Agents Mulder and Scully in The X-Files: I Want to Believe Hollywood has always been fascinated by the FBI, which celebrates its 100th birthday today. In honor of the good G-men and G-women, let's take a look through the Yahoo! Directory movie categories for movies featuring this most-wanted agency. One of the earliest portrayals of the FBI was in the 1935 film "G-Men," starring James Cagney. Cagney had spent the first four years of his career as a tough guy and a public enemy, so when he was cast as a young federal agent (who was put through school by a mobster), the screen image of FBI agents became as hard-boiled as that of the gangsters they fought. The film portrayed federal agents as such heroes that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover actually wanted to start a movie studio within the Bureau itself! Hoover's foray into the film industry never took off, but the agency continued to be a mainstay on celluloid in such films as "The FBI Story" (with James Stewart as an agent who managed to work on every major case the Bureau took on), "Mississippi Burning," "Catch Me If You Can," and "Donnie Brasco" -- not to mention the long-running TV series, "The FBI." But along with being tough, strong, and stoic, on-screen FBI agents stayed mostly male. That all soon changed when films like "Silence of the Lambs," and "Breach" featured hard-boiled yet glamorous female agents. And how can we forget the great X-Files, which, coincidentally, also opens today on the big screen. Ah, the X-Files! The television series-turned-movie that brought us perhaps the most well-known and well-loved federal agents, Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. With their unresolved sexual tension clouding over every alien chase, Mulder and Scully have given the agency a sexy new image and inspired legions of die-hard X-Files fans, many of whom have longed to participate in more personal investigations. Suggested Sites... The FBI Academy - see what it takes to become an FBI agent. FBI at 100: From Al Capone to al Qaeda - CNN explores the history of the agency. Ali G. FBI Interview - Ali G. tests the patience of the Feds. The X Files Ultimate - super fan site.

Directory categories: The FBI, FBI Most Wanted Lists, Spy Movies, X Files, Alien Abductions

Archived under: American History, Anniversaries, FBI, Government, Movies, TV

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Adams, Jefferson, and others sign the Declaration with John Hancock Of all the Founding Fathers, the two most important may have been John Adams and Thomas Jefferson -- the former being one of the strongest voices for independence, the latter being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and Adams had much in common. Both were lawyers, both served as American diplomats, and both were (obviously) vice president and president. But perhaps the weirdest thing they have in common is that they both died on this date in 1826, exactly 50 years after the ratification of the Declaration. Now, we've made no secret of how much we love coincidence, but this seems less coincidental and more like the final chapter completing their mythic lives. Adams and Jefferson were allied in Philadelphia, but politics and other circumstances -- such as Adams' prickly personality -- forced them apart, and they became bitter rivals. Despite their personal enmity, fellow Founder Benjamin Rush eventually reconciled them in 1812. The former presidents didn't meet in person during their rekindled friendship, but their letters are intimate and probe deep philosophical questions while touching on world events, literature, and science. By 1826, Adams (aged 90) and Jefferson (83) were in reasonable health for their ages, though Adams suffered from rheumatism, and Jefferson had chronic bowel and back problems. Whether intentionally or not, they both managed to hold on for the 50th anniversary of Independence. Jefferson fell into a coma on July 2, rallied on the 3rd long enough to ask, "is it the Fourth?" and died at 12:50 the next afternoon. Adams lasted a few more hours before succumbing to old age. Before he died, though, his last words were reputed to be "Thomas Jefferson survives." Though it's been more than 180 years since Adams and Jefferson died, their legacy does, indeed, survive. Suggested Sites... "Jefferson Still Survives" - a historian examines whether Adams' alleged last words were indeed spoken. The Adams-Jefferson Letters - introduction to the book, with a good overview of the men's relationship. Early America: Obituary of John Adams - reproductions of period obits. You Tube: Peter Stone on "1776" - the librettist of the musical about the Founding Fathers discusses them. White House: James Monroe - another former President who died on the Fourth.

Directory categories: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, American Presidents, U.S. History, 1776: The Musical

Archived under: 4th of July, American History, Anniversaries, Biographies, Coincidence, Death, Government, John Adams, Presidents, Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson, United States, Weird Stuff

