Klute (1971)

A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

Andy Lewis, David E. Lewis

Stars:

Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jane Fonda	...	Bree Daniels
Donald Sutherland	...	John Klute
Charles Cioffi	...	Peter Cable
Roy Scheider	...	Frank Ligourin
Dorothy Tristan	...	Arlyn Page
Rita Gam	...	Trina
Nathan George	...	Trask
Vivian Nathan	...	Psychiatrist
Morris Strassberg	...	Mr. Goldfarb
Barry Snider	...	Berger
Betty Murray	...	Holly Gruneman
Jane White	...	Janie Dale
Shirley Stoler	...	Momma Reese
Robert Milli	...	Tom Gruneman
Anthony Holland	...	Actor's Agent

Storyline

Six months after the disappearance of Tuscarora, PA businessman Tom Gruneman, his boss, Peter Cable, and his wife, Holly Gruneman, hire Tom's best friend, private detective John Klute to find out what happened to Tom, as the police have been unable to do so, and despite John having no expertise in missing persons cases. The only lead is a typewritten obscene letter Tom purportedly sent to Manhattan actress/model/call girl Bree Daniel, who admits to having received such letters from someone, and since having received several obscene telephone calls as well. The suggestion/belief is that Tom was one of Bree's past johns, although she has no recollection of him when shown his photograph. Bree tricking is more a compulsion than a financial need. In their initial encounters, John and Bree do whatever they can to exert their psychological dominance over the other, especially as Bree initially refused to even speak to him. Despite their less than friendly start, the embark on a personal ...

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Plot Keywords:

call girl | stalking | prostitute | letter | detective | 

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Taglines:

Lots of guys swing with a call girl like Bree. One guy just wants to kill her.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Inspecteur Klute

Filming Locations:

Filmways Studios - 246 East 127th Street, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Gus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to her autobiography, Jane Fonda hung out with call girls and pimps for a week before beginning this film in order to prepare for her role. When none of the pimps offered to "represent" her, she became convinced she wasn't desirable enough to play a prostitute and urged the director to replace her with friend Faye Dunaway.

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Goofs

When Bree has drinks with one of her clients in his hotel, there is much clinking of ice on soundtrack but no ice in drinks.

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Quotes

Bree Daniels: [having sex with a john] Oh my angel! Oh my angel!

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Connections

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

User Reviews

A Classic Film-Noir With Awesome Performance of Jane Fonda

In Pennsylvania, when his old friend, the laboratory engineer Tom Gruneman (Robert Mili), vanishes, detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) is hired by Tom's colleague Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to search for him. The unique lead is an obscene letter written by Tom to a call-girl in New York called Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), and Klute moves to the Apple city to investigate the disappearance of Tom. Klute blackmails Bree to help him to find other prostitutes that might have been with Tom using some tapes of her phone calls that he had secretly recorded. They realize that some is stalking Bree, while Klute falls in love for Dress, and she has some sort of feeling that she can not understand for him.

In 1971, Jane Fonda was a muse worshiped by many teenagers like me, and I was particularly following her work through the sexy and cult sci-fi "Barbarella" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They", an excellent adaptation of Horace McCoy's novel of the same name that had impressed me a lot. "Klute" was considered erotic in those times and the scene where Dree fakes an orgasm while looking at her watch was a sensation. Later I saw this movie many times on VHS, and now I have just bought the DVD.

"Klute" is really a classic film-noir, one of my favorite movies ever, with an engaging story with thriller, crime and romance, magnificent direction and stunning performances of Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland in the role of very believable characters. Jane Fonda deserved the Oscar perfectly playing a very complex character, strong and insensitive with her clients, fragile and confused with love. It is amazing how this movie has not aged and how much I like it every time I see it. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Klute, O Passado Condena" ("Klute, the Past Condemns")