Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > Winter Kills (1979)

Winter Kills (1979) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 7 | slideshow) Videos
Winter Kills (1979) -- Open-ended Trailer from Avco Embassy

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   698 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
William Richert
Writers:
Richard Condon (book)
William Richert (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Winter Kills on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 May 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
They are the power. Protected by violence and ruled by corruption. [Video] more
Plot:
19 years after President Timothy Keegan was assassinated, his brother Nick discovers a dying man claiming to have been the gunman... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
have you heard of this movie? you too? me neither... more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeff Bridges ... Nick Kegan

John Huston ... Pa Kegan

Anthony Perkins ... John Cerruti

Eli Wallach ... Joe Diamond
Sterling Hayden ... Z.K. Dawson
Dorothy Malone ... Emma Kegan
Tomas Milian ... Frank Mayo
Belinda Bauer ... Yvette Malone
Ralph Meeker ... Gameboy Baker
Toshirô Mifune ... Keith

Richard Boone ... Keifitz

David Spielberg ... Miles Garner
Brad Dexter ... Captain Heller One
Michael Thoma ... Ray Doty
Ed Madsen ... Captain Heller Two
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
97 min | Netherlands:96 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Pa Kegan: I got sixty million bucks riding on that ship, kiddo, and you leave her like a Friday-night hooker. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Who Killed 'Winter Kills'? (2003) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful:-
have you heard of this movie? you too? me neither..., 14 June 2008
8/10
Author: JackGattanella from United States

Until recently that was. If you're a Jeff Bridges fan and look over his previous body of work on IMDb or netflix, you're soon to come across what looks like a small paranoid assassination/conspiracy thriller from the late 1970s- penned by Manchurian Candidate himself Richard Condon- Winter Kills. And then you'll realize until now you've never heard of the movie, unless you were around for the two weekends it was in release in 1979 or heard the minor blurbs how the picture went through ridiculous difficulty getting made. While one shouldn't group the making of the movie too closely with the final product itself, it's almost as crazy a story as in the film itself (one involving the mob, pornographers, marijuana money, and a re-shoot budgeted by *another* movie shot by the same director in-between in Germany).

So, as a humble 'who-is-this-guy' movie-buff on this site, I humbly recommend this movie incredibly so. It's a mighty sleeper, a comedy with the intent so black that it's hard to see where the drama stops and the laughs begin. At times it's also weirdly over-the-top (an orgasm at one point is the loudest one has ever seen in a non-porn, and for no real reason except to have it in there, or as part of an "act" perhaps), and with a cast that is irreproachable. Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Toshiro Mifune, Elizabeth Taylor - and most of these actors are barely in one scene! Yet everybody leaves there mark so indelibly that one grins from ear to ear suddenly recognizing them (Hayden in particular is a hoot as he practically is like Jack D. Ripper as an old man with a huge beard and a private fleet of tanks)(Huston, too, chews up the scenes he's in without even trying).

The plot... geez, I can't really say for certain. Let's just call a spade a spade and say it's a spoof on the Kennedy conspiracy (if there was one), and the power and influence of family and politics and the mob. It's a murder mystery, but it almost becomes moot who was the real killer as by the time its uncovered it's simply more fun seeing how one gets from point A to point B. Though Condon might have had a stronger plot for 'Candidate', and first time director Bill Reichert stumbles in a couple of spots in getting the comedy and suspense mixing just right, it's still amazing entertainment more often than not, and it's one of those nifty, strange treasures to be dug out from the video store or queued on a whim on netflix.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Winter Kills (1979)

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
City of Shoulders and Noses Network Watchmen Wag the Dog The Second Civil War
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Comedy section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.