Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysAPA Heritage MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)

The Emperor's Club

  • 20022002
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
17K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club (2002)
Pre, "Coming Soon"
Play trailer0:30
2 Videos
36 Photos
  • Drama

An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.

IMDb RATING
6.9/10
17K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Michael Hoffman
  • Writers
    • Ethan Canin(short story "The Palace Thief")
    • Neil Tolkin(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kevin Kline
    • Emile Hirsch
    • Joel Gretsch
Top credits
  • Director
    • Michael Hoffman
  • Writers
    • Ethan Canin(short story "The Palace Thief")
    • Neil Tolkin(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kevin Kline
    • Emile Hirsch
    • Joel Gretsch
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 147User reviews
    • 65Critic reviews
    • 49Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Videos2

    The Emperor's Club
    Trailer 0:30
    The Emperor's Club
    The Emperor's Club
    Trailer 2:27
    The Emperor's Club

    Photos36

    Emile Hirsch in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Embeth Davidtz, and Michael Hoffman in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Rishi Mehta, and Chris Morales in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Jesse Eisenberg, Emile Hirsch, and Rishi Mehta in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Emile Hirsch, Gabriel Millman, and Rishi Mehta in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline and Edward Herrmann in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Emile Hirsch, and Rishi Mehta in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline and Emile Hirsch in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Emile Hirsch, and Rishi Mehta in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, and Molly Regan in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Kevin Kline and Rob Morrow in The Emperor's Club (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kevin Kline
    Kevin Kline
    • William Hundertas William Hundert
    Emile Hirsch
    Emile Hirsch
    • Sedgewick Bellas Sedgewick Bell
    Joel Gretsch
    Joel Gretsch
    • Older Sedgewick Bellas Older Sedgewick Bell
    Embeth Davidtz
    Embeth Davidtz
    • Elizabethas Elizabeth
    Rob Morrow
    Rob Morrow
    • James Ellerbyas James Ellerby
    Edward Herrmann
    Edward Herrmann
    • Headmaster Woodbridgeas Headmaster Woodbridge
    Harris Yulin
    Harris Yulin
    • Senator Bellas Senator Bell
    Paul Dano
    Paul Dano
    • Martin Blytheas Martin Blythe
    Rishi Mehta
    Rishi Mehta
    • Deepak Mehtaas Deepak Mehta
    Jesse Eisenberg
    Jesse Eisenberg
    • Louis Masoudias Louis Masoudi
    Gabriel Millman
    • Robert Brewsteras Robert Brewster
    • (as Gabe Millman)
    Chris Morales
    • Eugene Fieldas Eugene Field
    Luca Bigini
    • Copeland Grayas Copeland Gray
    Michael Coppola
    • Russell Hallas Russell Hall
    Sean Fredricks
    Sean Fredricks
    • Mr. Harrisas Mr. Harris
    Katherine O'Sullivan
    Katherine O'Sullivan
    • The Nunas The Nun
    Melissa Brown
    • Blonde Girlas Blonde Girl
    Sophie Wise
    • Brunetteas Brunette
    • Director
      • Michael Hoffman
    • Writers
      • Ethan Canin(short story "The Palace Thief")
      • Neil Tolkin(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

    More like this

    Explicit Ills
    5.5
    Explicit Ills
    The Good Heart
    6.8
    The Good Heart
    L.I.E.
    7.1
    L.I.E.
    The Ballad of Jack and Rose
    6.5
    The Ballad of Jack and Rose
    The Living Wake
    6.0
    The Living Wake
    Taking Woodstock
    6.7
    Taking Woodstock
    Gigantic
    6.0
    Gigantic
    For Ellen
    6.0
    For Ellen
    Weapons
    4.7
    Weapons
    The Extra Man
    5.8
    The Extra Man
    Light and the Sufferer
    4.8
    Light and the Sufferer
    Too Young to Be a Dad
    6.2
    Too Young to Be a Dad

    Storyline

    Edit
    William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later. —Anonymous
    • pornographic magazine
    • golf resort
    • told in flashback
    • ear piece
    • marriage
    • 81 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • In everyone's life there's that one person who makes all the difference.
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated PG-13 for some sexual content
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When filming the movie, the location (Emma Willard school in Troy, NY) was still operating as a girl's school. Emile Hirsch reportedly complained about the students, claiming that they were pestering him for his phone number. He also (reportedly) said some unsavory things about the school in general. When the students heard about this, they demanded an apology from Hirsch, which he delivered in front of the entire student body. At the school viewing, whenever he appeared on screen, the girls booed loudly and stories about him still circulate through the student body.
    • Goofs
      When the girls are removing their shirts to go skinny-dipping, a Victoria's Secret Body by Victoria bra is revealed. That bra is from the time the film was made, not the mid-1970s when the scene takes place.
    • Quotes

      William Hundert: As a great Aristophanes once wrote-- roughly translated-- "Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown. Ignorance can be educated and drunkenness sobered, but stupid... lasts forever."

