Citizen Cohn

Citizen Cohn is a 1992 cable film covering the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. James Woods, who starred as Cohn, was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance. Citizen Cohn also stars 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). It was directed by Frank Pierson. The movie was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Citizen Cohn
GenreDrama
Based onCitizen Cohn
by Nicholas von Hoffman
Written byDavid Franzoni
Directed byFrank Pierson
StarringJames Woods
Music byThomas Newman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Doro Bachrach
  • Cynthia Fitzpatrick
  • Alan Haft (associate producer)
  • Daniel Schneider [1] (associate producer)
Production locations
CinematographyPaul Elliott
EditorPeter Zinner
Running time111 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkHBO
Picture formatColor
Audio formatStereo
Original release
  • August 22, 1992 (1992-08-22)

Synopsis

The film spans Cohn's life from childhood through his initial rise to power as McCarthy's right-hand man in the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearings and his eventual public discrediting a month before his death in 1986 from AIDS. 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 he sent to the electric chair) are haunting him. It concerns aspects of Cohn's life such as his closeted homosexuality and the measure of his culpability in the "Red Scare" of the 1950s. 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
The real Roy Marcus Cohn (right) with Joseph McCarthy

Score

Thomas Newman composed the largely minimalist film score.

Awards

See also

References
  1. Daniel Schneider (I) at IMDb
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