28024 1951 "A DAY WITH THE F.B.I. " J. EDGAR HOOVER FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI
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 moving into the reenactments of three actual FBI cases. The first appears to be the apprehension of Thomas James Holden in Beaverton, OR. Viewers see a bank in a city in the northwest, presumably in Portland (08:48). A man carrying a bank deposit is robbed on the street. At FBI headquarters, technicians receive a box of evidence (09:42); men study blood type samples and hair and fiber samples, leading to the arrest of the suspect. The second crime story follows the FBI as they investigate a hit-and-run homicide in a southern city (possibly in Alabama). Viewers see the outline of a body on a street; police officers collect samples of dried mud at the crime scene. In an FBI lab, men analyze soil samples from a suspect’s car, as well comparing paint samples from the dead girl’s dress to that of the paint from a suspect’s car. A technician examines the paint sample on spectrograph (12:58), and the suspect is arrested. The final case takes viewers to outside of Portsmouth, NH, where bank robbers kidnap a bank teller (13:48). FBI agents and local police officers search an old shack and a surrounding field. An agent finds a piece of fabric on a barbed wire fence. The film shows shots of various textile mills (15:00); agents examine the cloth evidence against samples of other cloth. At a neck tie shop, the clerk looks at photographs of suspects and identifies one (16:20). Agents follow the suspect by car (16:55). One of the agents attempts to stop the suspect, who is driving a convertible, but the suspect takes off with the agent hanging onto the side of the vehicle. A high-speed chase ensues and ends in a crash, leading to the apprehension of Sebold Folsom, alias Frank Hampton. The film then concludes with shots of the Department of Justice (18:13), Director Hoover sitting at his desk, college campuses and cathedrals, and, finally, the Capitol Building.<p><p>We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."<p><p>This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com