Klute (1971)

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

Andy Lewis (written by) and
David E. Lewis (written by)

Release Date:

25 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

One man is missing. Two girls lie dead. ...and someone breathing on the other end of the phone. [USA Theatrical]

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Call Girl | Stalking | Prostitute | Letter | Detective

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

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
Fred Burrell	...	Man in Hotel
Richard B. Shull	...	Sugarman (as Richard Shull)
Mary Louise Wilson	...	Producer in Adv. Agency
Marc Malvin	...	Asst. Prod. in Adv. Agency
Rosalind Cash	...	Pat
Jean Stapleton	...	Goldfarb's Secretary
Jan Fielding	...	Psychiatrist's Secretary
Antonia Rey	...	Mrs. Vasek
Robert Ronan	...	Director in Little Theatre
Richard Russell Ramos	...	Asst. Dir. in Little Theatre (as Richard Ramos)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerome Collamore	...	Custodian (uncredited)
Candy Darling	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Kevin Dobson	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
Veronica Hamel	...	Model (uncredited)
Richard Jordan	...	Man kissing Jane Fonda in night club (uncredited)
Margaret Linn	...	Evie (uncredited)
Tony Major	...	Bill Azure (uncredited)
Harry Reems	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Joe Silver	...	Dr. Spangler (uncredited)
Sylvester Stallone	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Ellen Stretton	...	Woman at Bar (uncredited)
Lee Wallace	...	Nate Goldfarb (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula

Writing credits
Andy Lewis		(written by) and
David E. Lewis		(written by) (as Dave Lewis)

Produced by
C. Kenneth Deland	....	executive associate producer
David Lange	....	co-producer
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Small

Cinematography by
Gordon Willis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Lerner

Casting by
Alixe Gordin

Art Direction by
George Jenkins

Set Decoration by
John Mortensen

Costume Design by
Ann Roth		(costumes designed by)

Makeup Department
Irving Buchman	....	makeup artist (as Irving Buckman)
Bob Grimaldi	....	hairdresser
Paul McGregor	....	hair styles by: Miss Fonda's (as Paul Macgregor)

Production Management
Ed Fay	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William C. Gerrity	....	assistant director (as William Gerrity)
Dwight Williams	....	dga trainee (uncredited)

Sound Department
Christopher Newman	....	sound (as Chris Newman)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Chapman	....	camera operator
Sherman Kunkel	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Gary Muller	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Irene Bowers	....	assistant film editor
Angelo Corrao	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Michael Small	....	conductor
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbra Bjorkman	....	script supervisor
Guy Bourdin	....	Alexandra Head by
Arthur Eckstein	....	title sequences
Mary Hughes	....	production assistant
Mary Cross	....	double (uncredited)
Ralph S. Singleton	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Bill Stern	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros (present) (as Warner Bros. Pictures A Time Warner Entertainment Company)
• Gus Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (as WB A Kinney Services Company)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Master (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1971) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1971) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1971) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1988) (Greece) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1983) (1995) (1999) (Finland) (TV)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Harper's Bazaar  fashion photographs courtesy of
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY  sculpture lent by (as Whitney Museum of American Art)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:11 | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | USA:R | Canada:18A | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:M | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | France:Unrated | Peru:18 | UK:18 (tv rating) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

Bree's apartment was built on a sound stage at a New York film studio where Jane Fonda could spend the night. The director even had a working toilet installed in the bathroom of the set. Jane contributed to decorating the apartment by deciding Bree would be a romance reader and have a cat. Jane remembered an actress from Lee Strasberg's private class that occasionally serviced John F. Kennedy, so she decided Bree had done this as well. A signed photo of Kennedy appears on the fridge in Bree's apartment.

Goofs:

Continuity: The amount of tape in the take up reel of Klute's tape recorder when he stops it and rewinds while talking on the phone with Trask.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: The Passed-Over Story (#4.21)" (1997)

Artless and surprisingly delicate

Despite the rough-edges reputation of Pakula, he always manages to give us some beautifully shot, almost fragile images. Like Fonda pondering an envelope full of money and a blank invoice while surrounded by clothing-store dummies; or Sutherland choosing apricots by feel; or even Roy Scheider's silent acknowledgement that he is being used. And Fonda's artless performance is so unbelieveable, I couldn't believe it was her.

Terrifically acted - everyone takes just the right tone. My only quibble about the movie is how the mystery is solved. It's much too abrupt given the meandering pace of the rest of the movie. But the plot means nothing in this surprisingly delicate character study.