Klansman (1974)

A local Sheriff tries to keep the peace as racial strife hits his small Alabama town as tensions boil over when a black man is accused of raping a white woman.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

William Bradford Huie (novel), Millard Kaufman (screenplay),

Stars:

Lee Marvin, Richard Burton, Cameron Mitchell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Marvin	...	Sheriff Track Bascomb
Richard Burton	...	Breck Stancill
Cameron Mitchell	...	Butt Cutt Cates
O.J. Simpson	...	Garth
Lola Falana	...	Loretta Sykes
David Huddleston	...	Mayor Hardy Riddle
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Trixie
Linda Evans	...	Nancy Poteet
Ed Call	...	Shaneyfelt
John Alderson	...	Vernon Hodo
John Pearce	...	Taggart
David Ladd	...	Flagg
Vic Perrin	...	Hector
Spence Wil-Dee	...	Willy Washington
Wendell Wellman	...	Alan Bascomb

Storyline

A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young woman has been violently raped. The white town fathers immediately declare that the attacker had to be black, and place the blame on Garth, a young black man. Assuming that the men in white sheets aren't intent on holding a fair and impartial trial, Garth takes to the woods as the Klansmen lynching party hunts him down.

---

Plot Keywords:

ku klux klan | false accusation | redneck | female nudity | sex | 

---

Taglines:

Welcome to scenic Atoka County. Pop 10,000. Cross burnings. Rape. Murder. Arson. Its a great place to live...... if THEY let you.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1974 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Klansman

Filming Locations:

Oroville, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atlanta Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 104 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-writer Samuel Fuller was originally set to direct, but walked off the project.

---

Connections

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 4: Cooled by Refrigeration (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"The Good Christian People"
by Mack Rice and Bettye Crutcher
Sung by The Staple Singers (as The Staple Singers)

User Reviews

Incredibly brave or incredibly reckless?

The Klansman could be one of two things. It is either a brave exploration of racial hatred and violence in the US Deep South. Or, it is a reckless film which is trying to generate entertainment by exploiting racial tension. I don't agree with the majority of critics who say that this film is violent and trashy rubbish.... in my eyes, it poses enough interesting questions and pushes the audience out of their comfort zone sufficiently to be a worthwhile film. I wouldn't say that it's a great, misunderstood masterpiece, but it is definitely a film that needs reappraisal.

The story is set in Atoka County, Alabama, where race relations are balanced on a knife edge. The rape of a white woman by a negro triggers off a campaign of Ku Klux Klan violence, including the castration of a black youth, which in turn leads to retaliation by black extremists such as O.J. Simpson. Thrown into the struggles are Lee Marvin (the town sherriff who knows that racism is bad but tolerates it in order to cling to a degree of order) and Richard Burton (a landowner who sympathises with blacks, but is haunted by memories of what the Klan did to his grand father).

The film contains at least one unwatchable rape scene and some tasteless dialogue. It also suffers because Burton is so clearly miscast as a southern sympathiser (his accent is dodgy and he seems disinterested in the story). However, it takes a highly chraged theme and deals with it interestingly and provocatively. The violence jolts you out of your chair and forces you to think about the two sides of the argument. The climax is memorable and leaves you feeling empty and sick, especially at the waste of life caused by the single-minded, lethal actions of racist extremists.

A decent film, then, worth seeing for yourself. The critics got this one wrong. Give it a go.