Straw Dogs (1971)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The knock at the door meant the birth of one man and the death of seven others!

Plot:

A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.

Plot Keywords:

American | Violence | Bully | House | Rural

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	David Sumner
Susan George	...	Amy Sumner
Peter Vaughan	...	Tom Hedden
T.P. McKenna	...	Major John Scott (as T. P. McKenna)
Del Henney	...	Charlie Venner
Jim Norton	...	Chris Cawsey
Donald Webster	...	Riddaway
Ken Hutchison	...	Norman Scutt
Len Jones	...	Bobby Hedden
Sally Thomsett	...	Janice Hedden
Robert Keegan	...	Harry Ware
Peter Arne	...	John Niles
Cherina Schaer	...	Louise Hood
Colin Welland	...	Reverend Barney Hood
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
June Brown	...	Mrs. Hedden (scenes deleted)
Chloe Franks	...	Emma Hedden (scenes deleted)
Michael Mundell	...	Bertie Hedden (uncredited)
David Warner	...	Henry Niles (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Peckinpah

Writing credits
David Zelag Goodman		(screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah		(screenplay)
Gordon Williams		(novel "The Siege of Trencher's Farm") (as Gordon M. Williams)

Produced by
Daniel Melnick	....	producer
James Swann	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jerry Fielding

Cinematography by
John Coquillon		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Paul Davies
Tony Lawson
Roger Spottiswoode

Casting by
Miriam Brickman

Production Design by
Ray Simm

Art Direction by
Ken Bridgeman

Makeup Department
Harry Frampton	....	makeup artist
Bobbie Smith	....	hairdresser
Peter Frampton	....	makeup assistant (uncredited)

Production Management
Derek Kavanagh	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Terry Marcel	....	assistant director
Nick Farnes	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Michael Murray	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Peter James	....	set dresser
Julia Trevelyan Oman	....	production design consultant

Sound Department
John Bramall	....	sound recordist
Garth Craven	....	sound editor
Michael Ellis	....	sound dialogue editor (uncredited)
Norman Savage	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Richardson	....	special effects
Peter Hutchinson	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
Bill Cornelius	....	stunt coordinator
Peter Brayham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Dunne	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sue Longhurst	....	stunt double: Susan George (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Herbert Smith	....	camera operator
John Jay	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tiny Nicholls	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Robert L. Wolfe	....	editorial consultant (as Robert Wolfe)

Music Department
Jerry Fielding	....	conductor (uncredited)
Lennie Niehaus	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Pamela Davies	....	continuity
Anthony Goldschmidt	....	title designer
Katherine Haber	....	dialogue director (as Katy Haber)
George Davis	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Brian Doyle	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Susan Shaw	....	body double: Susan George (uncredited)

Production Companies

• ABC Pictures (presents) (as ABC Pictures Corp.)
• Talent Associates (as Talent Associates Films, Ltd.)
• Amerbroco (as Amerbroco Films, Ltd.)

Distributors

• British Film Institute (BFI) (1995) (UK) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1972) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (from)
• Cinerama Releasing UK (1971) (UK) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1972) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Pictures (1995) (worldwide) (all media)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Editora Europa (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (1982) (West Germany) (VHS)
• EuroVideo (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Gerit (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Guild Home Video (UK) (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MRA Entertainment Group (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Magnetic Video (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Nelonen (1998) (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Omaxi (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Pearson Television International (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2001) (2008) (Finland) (DVD) (both releases cropped to 1.33:1)
• Thorn-Emi Video (????) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Transvídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• VTC-Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Video Collection International (1999) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Strawdogs" - USA (review title)

Runtime:

118 min | USA:113 min (R-rated version)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (opening credits) | Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (cut) (1971) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1981) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated (uncut) | Brazil:18 | South Korea:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1995) | UK:18 (tv rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (DVD re-rating) (2004) | Australia:R (original rating) | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:(Banned) (video rating) (1999) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (2002) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lamorna Cove, Lamorna, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

ABC Pictures

Trivia:

The film was originally seen in work print (unfinished) form by the BBFC, which suggested minor edits to the killing of Vennor and to the second rape scene, which implied that Amy was sodomized. The edits were carried out and the completed film was passed uncut for cinema by the BBFC. Subsequent attempts to release the film on video, however, proved unsuccessful, as chief censor James Ferman suggested cuts to the rape scene (over 3 minutes) but found them difficult to carry out. Another attempt to release the film was prevented by concerns over the 1987 Hungerford massacre. After 5 attempts proved unsuccessful, an edited version of the film (removing most of the second rape) was officially submitted in March 1999 but was rejected by the BBFC as it was felt that too much emphasis had been placed on the initial 'pleasure rape' of Amy by Vennor. The film was again rejected 3 months later (in its complete form) when submitted by a different distributor, as it was considered inappropriate to pass the uncut version after recently rejecting an edited one. It was finally passed fully uncut for DVD in September 2002.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where David is going to confront the villagers about the cat, he lets in 4 men but when they gather in the living room, there is only three villagers.

Quotes:

Riddaway:I didn't reckon on nobody getting killed, Norman.
Norman Scutt:Yeah, well, that's too bad. We're all in it now. Accessories, we are.
Charlie Venner:That's the law.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Empire of the Censors (1995) (TV)

Fantastic thriller that holds its own after 30 years

Straw Dogs is an intense thriller that shows what can happen when you push even the most mild mannered man too far. Dustin Hoffman plays a mathematician who temporarily moves to a house in a rural village in England with his wife, a former resident of the town, played by Susan George. The two withstand incessant needling from several of the townsfolk until George is raped and assaulted and Hoffman is pushed over the edge.

Incidentally, right after watching this film I found a documentary on cable about filmmakers from the late '60s to late '70s and one of the directors profiled was Sam Peckinpah. I had always considered his films to be violent and vaguely shocking, which never surprised me, knowing that he was a hard-living maverick who did things his way - an element that is resplendent in most of his films. A brief mention of Straw Dogs was included in this documentary, where they described it as a "sexist film". There are obvious scenes in the film that could support this criticism, but I think that is overanalyzing the film with a political correctness that is out of place. While the two female characters are both victimized, Susan George also has her moments of empowerment. I may be a female, but I don't consider Peckinpah's tendency to make testosterone-driven films any more sexist than anything that Tarantino puts out, and I'm a big fan of his work as well. It's a dangerous line to draw when one labels a film due to what is *not* included in a film.

What this film does contain is much more stellar - Hoffman is beyond incredible in this film. His character development is amazing to experience. One criticism of the film that I heard from a friend who saw it before me was that it "dragged." I couldn't disagree more. The development of the story until the extremely violent climax is a perfect pace because it made me feel like I was sitting in a dentist chair, knowing that this low boil could explode at any time. After the dust settles, the viewer is left to decide whether Hoffman's character made the right decision, and left to speculate on the ramifications of the choices made. This is by far one of the best films I've seen in recent months and plan to seek out the newly released Criterion edition in my quest to find out as much about this film as I can.

--Shelly