in the tradition of g men and the house on 92nd street and the street with no name and now come the fbi story one of those carefully supervise film that show the federal bureau of investigation in the best possible light . while it 48 year director j. edgar hoover be alive and it would be show in no other kind of light . the book by don whitehead that this film be base on be a straight forward history of the bureau from it found in 1907 until roughly the time the film the fbi story come out . it important sometimes to remember there be an fbi before j. edgar hoover head it . some of that time be cover in the film as well . but warner brother be not make a documentary so to give the fbi flesh and blood the fictional character of john chip hardesty be create . hardesty a play by james stewart be a career fbi man who graduate law school and rather than go in practice take a job with the bureau in the early twenty . in real life the bureau be head by william j. burn of the burn private detective agency . it be in fact a grossly political operation then a be show in the film . burn be on the periphery of the scandal of the harding administration . when hoover be appoint in 1924 to bring professional law enforcement technique and rigorous standard of competence in and he do just that . through the hardesty family which be stewart and wife vera mile we see the history of the fbi unfold . in addition we see a lot of their personal family history which be completely integrate into the fbi story itself . stewart and mile be most assuredly an all american couple . we follow the fbi through some of the case stewart be involve with and arrest ku klux klan member and a plot to murder oil rich indian and bring down the notorious criminal of the thirty and their involvement with apprehend nazi sympathizer in world war ii and against communist espionage in the cold war . there be a kind of prologue portion where stewart tell a class at the fbi academy before go into the history of the bureau a it intertwine with his own . that involve a bomb place on an airline by a son who purchase a lot of life insurance on his mother before the flight . nick adam will give you the creep a the perpetrator and the story be sadly relevant today . of course if the fbi story be write and produce today it would reflect something different and not so all american . still the fbi do have a story to tell and it be by no mean a negative one . the fbi story be not one of jimmy stewart best film and but it the first one i ever saw with my favorite actor in it so it have a special fondness for me . if the whole fbi be make up jimmy stewart and i would feel a lot well about it . there also a good performance by murray hamilton a his friend and fellow agent who be kill in a shootout with baby face nelson . vera mile do not just marry stewart and she in fact marry the fbi a the film demonstrate . it date mostly and but still have a good and interesting story to tell .