Citizen Cohn
1992 American TV series or program
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Citizen Cohn is a 1992 American biographical drama television film about the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. It was directed by Frank Pierson and written by David Franzoni, based on the 1988 biography by Nicholas von Hoffman. James Woods stars as Cohn, alongside Joe Don Baker (as McCarthy), Ed Flanders (as Cohn's courtroom nemesis Joseph Welch), Frederic Forrest (as writer Dashiell Hammett), and Pat Hingle (as Cohn's onetime mentor J. Edgar Hoover).
| Citizen Cohn | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Genre | Biographical drama |
| Based on | |
| Written by | David Franzoni |
| Directed by | Frank Pierson |
| Starring | James Woods |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers |
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| Cinematography | Paul Elliott |
| Editor | Peter Zinner |
| Running time | 111 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | August 22, 1992 |
Citizen Cohn was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It aired on HBO on August 22, 1992. Woods was nominated for both a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance.
Synopsis
The film spans Cohn's life from childhood through his initial rise to power as Joseph McCarthy's right-hand man in the Senate subcommittee hearings of the 1950s, and eventually to his public discrediting a month before his death from AIDS in 1986. It is told mostly in flashback as Cohn lies dying at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, hallucinating that his many enemies — from Robert F. Kennedy to Ethel Rosenberg, a convicted Communist spy Cohn had sent to the electric chair — are haunting him.
The film deals with troubling aspects of Cohn's life, such as his closeted homosexuality and the measure of his culpability during the McCarthy era. While the movie portrays Cohn in a decidedly unsympathetic light, it also depicts episodes in his life, such as the death of his beloved mother, in which he showed a more humane, compassionate side.
Cast
- James Woods as Roy Cohn
- Joe Don Baker as Senator Joseph McCarthy
- Joseph Bologna as Walter Winchell
- Ed Flanders as Joseph N. Welch
- Jeffrey Nordling as G. David Schine
- Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett
- Lee Grant as Dora Cohn
- Pat Hingle as J. Edgar Hoover
- John McMartin as 'Older Doctor'
- Karen Ludwig as Ethel Rosenberg
- Josef Sommer as Albert C. Cohn
- Daniel Benzali as Cardinal Francis Spellman
- Tovah Feldshuh as Iva Schlesinger
- John Finn as Senator Charles Potter
- Fritz Weaver as Senator Everett Dirksen
- Frances Foster as 'First Annie Lee Moss'
- Novella Nelson as 'Second Annie Lee Moss'
- Allen Garfield as Abe Feller
- David Marshall Grant as Robert F. Kennedy
- Daniel von Bargen as Clyde Tolson
- Lester Hoffman as Executioner #1
Score
Thomas Newman composed the largely minimalist film score.