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House Un-American Activities Committee Dissent is as American as apple pie. The Founding Fathers even enshrined the idea in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. But about 150 years after them (and 70 years ago today, in fact), Congress panicked, started seeing threats everywhere they looked, and established the House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC. The men who ran HUAC had an interesting idea of what constituted "un-Americanism." Committee member John Rankin (of Mississippi, it must be said) refused to investigate the Ku Klux Klan -- it was "an old American institution." Meanwhile, the Federal Theatre and such long-dead playwrights as Christopher Marlowe and Euripides were seen as imminent threats to the Republic and democracy. Interning American citizens of Japanese descent in prison camps was just fine, but almost any Communist anywhere had to be rooted out (the notable exception being committee member Samuel Dickstein, who was himself on the payroll of the Soviet Union as a spy). HUAC hit its height (or depth) in the 1940s and 50s, when members became convinced that Hollywood was not only a hotbed of Communist activity, but that writers, directors, and actors were sneaking subliminal messages into films and TV shows that were designed to convert Joe and Jane McDoakes into hardcore Reds. Thanks to HUAC's relentless hounding, the careers and lives of scores of innocent victims were ruined. When Senator Joseph McCarthy's similar smears were finally recognized for what they were, HUAC's influence waned -- to the point where, in the 60s, Yippies Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman openly mocked the committee when subpoenaed to appear. HUAC was finally disbanded in 1975, but left a decades-long legacy of infectiveness, destroyed lives, and suicides. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: House Un-American Activities Committee - overview of HUAC and the men who ran it. Blacklist: A Different View of the 1947 HUAC Hearings - history of the Hollywood hearings. Third World Traveler: HUAC and the Rise of Anti-Communism - information about the committee and friendly and unfriendly witnesses. Humphrey Bogart: "I'm No Communist" - Bogie takes to the pages of Photoplay to explain that being anti-HUAC didn't make him anti-American. CNN Cold War - excerpts from HUAC testimony by Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, and Ayn Rand.

Directory categories: House Un-American Activities Committee, Red Scare, Hollywood Blacklist, McCarthyism, Congressional Committees

Archived under: Actors, American History, Censorship, Communism, Communists, Entertainment, Fanatics, Government, HUAC, Hollywood, Yippies

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John F. Kennedy Official Portrait When Henry Kissinger was asked about his success with women, he replied, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." If a Secretary of State did that well, one can only imagine what a president could do. Many U.S. presidents have tested that proposition and found it a winner. From Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton, chief executives have carved innumerable notches into the bedposts of the Executive Mansion. Even James Garfield, who boasted one of the shortest presidential terms, found time to philander. Now, we don't mean to imply that every president has had affairs or that those affairs only start once a man reaches the Oval Office. Franklin Roosevelt cheated on Eleanor long before he even contracted polio, and Dwight Eisenhower's affair began when Ike was still fighting World War II. The press was said to have known about such things, but kept them covered up through a "gentleman's agreement" -- an arrangement that stayed in place at least through George H.W. Bush's alleged affair (although Mr. Clinton was obviously not granted the same courtesy). Perhaps the greatest presidential philanderers were Warren Harding (who was rumored to have fathered an illegitimate daughter while president) and John Kennedy, who probably could have used a Univac to keep track of who he was sleeping with next. One of the women he was most rumored to have slept with (ex post facto, of course) was Marilyn Monroe. On May 19, 1962, in a gala celebration, she cooed "Happy Birthday" to JFK in a manner than indicated a more than casual acquaintance with him. Whether the current (or the next) president joins in this tradition, we can't say -- but given the personalities of Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, and Cindy McCain, we'd bet against it. Suggested Sites... High Infdelity - well, maybe it's not a thing of the past... Crime Library: The Death of Marilyn Monroe - some claim she was bumped off for knowing too much about JFK. Crime Library: The Mysterious Death of Warren Harding - we're not saying Florence Harding had anything to do it, but you never know. U.S. Presidents: Lists and Records - presidents aggregated by claims to fame and shame.

Directory categories: Presidential History, Romance, Extramarital Affairs, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe

Archived under: American History, Bill Clinton, Candidates, First Ladies, George Bush, Government, Hillary Clinton, Marilyn Monroe, Presidential Candidates, Presidents, Relationships, Romance, Rumors, Secrets, Sex and Sexuality

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Bustin' barrels of illegal booze On April 7, 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed, and it was once again legal to manufacture and sell beer and other alcoholic beverages. For over a decade prior, that Amendment, along with the Volstead Act, specified that "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor." Imagine not being able to buy a beer at a ballgame, or have a glass of wine at a restaurant, or even to sip a pina colada on the beach. This was Prohibition -- an era which saw the rise of the Roaring Twenties and the American gangster. Back in those days, religion played an important role in our government, so after many religious groups had classified the consumption of alcohol a sin, Congress felt obliged to listen. But the new law did far more damage to society than good. It made law-breaking drinkers out of formerly law-abiding citizens. The speakeasy -- a secret nightclub that sold alcohol (and usually had gambling and other illegal entertainment) -- was born. But the most notorious result of the government's faulty law was the quick and easy rise of organized crime. Prohibition made millionaires out of gangsters like Al Capone, who controlled thousands of speakeasies in Chicago alone. After fourteen years of violence, corruption, and Americans ignoring the law, Congress couldn't ignore its mistake any longer. And so, the Twenty-First Amendment was created to repeal the Eighteenth. Today, a few nostalgic speakeasies have re-opened their doors, and adults can legally have a drink -- as long as they know the password. Suggested Sites... 75 Years After the End of Prohibition - article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. History.com: Prohibition & Al Capone - vintage newsreel video about the end of Prohibition. Prohibition: The Noble Experiment - trivia and quick facts about Prohibition and its effects on American culture. National Prohibition of Alcohol in the U.S. - an extremely detailed seven-page article.

Directory categories: Prohibition, 1920s, Al Capone

Archived under: Al Capone, Alcohol, American History, Beer, Crime, Food and Drink, Government

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