J. Edgar Hoover Credit 61In the late 1950s, White learned that Hollywood was about to
shoot a movie, The FBI Story, starring James Stewart as a crime-
busting agent, that would feature a segment on the murders of the
Osage. White sent Hoover a letter, asking if the filmmakers might
want to talk to him about the case. “I would be glad to afford the
information as I know it from start to finish,” White said. Hoover
replied that he would “certainly bear you in mind,” but he never
followed up. Hoover made a cameo appearance in the 1959 movie,
which further enshrined him in the popular imagination.
But, even though the movie was popular, the Osage case was
fading from memory, eclipsed by more recent celebrated cases.
Soon, most Americans had forgotten it. In the late 1950s, White
contemplated writing a story to document the case. He wanted to