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IMDbPro

The Klansman

  • 19741974
  • RR
  • 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
5.2/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, and O.J. Simpson in The 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.
Play trailer2:57
1 Video
37 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
5.2/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
    • Terence Young
    • William Bradford Huie(novel)
    • Millard Kaufman(screenplay)
    • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Lee Marvin
    • Richard Burton
    • Cameron Mitchell
    • Terence Young
    • William Bradford Huie(novel)
    • Millard Kaufman(screenplay)
    • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Lee Marvin
    • Richard Burton
    • Cameron Mitchell
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 39User reviews
    • 36Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:57
    Watch Trailer

    Photos37

    The Klansman (1974)
    The Klansman (1974)
    The Klansman (1974)
    Lola Falana in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Lee Marvin, Linda Evans, and Luciana Paluzzi in The Klansman (1974)
    Lee Marvin and Cameron Mitchell in The Klansman (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Lee Marvin
    Lee Marvin
    • Sheriff Track Bascomb
    Richard Burton
    Richard Burton
    • Breck Stancill
    Cameron Mitchell
    Cameron Mitchell
    • Butt Cutt Cates
    O.J. Simpson
    O.J. Simpson
    • Garth
    Lola Falana
    Lola Falana
    • Loretta Sykes
    David Huddleston
    David Huddleston
    • Mayor Hardy Riddle
    Luciana Paluzzi
    Luciana Paluzzi
    • Trixie
    Linda Evans
    Linda Evans
    • Nancy Poteet
    Ed Call
    • Shaneyfelt
    John Alderson
    • Vernon Hodo
    John Pearce
    John Pearce
    • Taggart
    David Ladd
    David Ladd
    • Flagg
    Vic Perrin
    Vic Perrin
    • Hector
    Spence Wil-Dee
    • Willy Washington
    Wendell Wellman
    Wendell Wellman
    • Alan Bascomb
    Hoke Howell
    Hoke Howell
    • Bobby Poteet
    Virgil Frye
    Virgil Frye
    • Johnson
    Robert Porter
    Robert Porter
    • Rev. Josh Franklin
      • Terence Young
      • William Bradford Huie(novel)
      • Millard Kaufman(screenplay)
      • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Richard Burton in a 1977 interview, he bumped into Lee Marvin at a party, and the host said, "Of course, you two know each other". Both were very heavy drinkers during filming, and neither had any memory of working together.
    • Goofs
      A squib can be seen under the outfit worn by the Klansman killed at Johnson's funeral.
    • Quotes

      Loretta Sykes: What do you want with all your killing?

      Garth: Same damn thing you want with all your marching. Only history proves my way works.

    • Alternate versions
      The original UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to edit the rape and castration scenes. All 15-rated UK DVD releases feature the heavily edited US TV version which completely removes these sequences as well as extensively cutting bad language and most of the violence.
    • Connections
      Featured in O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974)
    • Soundtracks
      The Good Christian People
      Written by Mack Rice and Bettye Crutcher

      Sung by The Staple Singers

    User reviews39

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    3/10
    "I Am The Grand Exalted Cyclops"
    There is a lot of opinion out there that The Klansman belongs on the list of fifty worst films of all time. It's pretty bad, but I've seen far worse.

    Putting it in its proper context, The Klansman is set in the years right after the Voting Rights Act has been in force for a while. It's not lost on any of the people of this unnamed Alabama county that there is a black majority out there who if they start voting now, a lot of the power structure will be radically changed. It's the underpinning of the reason the Ku Klux Klan exists. That David Huddleston is also mayor of the town and Grand Exalted Cyclops of the local KKK chapter is a very typical Alabama story for generations.

    Lee Marvin is the local sheriff and as he conceives his duty it's also to protect the good name of the town and keep the peace. Bringing criminals to justice is second place in his thinking as you'll see by his actions. Richard Burton is a local landowner whose family has long been opposed to the ways of the area, his great grandfather in fact was a judge who was hung for opposing secession before the Civil War. He has a bunch of elderly blacks he keeps on as rent free tenants which has a certain element of the town worked up.

    Anyway both their efforts come to naught as there is one bloody showdown in the end.

    The Klansman falls back on a lot of stereotypes, racial and otherwise, in the film. It also has a very muddled message in the end, you'll wind up scratching your head as to what all of it really means.

    It also in my knowledge has the only rape scene in the history of film that you might wind up laughing at. Cameron Mitchell is Marvin's deputy and a loyal Klansman. At one point under cover of his badge he arrests Lola Falana and takes her to a warehouse where he rapes her with the rest of the white sheet boys standing around gawking. It's staged so stupidly you might actually wind up laughing. That and the fact that who could take Mitchell's character so seriously with a name like Butt Cutt Bates.

    Life did imitate art however. O.J. Simpson is in this and he's a black avenger after Klansmen capture and kill a friend of his. He goes around executing the hooded swine. But we well know what happened with O.J. in real life.

    Samuel Fuller pulled out of directing after changes in his script were made and Lee Marvin wanted to pull out, but couldn't because he'd signed a contract. Richard Burton was doing just about anything at this point, he just sort of saunters through the film with a very cheesy southern accent.

    Pass this one by folks, pass it by.
    helpful•14
    5
    • bkoganbing
    • Apr 11, 2007

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 25, 1974 (West Germany)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Oroville, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Atlanta Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 52 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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