Leonardo DiCaprio stars as J. Edgar

J. Edgar Hoover, who always dressed for success and was the controversial head of the FBI for almost 50 years, had a symbiotic relationship with cinema: In the days of Prohibition-era gangsterism, he appeared in newsreels to push public support for his brand of bare-knuckle justice. Although he was wary at first, he eventually got behind " 'G' Men," the wildly profitable 1935 James Cagney crime drama that helped popularize the fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation. And one of his agency's earliest triumphs -- the gunning down of Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger -- occurred as America's Most Wanted was leaving a screening of the Clark Gable feature "Manhattan Melodrama."

It is highly unlikely, however, that Hoover would have put his imprimatur on "J. Edgar," Clint Eastwood's sure-to-be-contentious biopic, which depicts the late FBI icon in a way that would have had him pulling his hair out -- and probably opening dossiers on Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio and anyone else involved in the film. (The movie opens Wednesday in Manhattan and Nov. 11 on Long Island.)

As portrayed by DiCaprio -- who alternates between a fresh-faced John Edgar of the '20s, and the wizened, Yoda-like Hoover of the '70s -- the subject is a small-minded, venal man, tortured by his closeted homosexuality, driven by a hunger for public admiration, and willing to do virtually anything to maintain his grasp on power, including the blackmailing of presidents.

"Here's this guy," Eastwood told an interviewer, "starting the Bureau of Investigation, which later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then goes on to stay for 48 years through eight presidents. Of course nobody could fire him, because he had something on everybody."

Hoover's secret file -- shredded after his death, according to the film, by his longtime aide Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) -- was said to contain secrets about virtually everyone in public life, and was used by Hoover not only to maintain his authority but to preserve his biggest secret: Despite several heterosexual flirtations (including a relationship with film star Dorothy Lamour), Hoover was gay. And he and longtime assistant Clyde Tolson were lovers.

"Some people might say [they] were just inseparable pals," Eastwood said -- cagily -- to Entertainment Weekly. "Or maybe it's a love story without being gay, I don't know. But it's very interesting, the way [Dustin] Lance Black] laid out the script. It was nicely written. It didn't go to the obvious."

'Milk' man

The very participation of Black, however, was a dead giveaway regarding the direction "J. Edgar" would be headed: An Oscar winner for his "Milk" screenplay, the Mormon-raised Black recently premiered "8," his stage drama about the reversal of California's anti-gay-marriage proposition. He's also written episodes of "Big Love," and, back in 2008, wrote the film "Pedro," about the first HIV-positive character on reality TV.

But while agreeing that a gay Hoover presented an intriguing subject, Black said he wasn't interested in "white-hat/black-hat caricatures."

"To me that's not truthful," he said. "Even if you loathe the character, you're not learning about them. When I did 'Milk,' I had harsh feelings about Dan White," he said, referring to the assassin of San Francisco's gay city supervisor Harvey Milk. "Of course, I have really harsh feelings toward Hoover. But to de- pict him as solely a villain, to not understand him, makes the film a disservice to your message."

The movie could, in fact, have been harder on Hoover, agreed actor Armie Hammer, who plays Tolson (and was both Winklevoss twins in last year's "The Social Network"). "It's hard to make that call about who these guys were, or what they were, but what I would say is this: Let's say you had a female co-worker and you had lunch and dinner together every day, came to work together, left at the end of the day together. Every morning, every night. People would assume certain things."

The most sensational aspect of Hoover's purportedly "aberrant" behavior was his alleged transvestitism. Eastwood refers to it only once, in a scene following the death of Hoover's beloved mother (Judi Dench). The grieving Edgar puts on one of her dresses, ostensibly to feel closer to her. It's a far more moving moment than it is sensational.

And whether Hoover cross-dressed, of course, is not really Black's main concern. "Why does a man replace the spot where love and family go with political admiration?" he asked rhetorically, regarding what many refer to as Hoover's "marriage" to the FBI. "What does that do to a man's soul?" The conclusion one draws, he said, is precisely why he wanted to tell the story. "It goes to his sexuality; his inability to love was a result of the times he lived in."

Unanswered questions

Not everyone is going to go along with the Eastwood-Black version of Hoover's life. Some might react quite angrily to it.

"I'm expecting that," said Hammer, whose upcoming films include "Snow White" and "The Lone Ranger." "I expect a lot of people not to get with it. Not that it's too smart, but it's very informed, very layered, and you can't passively watch this movie. You have to be on board."

The whole story is a quandary, he said. "Hoover does, in fact, build one of the most respected crime-fighting institutions in the world," Hammer said. "There's that conversation. Then there's the idea of repressing who you are. But look at the time period. I'm 25; I don't understand that time at all. I can't understand a world where you can't be who you are."

"J. Edgar" may not answer all the questions about Hoover, Hammer added. But it raises the right ones.

The movie file on J. Edgar Hoover

BY JOHN ANDERSON, Special to Newsday

As portrayed in "J. Edgar," the FBI director took some heat from Congress for what was perceived as a self-promotional attitude toward the media early in the history of the FBI. It's kind of hard to deny: Hoover knew the value of publicity in getting public support for his agency.

GANG BUSTERS (1935) -- Advertised as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories," this radio adventure program premiered on CBS, later aired on NBC, and had Hoover's approval and cooperation in bringing FBI cases to the American public. It was also the basis for a later series of comic books.

"G" MEN (1935) -- Hoover approved the script of this James Cagney vehicle and assigned FBI agents to monitor the production for accuracy. The film grossed more than $1 million, which was a huge sum, and included two scenes that were based on fact -- the so-called "Kansas City Massacre" of 1933, which involved the death of an FBI agent, and a shootout based on one involving John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.

THE NEXT OF KIN (1942) Hoover served as narrator of the prologue and epilogue to this wartime propaganda piece, the point of which was, basically, that "loose lips sink ships."

THE FBI STORY (1959) -- Hoover -- who appears briefly -- allegedly wouldn't approve of the film, which stars James Stewart, until he'd amassed a file on producer-director Mervyn LeRoy, and even forced LeRoy to reshoot several scenes that he thought were unflattering toward the agency. Two agents were assigned to LeRoy for the duration of shooting.

THE FBI (1965-74) -- ABC's Sunday-night series ("in color!") starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and was sponsored by the Ford Motor Co. Hoover was a consultant to the show but never appeared.