1967
D: Richard Brooks
C: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Jeff Corey, John Gallaudet, James Flavin, John Collins, Charles McGraw, Will Geer, James Lantz, John McLiam, Brenda Currin, Ruth Storey, Paul Hough, Vaughn Taylor, Duke Hobbie, Sheldon Allman, Sammy Thurman, Raymond Hatton, Sadie Truitt, Myrtle Clare, Ted Eccles, Al Christy, Don Sollars, Harriet Levitt, Stan Levitt, Mary Linda Rapely
W: Truman Capote (novel); Richard Brooks (screenplay)
Original Music: Quincy Jones
Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Editing: Peter Zinner
Runtime: 134 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Sound Mix: 3 Channel Stereo (original mix) / Mono (release prints)
Certification: R
A Kansas family is murdered. The killers flee, and a manhunt ensues. Eventually captured, they’re given several stays of execution over a five year period and then executed.
I haven’t seen this docudrama in over ten years. What sticks with me is Scott Wilson’s pantheon performance as Richard Hickock, the stark black and white cinematography, the score (Quincy Jones’ first), the brisk pace and cutting, and Perry Smith’s constant monologues of self-pity– which nearly ruin the film. An absorbing early example of the “realist” cinema that would dominate the 70’s.
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