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In Cold Blood is a 1967 American drama film written, produced and directed by Richard Brooks, based on Truman Capote's book of the same name. It stars Robert Blake as Perry Smith, Scott Wilson as Richard "Dick" Hickock, and John Forsythe as Alvin Dewey. The film follows the trail of Smith and Hickock; they break into the home of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, kill all four members of the family who are present, go on the run, and are found and caught by the police, tried for the murders, and eventually executed. Although the film is in parts faithful to the book, Brooks created a fictional character, "The Reporter" (played by Paul Stewart). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Director, Original Score, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay.
In Cold Blood | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Richard Brooks |
Produced by | Richard Brooks |
Screenplay by | Richard Brooks |
Based on | In Cold Blood by Truman Capote |
Starring |
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Music by | Quincy Jones |
Cinematography | Conrad Hall |
Edited by | Peter Zinner |
Production company | Pax Enterprises, Inc. |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 135 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3.5 million |
Box office | $13 million |
In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Screenplay
In October and November 1959, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and "Dick" Hickock (Scott Wilson) concocted a plan to invade the farm home of the wealthy Herbert Clutter family, as Mr. Clutter supposedly kept a large supply of cash in a wall safe. When the two criminals execute the robbery, they are unable to find any safe, as Mr. Clutter uses checks for his personal business and his farm operations. In order to leave no witnesses, the two murder Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two teenage children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 14. Their bodies are discovered the next day, and a Finney County sheriff's and Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) investigation is immediately launched. Based on a tip by a former cell mate of Richard Hickock, the two now wanted men eluded law enforcement by heading to Florida, and then southwest, and crossing into Mexico. After two weeks, the two return to the United States, and decide to travel to Las Vegas to attempt to win money at gambling. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Smith and Hickok are soon arrested for driving a stolen car, violating parole, and passing bad checks.
The Las Vegas Police and the KBI later separately interrogate the two men about the Clutter murders. Both Smith and Hickock admit to passing bad checks, but both deny knowing anything about the Clutter murders. The KBI states that a big mistake made by the men is that they left a witness. The KBI interrogation is slowed by Smith's refusal to provide answers. Next, the KBI confront the two with evidence, such as a bloody footprint matching the boots worn by Perry Smith. Finally, Dick Hickock confesses and states that he does not want to be executed for the crime, claiming that Smith committed all of the murders. When Smith learns that Hickock confessed, he later recounts how,it was he, Smith, not Hickok, who wielded the knife and pulled the trigger for the four killings, Hickock was there beside him as an active accomplice.
The story of the murders is told in flashback, after the subjects' arrests. Smith and Hickock are both found guilty of the crime and sentenced to be hanged. A representation of their final moments and their execution is presented at the conclusion of the film.
- Robert Blake as Perry Smith
- Scott Wilson as Dick Hickock
- John Forsythe as Alvin Dewey
- Paul Stewart as Jensen, the reporter
- Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Harold Nye
- Jeff Corey as Walter Hickock, Dick's father
- John Gallaudet as Roy Church
- James Flavin as Clarence Duntz
- Charles McGraw as Tex Smith, Perry's father
- Sammy Thurman as Flo Smith, Perry's mother
- Will Geer as Prosecuting attorney
- John McLiam as Herbert Clutter
- Ruth Storey as Bonnie Clutter
- Brenda C. Currin as Nancy Clutter
- Paul Hough as Kenyon Clutter
- Vaughn Taylor as Good Samaritan
- Jim Lantz as Officer Rohleder
- Donald Sollars as Clothing Salesman
- Sheldon Allman as Reverend Jim Post
- Harriet Levitt as Mrs. Hartman
- Mary Linda Rapelye as Sue Kidwell
- Sadie Truitt and Myrtle Clare, residents of Holcomb, Kansas, appear as themselves
In accordance with Brooks' desire to achieve as much realism as possible, some scenes were filmed in Garden City and Holcomb, Kansas at the locations of the original events, including the Clutter family's farm where the murders took place. Permission was denied to film in Kansas State Penitentiary, so interiors of the execution chambers were replicated on Hollywood sets.
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film an "excellent quasidocumentary, which sends shivers down the spine while moving the viewer to ponder." Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, writing, "At times one feels this is not a movie but a documentary where the events are taking place now." Charles Champlin of The Los Angeles Times put it on his list of the ten best films of 1967, calling it "an honest, sobering, revealing motion picture, earnest and authentic, with only minor lapses into theatricality. As the killers, Scott Wilson and Robert Blake were compellingly convincing." Variety called it "a probing, sensitive, tasteful, balanced and suspenseful documentary-drama." Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote that "the note sounded throughout is not that of Hollywood but of a scrupulous documentary. This documentary effect is greatly enhanced by the two young men who play the murderers—Robert Blake as Perry Smith and Scott Wilson as Dick Hickock. Each in his own way is superbly mindless and menacing." The Monthly Film Bulletin was less positive, writing that "since Brooks places his emphasis so exclusively on the killers, omitting the spectacle of the actual murders while lingering censoriously over the hangings, one fails to appreciate the real irony—the total arbitrariness—of the Clutters' deaths: they are too crudely delineated to inspire much sympathy, and in consequence the sympathy Brooks generates for the killers seems unbalanced and misplaced."
The film went on to receive four Academy Award nominations: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Music Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay. At the time of its release, it was rated "For Mature Audiences", which meant no children under 17 were allowed to see the film without parents or legal guardians of age; now the MPAA has rated the film "R", due to its violence and mature nature.
- American Film Institute Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
- Perry Smith & Dick Hickock - Nominated Villains
- AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10 - #8 Courtroom Drama
In Cold Blood | ||||
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Soundtrack album by Quincy Jones | ||||
Released | 1967 | |||
Recorded | 1967 at RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World | |||
Genre | Film score | |||
Length | 31:41 | |||
Label | Colgems COM/COS 107 | |||
Producer | Neely Plumb | |||
Quincy Jones chronology | ||||
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The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the Colgems label in 1967.
Truman Capote lobbied unsuccessfully to have Jones removed from the film. According to Jones, Capote called director Richard Brooks and said "Richard, I don't understand why you've got a Negro doing the music for a film with no people of color in it.' And Richard Brooks said, 'Fuck you, he's doing the music". Capote later apologized to Jones.
The Vinyl Factory said "The opening title track, with its galloping drums and corrosive strings, lets you know you are entering a bleak musical terrain. "Perry's Theme", which begins with a beatific Spanish guitar, mutates into something terrifying, as strings rise and fall ominously. With its harrowing organ blasts, "Murder Scene" is a haunting aural crime photo. At the time, this menacing soundtrack was considered a convention breaker not only for Jones, but also for black composers in Hollywood".
Track listing
All compositions by Quincy Jones
Personnel
- Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones
- Gil Bernal ? vocals (track 10)
A 1996 miniseries was also made based on the book, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and with a screenplay by Benedict Fitzgerald. In that adaptation, Anthony Edwards portrayed Dick Hickock, Eric Roberts played Perry Smith, and Sam Neill played Kansas Bureau of Investigation detective Alvin Dewey.
- List of American films of 1967
- Capote, a 2005 film about Capote's researching and writing of In Cold Blood.
- Infamous, a 2006 film covering the same time period in Capote's life.