    • Connections
      Featured in Celebrated: Kevin Kline (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      Funk 49
      Written by Jim Fox, Joe Walsh, and Dale Peters

      Performed by James Gang

      Courtesy of MCA Records

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

    User reviews147

    Review
    Top review
    All Hail Kevin Kline
    From `Goodbye Mr. Chips' in the 1930's to `Dead Poet's Society' in the 1980's, the movies have had a long-running love affair with inspirational, sentimental stories set at ivy-covered, collegiate-gothic, all-male prep schools. These films inevitably center around a beloved teacher and the lifelong bond he forges with his devoted students.

    The latest addition to the genre – a successful one – is `The Emperor's Club,' with Kevin Kline assuming the role of the teacher who considers it his duty not only to instruct his students in the details of classical history but to mold them into men of integrity and character in the process. `The Emperor's Club' follows the standard formula up to a point. William Hundert is the most highly respected faculty member at St. Benedict's Academy. He is able to bring the history of the ancient Greeks and Romans to vivid life for his admittedly highly motivated young charges. Then, one day, into his classroom strides Sedgwick Bell, a bright, highly unmotivated student who would rather mock the stuffiness of education and inspire his buddies to feats of rabblerousing than devote his life to the serious pursuit of academia. It, thus, becomes Hundert's job to turn Sedgwick around, a feat that always seems much easier to accomplish in the movies than it ever is in real life.

    `The Emperor's Club,' after its rather conventional beginning, deviates from its predecessors in one key respect: Hundert, though a man of values and integrity, is not above compromise himself, and he winds up making a very serious one, the ramifications of which he has to live with for many years to come. Rather than showing him as some sort of saintly figure, screenwriter Neil Tolkin (working from a short story by Ethan Canin) and director Michael Hoffman allow Hundert's humanity to shine through. He is a flawed individual who permits personal feelings to cloud his judgments and who is willing, once he has created a problem, to allow the truth of his own guilt to remain hidden even when innocent victims suffer as a result of his actions. `The Emperor's Club' is also notable for its clear-eyed recognition that not all situations in life need have a satisfying resolution, that some people simply do not acknowledge their own failings and, therefore, never develop into morally superior people no matter how many experiences life throws at them. Yet, what breaks Hundert's heart is the recognition he comes to that such a person is often times more highly rewarded by the world than the man who follows along the straight-and-narrow path all his life.

    Kline gives a superb performance as Hundert, capturing the quiet dignity, understated passion and conflicted conscience of a man who loves his boys and who tries to do the right thing but who, like the rest of us, doesn't always succeed in doing so. Emile Hirsch is also excellent as young Sedgwick, the boy whose need for attention and lack of moral guidance from his father lead him to accept the winning-at-all-cost philosophy to get him through life.

    `The Emperor's Club,' despite having its roots firmly planted in a grand storytelling tradition, still manages to take us into new territory from time to time – and its recognition of the importance of education and academics (we actually get to learn a little about Roman history while watching the movie) makes it virtually unique among films of its time.
    helpful•41
    12
    • Buddy-51
    • Jul 6, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 22, 2002 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site (France)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Palace Thief
    • Filming locations
      • Emma Willard School - 285 Pawling Avenue, Troy, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Beacon Communications
      • Fine Line Features
      • Horsepower Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $12,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $14,118,751
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $3,846,780
      • Nov 24, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $16,318,449
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Happy Father's Day to These First-Time Celebrity Dads!
    Jun 18Entertainment Tonight
    Jesse Eisenberg Reportedly Welcomes First Child With Longtime Girlfriend Anna Strout
    Jesse Eisenberg Reportedly Welcomes First Child With Longtime Girlfriend Anna Strout
    Apr 5Entertainment Tonight

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club (2002)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Emperor's Club (2002) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in May
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.