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 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 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
thumb|right|The real [[Roy Cohn (right) with Joseph McCarthy]]
- 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.
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable sortable" width=97%
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
|
| colspan="2"| Peabody Awards
| Home Box Office
|
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="26"|
| American Cinema Editors Awards
| Best Edited Television Special
| Peter Zinner
|
| align="center"|
|-
| American Society of Cinematographers Awards
| Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Movie of the Week or Pilot
| Paul Elliott
|
| align="center"|
|-
| Artios Awards
| Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week
| Mary Colquhoun
|
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="8"| CableACE Awards
| Movie or Miniseries
| Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein, <br> Doro Bachrach, Frank Pierson, and <br> David Franzoni
|
| align="center" rowspan="8"|
|-
| Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
| James Woods
|
|-
| Directing for a Movie or Miniseries
| Frank Pierson
|
|-
| Writing a Movie or Miniseries
| David Franzoni
|
|-
| Art Direction in a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries
| Gary Kosko
|
|-
| Direction of Photography and/or Lighting Direction in a Dramatic or <br> Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries
| Paul Elliott
|
|-
| Editing a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Mini-Series
| Peter Zinner
|
|-
| Make-Up
| Deborah La Mia Denaver and <br> Matthew W. Mungle
|
|-
| Directors Guild of America Awards
| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials
| Frank Pierson
|
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Golden Globe Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
|
| align="center" rowspan="2"|
|-
| Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
| James Woods
|
|-
| rowspan="12"| Primetime Emmy Awards
| Outstanding Made for Television Movie
| Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein, <br> Linda Gottlieb, and Doro Bachrach
|
| align="center" rowspan="12"|
|-
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
| James Woods
|
|-
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
| Lee Grant
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special
| Frank Pierson
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special
| David Franzoni
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special
| Stephen Marsh, Gary Kosko, and <br> Diana Stoughton
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Casting for a Miniseries or a Special
| Mary Colquhoun and Donna Belajac
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special
| Jill M. Ohanneson
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special – <br> Single Camera Production
| Peter Zinner
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special
| Mona Orr
|
|-
| Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special
| Lynne K. Eagan, <br> Matthew W. Mungle, <br> John E. Jackson, and <br> Deborah La Mia Denaver
|
|-
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special
| John Pritchett, Dan Wallin, <br> Anna Behlmer, and Richard Portman
|
|}
See also
- Angels in America
References
External links
- McCarthyism and the Movies
- Welch-Cohn Confrontation, NY Times