu please... Mr. Tolson will
have his usual.

Please, Joe.

Bring him a menu.

Boss, next month, I don't
think I feel up to Miami this year.

Oh, you decrepit old bastard
you're going to go

if you have to go in a
wheelchair.

You're all that stands between
me and an assassin's bullet.

Besides that I can't
pick winners without you.

In Mr. Hoover's eyes, the new left was
a Fifth Column directed from Moscow.

We'd go to peace demonstrations
and take photographs

and copy down license numbers,
and we'd open dossiers

on anybody whose name
we could get.

When Mr. Hoover went
before Congress,

we'd get orders to pull
out most of our wiretaps,

so we could testify that there were
less than a hundred in operation.

Then the next day we'd
put all the taps back in again.

What are you doing here, Boss?

Inspection tour.

Anything cooking? No, nothing.

You know, if we told
anybody we spent $87,000

in the past 42 days
just to listen

in on a couple of
crazy Niggers and it's not

even admissible, cause we
don't even have a warrant.

We asked for a warrant to
put a tap on the Cardone family

and the courts turned us down.

Now, I know you want to
work your way back into

the good graces of the Director.

So you want me to
place a suicide tap and

take full responsibility in case
it's discovered, is that right?

No. Now you know we lean
more toward electronic surveillance,

it keeps the telephone
company off our backs.

And you know it's just
as illegal.

I don't know what
you're worried about.

Back in New York I've been
burglarizing the Socialist Workers' Party

every three weeks
for years. Relax.

What in the hell ever happened
to the Fourth Amendment?

Well, Mr. Hoover repealed
it years ago.

You put one bug into
their uh, telephone

instrument where it can
easily be found and then,

you plant a
couple of sophisticated

microphone devices
elsewhere in the house.

DWIGHT: I wasn't anxious, to
stick my neck out with a suicide tap,

but I was glad to see the Bureau was
finally taking some action against the Mob.

I suppose, in the back of my
mind, I should have known,

I was being set up.

Yes. He's inside
the house right now.

Aah!

You're going to jail, G-Man.

[SCREAMS]

Fucking!

FBI!

Hey, what's new?

Huh, what's new?

You set me up,
that's what's new.

Don't you think you're being
a little paranoid?

Listen, I'm used to this
bicycle routine.

I've lived through the suspension.
But what you don't like is

I keep sending letters to
Mr. Hoover, that's what.

Christ, you make him sound
like fucking George Washington.

But Washington kept slaves
and mistresses.

Mr. Hoover would have had
him transferred.

I want to talk to him about
this personally, you know.

Why don't you kiss his
ass and tell him

he saved America and
you hope he lives forever.

I want to tell him
how I felt last night

running down the street like a common
criminal. About sending out phony letters

on a stolen letterhead to
discredit these radical groups.

About these burglaries. About
giving aid to terrorist groups.

I want to tell him how I felt

breaking the bones of the
anti-war movement.

Yes, sir, I'm going to
talk to him about it.

Look, you're coming up
for retirement.

Now why don't you just
grab it and run.

I've given just as much
to the Bureau,

as you or Mr. Hoover,
and I think it's about

high time he knows what's
going on in the field.

What's happening
to the men and moral.

What's happened to the goddamn
country, if you want to know, sir.

Right. Give my regards
to the Wizard of Oz, hmm?

ANNOUNCER: And they're off
and running...

Mr. Hoover, sir

Mr. Hoover?

Dwight Webb, sir. Why aren't you
in Detroit?

Sir, I flew down here
at own expense.

I've been requesting an
opportunity to speak with you.

This is not the time
or the place.

Well, I don't think you know what's
going on. What they're doing to me.

This is a breach of discipline,
you know that, don't you?

Mr. Hoover, sir, we're not
only spying on extremists,

now, sir, we're spying on
everyone. Newsmen and reporters,

and, sir, our agents
are being encouraged

to entrap these radicals by giving
them explosives and guns even.

I know all about you, Webb.

You're trying to sabotage
the Bureau

to satisfy your own
paranoid delusions.

[LAUGHS]

Well, they told me you'd
say that, but I wouldn't buy it.

Get this man out of here.

You don't have to bicycle me
around anymore, I'm resigning.

And by tomorrow, or you get a
letter of dismissal with prejudice.

Who the hell is winning
this race?

I don't know.
I wasn't looking.

