"A Day with the F.B.I. " J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation 28024 (1951)

Synopsis

This short 1951 film from Reader’s Digest On The Screen and Columbia Pictures gives viewers a look at the work of the FBI as they work with local law enforcement to solve crimes. The film shows several reenactments of agents working cases, as well as shots of the Department of Justice building, the FBI Academy and the training of new agents, the FBI’s mail sorting room and massive fingerprint files, and various forensic laboratories. The film opens with a shot of the Department of Justice building. Viewers see a mail truck bringing mail to FBI headquarters. In the mail room, men and women sort mail. Women run the switchboard for the FBI’s telephone system (01:26). Women file fingerprints on a large open floor of the building (02:19). An agent examines a rifle in the ballistics laboratory. Two men examine check forgeries at a desk (03:22). Another analyst examines handwriting samples. Another investigator compares types of thread (04:10). A technician puts a sample of dust in a spectrograph. The film then shows the FBI Academy (05:10); new recruits walk into a building at the Academy. The men sit during what appears to be an orientation. The men train in physical combat and the use of firearms—firing a Thompson machine gun (06:20). The trainees participate in a homicide simulation, examining a mock crime scene. FBI Director John Edgar Hoover sits at his desk and speaks with an agent or official (07:17). The film then shows brief reenactments of a homicide and burglary, before…

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Details

Running time

19 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage