While looking through recently declassified CIA documents, I came across a list of films where the agency played a role. I thought it would make a fun post. Let me know if you agree.
Meet the Parents: Chase Brandon, a veteran CIA officer who lived undercover for 25 years before becoming the agency’s Hollywood liaison, and Milt Bearden, a former Pakistan station chief in the 1980s, helped Robert DeNiro develop his character in this 2000 film. DeNiro plays a former CIA officer who is overprotective of his daughter who brings home her new boyfriend.
The Sum of All Fears: Chase Brandon appears in the credits as a consultant for this 2002 film based on the best-selling novel by Tom Clancy. Brandon worked closely with director Phil Alden Robinson, creating technical abilities for the film’s characters that were “realistic if not actualistic.” CIA Director George J. Tenet gave the filmmakers a personal tour of agency headquarters. Ben Affleck, who plays the role of Jack Ryan, the agency's top Russia analyst, spoke with real Russia analysts.
The Recruit: Chase Brandon racked up another credit for this 2003 film to help filmmakers tell the story of a CIA trainee (Colin Farrell) who is asked by his mentor (Al Pacino) to help find a mole in the agency. Three CIA case officers interviewed in the agency’s in-house journal said they found the film entertaining but not very realistic.
The Good Shepherd: Robert DeNiro turned again to veteran CIA officer Milt Bearden for this 2006 film he directed and starred in about the birth of the CIA. Bearden took DeNiro through Afghanistan, to the northwest frontier of Pakistan, and into Moscow. “Bob now probably has a better feel for people in the CIA—my generation or the one before—than anybody I’ve seen that was never in the world itself,” Bearden says.
Salt: Director Phillip Noyce hired former CIA operative Melissa Mahle to act as a technical advisor on Salt, a 2010 thriller starring Angelia Jolie as a decorated spy who is accused of being a traitor. Mahle, who was with the agency for 14 years and served in the Middle East, made changes to the script to make sure that the film got the details right. Mahle also served as a source for Jolie along with CIA agents serving under deep cover.
Argo: The film that beat out Zero Dark Thirty for Best Picture in 2013 was also made with an assist from the CIA. Argo tells the story of Tony Mendez, the CIA officer who led the dramatic rescue of six US diplomats who took refuge in the home of Canadian embassy officers. Director Ben Affleck, who portrayed Tony Mendez hired Tony as a technical advisor and consulted with other current and former CIA officers to capture the look and feel of the agency in the 1970s. Scenes were also filmed at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The CIA loved it.
Zero Dark Thirty: Cooperation between the CIA and the makers of the 2012 film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden was so extensive that it triggered an internal investigation. Screenwriter Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow got a special invitation to a classified awards ceremony at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia honoring members of the team that found and killed the terrorist leader in Abbottabad, Pakistan. At least 10 CIA operatives involved in the hunt for bin Laden would go on to meet with Boal and Bigelow and accept gifts and meals from the filmmakers. The CIA also got the filmmakers to rewrite the brutal interrogation scenes at the start of the movie.
I stumbled upon the article below featuring, Chase Brandon, two days before I read this post.
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/10/10/cias-hollywood-liaison-may-be-behind-disappearance-of-hollywood-screenwriter-who-knew-too-much/
The Tom Hanks feature "Charlie Wilson's War" is another. That film received massive support and advice from from the CIA.
There are indeed a number of Cold War themed films starring or produced by Tom Hanks that have a pro CIA theme to them. All put the CIA in a good light, with mistakes being chalked up to simple incompetence. Jim Di Eugenio in particular has often discussed how Tom Hanks and his production company have promoted National Security agendas in film and media.
One thing I do notice about these movies is that the cast and production crew all come from the more liberal side of the political spectrum. Indeed, its an irony that liberal Hollywood, which not long ago held the CIA in great contempt, now embraces it with open arms. This apparently began after Oliver Stone's movie "JFK" and the election of Bill Clinton. It was during this time that the CIA came out of the shadows and began openly advising media and the motion picture industry in the likes of Chase Brandon.
The influence of the Clinton White House to this change in attitude is something that has yet to be looked into.