DWIGHT: What a hypocritical
son of a bitch I was.

After a career of tapping people's
phones and bugging their bedrooms.

Well, I just tore up twenty years
like a ticket on the wrong horse.

What do you look so unhappy
about? You had the last three winners.

Let me help you.

I don't feel good, boss.
What's the matter, Clyde?

I've had indigestion all day,
you know. And then...

I've had a hard time
catching my breath.

Let me sit down, just a minute.

Let's get him back inside.
Give us a hand here.

Come on, help me, help me.
See if we can find a doctor.

[PROTESTERS CHANTING]

It's the goddamn
Russian Revolution.

I was in the Attorney
General's house back in 1920,

when they blew up the place.

Seeing kids pee on the lawn isn't
going to raise my blood pressure.

I feel it's anti-human
in this situation.

President Nixon thinks that
all these bombings and riots

are the work of the Cuban government,
the Egyptians and the Soviets.

The President's called for a meeting of
all the National Security Organizations.

CIA, NSA, BIA. And three military
Counter-Intelligence Agencies.

All in the Oval Room.

You want me to eavesdrop
electronically on anybody

you think is a threat
to internal security.

Read the mail of American
citizens.

Break into the homes of
anybody you consider disloyal.

And monitor all the activity
of the student political groups.

Is that right?

Come on, Edgar, you've-been doing
this black bag stuff for 25 years now.

When did you get religion?

It's been 30 years.

But never on such a grand scale.

And it was always my
idea, not the administration's.

If you can do it,
why can't we all?

Because I have no
political ambitions.

And that's where we
differ, gentlemen.

Yes, but the nation's never
been threatened

by so many extremist elements
before in its history.

We don't want to stop you,
Edgar. We just want to get in on it.

And run it, in what
we believe to be

the best interests of the
American way of life.

All of the intelligence
agencies working together

with the President in control.

But you're not cooperating,
Edgar.

You've broken off all direct
communication of the CIA.

When they had to break into one of
the embassies here in Washington,

you sent your agents to turn on
their sirens and drive off the CIA.

[ALL LAUGH]

You're the old master
at this, Edgar.

We'll ask you to draw
up guidelines.

Along with Mr. Houston.

Despite my objections to the
lifting of investigative restraint,

the FBI is prepared to follow the
instructions of the White House.

At your direction,
Mr. President.

But in writing.

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

Good afternoon, Mr. Hoover.

I'll bug and burglarize
whoever I please.

I'll be damned if I'll let
somebody else do it.

Oh, you gotta watch those
guys in the White House.

I don't mean just
Nixon, all of them.

Self-appointed cop for
president.

That's right, junior.

I'm the only man that ever
held the job or ever will.

A man doesn't have much in the way of
morality unless he's scared of somebody.

And I gave them somebody
to be scared of.

At night they look under the
bed to see if I'm there.

They wonder how much
I know. It's good.

Holds them back.

Nixon's frustrated.

He's going to do something,
with or without you.

Whatever we say, what ever
we do, the next morning

it winds up in the
New York Times.

How are we going to
find the leak?

Hoover won't let us polygraph,
State Department employees.

What do you mean he won't
let us. Who the hell is he?

He has to be told who's
president.

Yes, but he did implement
our request for 17 wiretaps.

Only so he could use
them against us.

Taps on our own staff and on newsmen. He
could blow us out of the water with that.

He suckered us into it.

NIXON: You mean it was a trap?

Well, we can protect
our national security,

with or without Mr. Hoover.

We don't need him or the CIA.

We have our own people
who can be depended upon.

You can be certain they'll
be selected carefully

and paid through the Committee
to Reelect.

If Ellsberg can be a hero for bending
the law a bit, why shouldn't we?

Sooner or later the old man will
hear about it and raise holy hell.

Ah, shit, yes.

But now, what can we do
about getting those laws back in?

I have people on the inside.

People who know that
Hoover can't live much longer.

They want to be on
the right team

when the time comes to pick
a new director.

Have they access? Opportunity's
no problem.

The question is, will they
have the balls to do it.

[ALL LAUGH]

Well, there'll be a certain perverse
satisfaction of being the man

who robbed J. Edgar Hoover.

How the hell did we
get to be villains, Edgar?

Look at the Rosenbergs.
Oppenheimer. Alger Hiss.

All of them made into martyrs and
suddenly we're some kind of Gestapo.

