In 1939, the studio published "Confessions of a Nazi Spy", starring Edward G. Robinson. The film project, which was recommended to Jack Warner by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, drew on the real-life experiences of agent Leon G. Turrou, who had worked as an undercover agent. Despite legal ramifications preventing the use of actual names, the studio aimed for an "aura of authenticity", and Hal Wallis initially recommended eliminating credits to give the film "the appearance of a newsreel." "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" was widely criticized. The critic Pare Lorentz wrote, "The Warner brothers have declared war on Germany with this one." The German ambassador responded by issuing a protest to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and the German dictator, Adolf Hitler, who watched the film at Berchtesgaden, was outraged. Meanwhile, the studio received stern warnings from U.S. Congressman Martin Dies Jr., about defaming a "friendly country".