The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Ivan Dixon

Writers:

Melvin Clay (writer)
Sam Greenlee (novel)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

The controversial best selling novel now becomes a shocking screen reality.

Plot:

A black man plays Uncle Tom in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American Revolution.

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Race War | Revolution | Blaxploitation | Inner City

Cast

Lawrence Cook	...	Dan Freeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Aaron	...	Carstairs
Elaine Aiken	...	Mrs. Hennington
Tom Alderman	...	Security Officer
Kathy Berk	...	Doris
Don Blakely	...	Stud Davis
Colostine Boatwright	...	Dancer
Paul Butler	...	Do-Daddy Dean
John Charles	...	Stew
Sidney Eden	...	Instructor II
Stephen Ferry II	...	Boy Guardsman
Stephen Ferry	...	Colonel
Frank E. Ford	...	Cobra
Robert Franklia	...	Trainee
Beverly Gill	...	Willa
Martin Golar	...	Perkins
Don Greenlee	...	Trainee
Jeff Hamilton	...	Policeman
Harold Harris	...	Trainee
Jim Heard	...	Trainee
Bob Hill	...	Calhoun
Doug Johnson	...	CIA candidate
Harold Johnson	...	Jackson
Johnnie Johnson III	...	Cobra
Virgie Johnson	...	Cobra
Paula Kelly	...	Dahomey Queen
Margaret Kromgols	...	Old Woman
Larry Lawrence	...	Cobra
Janet League	...	Joy
David Lemieux	...	Pretty Willie
Frank Lesley	...	TV Commentator
Ramon Livingston	...	Cobra
Tyrone R. Livingston	...	Cobra (as Tyrone Livingston)
Walter Lowe
Clinton Malcome
Joseph Mascolo	...	Senator Hennington
Rodney McGrader	...	Cobra
James Mitchell
Byron Morrow	...	General
Lenard Norris	...	Trainee
Ponciano Olayta Jr.	...	Soo
Kenneth Lee Orme	...	Trainee
J.A. Preston	...	Dawson
Anthony Ray	...	Shorty (as Pemon Rami)
Ernest Robinson	...	Stunt Gaffer (as Ernie Robinson)
Audrey Stevenson	...	Mrs. Duncan
Orlanders Thomas	...	Cobra
Perry Thomas	...	Cobra
Maurice Wicks
Bobbie Gene Williams	...	Woman II
Cora Williams	...	Woman I
Johnny Williams	...	Waiter
Mark Williams	...	Trainee

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 (1974) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

63rd Street & Cottage Grove Avenue, Woodlawn, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Bokan

Trivia:

(David Lemieux), who played "Pretty Willie", was a member of the Black Panthers and later became a Chicago police detective.

Quotes:

Dan Freeman: [confronting members of the Cobras street gang] Shut up... and listen! The big-time, bad-ass Cobras. Pumpin' away at the Pigs from the rooftops during the riots last summer? Oh, yeah! I know what ya's into. With .22 rifles and pistols did about as much damage as a mosquito to a elephant's ass! What did you expect to hit from that range, with those weapons at night? You might as well as *thrown* the damned pieces at the Pigs! You *really* wanna mess with Whitey? I can show you how. *I* can show you how!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Gone with the Wind (1939)

An essential slice of revolutionary black cinema

Very intelligent and sublimely scripted film that stars Larry Cook in a truly powerful role. Cook plays Dan Freeman, the first CIA-recruit since the start of the agency. After an intense training and a mind-strong career of 5 years, Freeman returns to the ghetto where he grew up and mobilizes the future-less black youth to stand up for themselves and begin a violent revolution against the white authorities. The message and criticism in the screenplay is so well-elaborated because Sam Greenlee adapted it from his own novel. True, the film contains a little too much talking and some of the sentimental speeches are hard to swallow (like Freeman's supposedly heart-breaking tale of how he taught his grandmother to read), but most of the criticism against America are quite thought-provoking, daring and way ahead of their time. Around the hour, more action kicks in and we're treated to several convincing riot-sequences and atmospheric images of the ghetto under siege. But, perhaps the most fascinating aspect about "The Spook who sat by the Door" is the psychological battle inside the protagonist's head, resulting in a dazzling end-scene. Knowing the controversy a film like "New Jack City" caused, I'm sure that this movie would provoke far worse situations when re-released properly.

It is claimed that this movie was "lost" for over 30 years so it got honored by an immense cult-status. I can only recommend for you to see it yourself.