Remember back when it was good,
favorable? Why they couldn't get enough.

It's not the same country.

I can get 'em back.

I'm waiting for a big break.
Like the Dillinger case.

That'd turn it all around.

I know what you're thinking.

Nixon's plumbers,
goddamn amateurs.

And they're getting
in deeper every minute.

Cubans being paid off with
campaign slush funds,

laundered through
Mexican covers.

Well, I've been careful to
keep clear of the whole thing.

But I've recorded every detail.

I'm just waiting
them out. What we don't have is time.

Junior, if I can't outlast
this shitty administration,

I just might take them
with me when I go.

McCoy.

Problems? The long arm of the
White House.

17 Kissinger wiretap authorizations
are missing from the safe.

Did they get every copy?

Everything that was in there.

What about the logs you
were keeping.

I thought it was my duty to
turn them over to Mr. Mardian.

The President's request.

Look, I'm sorry, Edgar,

I just couldn't allow you to use
those logs against the White House.

How long have we been
together? 25? 30 years?

29.

29.

Yeah, they're right.
I'm getting old and sloppy.

It's time for you to
step down, Edgar.

For your good and the
sake of the Bureau.

Let go.

"To force your heart
and nerve and sinew

"To serve your turn
long after they are gone

"And so hold on, when
there is nothing in you,

"Except the will which says:

"'Hold on.'"

Hold on. Hold on.
Hold on.

Get Kedrow and Wilson in here
right now.

[KNOCKING AT DOOR]

Come in.

Yes, Mr. Hoover.

I want Assistant Director
McCoy's office emptied and locked.

He's to have access to none of his
papers. He is retiring as of tonight.

Now take care of that right now.

Yes sir.

You wait.

It's been brought
to my personal attention that

the President has been
recording his private

conversations on
quarter-inch tape.

Secret Service is storing
them in Room 175 and a half

of the executive office
building.

Now I think we should have
access to those tapes,

in order to duplicate some
for, shall we say

historical accuracy?

Yes, Sir.

[GROANS]

[CRYING] So long, boss.

HINDLEY: Well, I wouldn't
waste any tears on Clyde.

He's got Hoover's house.
Half a million dollar estate.

Ha. That's sweet,
isn't it.

Well, Nixon may take
over the Bureau,

but he's not going to get Hoover's
P.F. files, because they've got them

at the Washington field office
right now being shredded.

Well, if you know that, don't you
think the White House would know that?

Hey, wait a minute, wait, relax.

You're not going
to get inside that building.

How are things at the
White House, gentlemen?

What brings you here, Webb?

Probably the same personal
files you're after.

You have no more
connection with the Bureau.

Now you get the hell
out of here.

Gentlemen, it might interest you
to know you're being photographed

from across the street, and this
conversation is being recorded.

You're on Candid Camera,
Mr. McCoy.

Who put you up to this?

The Democratic National
Committee, who else?

Jesus. You'll be sorry
for this, Webb.

I promise you that.

Still Hoover's man, huh?

Mr. Tolson, sir,
my sympathies.

Webb, is it?

You're burning the
midnight oil, sir.

So to speak.

I suppose you lost all
respect for him?

Not all. He hurt
a lot of people.

But he controlled the politicians
and never let the politicians

control the Bureau. The Bureau.

They'll get their coffee breaks now.
The ladies will smoke and wear slacks.

And the boys will have
mustaches and sideburns.

A year from now there
won't be any FBI.

The way we know it.

Edgar took over after the
worst scandal, in our history.

The Harding mess.

He managed to hush
everything up for 48 years.

Now it's all going to
come tumbling down.

FBI, CIA,

maybe even the
administration itself.

He isn't there
to cover for them,

manage their dirty linen.
Oh, they'll miss him all right.

DWIGHT: Within two years of
the death of J. Edgar Hoover,

the Vice President was forced
to resign,

facing criminal indictment.

The closest aides to the President
of the United States were dismissed

and indicted because
of alleged illegal activities.

Two Attorney Generals
were removed from office

and faced criminal
conspiracy charges.

And the President of the United
States resigned his office for the

first time in history.

Under the threat of impeachment.

The sources of information
that brought about this upheaval

in government have never been
fully disclosed.

And some have been heard
to speculate

that if the hand of J. Edgar
Hoover

had reached back from beyond
the grave,

he couldn't have
done it any better himself.