Klute

Director: Alan J. Pakula Alan J. Pakula

Overview

The first part of his "paranoia trilogy," Alan J. Pakula's 1971 thriller details the troubled life of a Manhattan prostitute stalked by one of her tricks. Investigating the disappearance of his friend Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli), rural Pennsylvania private eye John Klute (Donald Sutherland) follows a lead provided by Gruneman's associate Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to seek out a call girl who Gruneman knew in New York City. The call girl is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), an aspiring actress who turns tricks for the cash and to be free of emotional bondage. Klute follows Bree's every move, observing the city's decadence and her isolation, eventually contacting her about Gruneman. Bree claims not to know Gruneman, but she does reveal that she has received threats from a john. As Bree becomes involved in Klute's search and realizes that she is in danger, she reluctantly falls in love with Klute, despite her wish to remain unattached to any man. When she finally comes face to face with the killer, however, she is forced to reconsider her detached urban life.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/2019
UPC:	0715515232517
Original Release:	1971
Source:	Criterion Collection
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jane Fonda	Bree Daniels
Donald Sutherland	John Klute
Charles Cioffi	Cable
Roy Scheider	Frank
Dorothy Tristan	Arlyn Page
Rita Gam	Trina
Rosalind Cash	Pat
Jerome Collamore	Custodian
Richard Russell Ramos	Off-Broadway Stage Manager
Joe Silver	Dr. Spangler
Lee Wallace	Nate Goldfarb
Tony Major	Bill Azure
Morris Strassberg	Mr. Goldfarb
Barry Snider	Berger
Betty Murray	Holly Gruneman
Jane White	Janie Dale
Shirley Stoler	Momma Rose
Robert Milli	Tom Gruneman
Anthony Holland	Actor's Agent
Fred Burrell	Man in Chicago Hotel
Richard B. Shull	Sugarman
Mary Wilson	Producer in Adv. Agency
Jean Stapleton	Goldfarb's Secretary
Antonia Rey	Mrs. Vanek, Landlady
Vivian Nathan	Psychiatrist
Nathan George	Lt. Trask
Candy Darling	Actor

Technical Credits

Andy Lewis

Dave Lewis

Alan J. Pakula	Director,Producer
Irving Buchman	Makeup
William C. Gerrity	Asst. Director
George Jenkins	Art Director
David Lang	Producer
David Lange	Producer
David Lange	Producer
Carl Lerner	Editor
Andy Lewis	Screenwriter
Dave Lewis	Screenwriter
John Mortensen	Set Decoration/Design
Chris Newman	Sound/Sound Designer
Ann Roth	Costumes/Costume Designer
Michael Small	Score Composer
Gordon Willis	Cinematographer

Editorial Reviews

With Gordon Willis' cinematography providing a shadowy and claustrophobic atmosphere, Alan J. Pakula adapts the conventions of 1940s film noir detective movies to examine the 1970s issue of the compromises faced by a woman trying maintain her freedom. Klute's air of stark gloom alludes to the pervasive personal conspiracies that put women at the mercy of a man's world; by the end, a crime may be solved, but the problem is not. Despite calls to boycott Jane Fonda's movies because of her anti-Vietnam War activism, Klute's timely subject matter found a substantial audience, firmly establishing Fonda as both a serious movie star and a feminist symbol. Her outspoken views did not prevent her from winning the Best Actress Oscar for the movie.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola