The Fool Killer (1965)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Servando González

Writers:

Helen Eustis (novel)
Morton S. Fine (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 April 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

For Anyone Who Wants A Mystery With A Twist -- And We Do Mean A Detective Story -- This Is Just The Thing.

Plot:

12-year-old George Mellish, tired of beatings for both real and fancied misdeeds at the hands of his...

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | Skinny Dipping | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Anthony Perkins	...	Milo Bogardus
Dana Elcar	...	Mr. Dodd
Henry Hull	...	Dirty Jim Jelliman
Salome Jens	...	Mrs. Dodd
Yvonne Gilbert	...	Janet
Charlotte Jones	...	Mrs. Ova Fanshawe
Arnold Moss	...	Reverend Spotts
Sindee Ann Richards	...	Blessing Angeline Fanshawe
Edward Albert	...	George Mellish
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lana Wood	...	Alice

Also Known As:

El asesino de tontos (Mexico)
Violent Journey

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Louisville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Landau

Trivia:

A tie-in song "The Fool Killer" was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Gene Pitney but not used on the soundtrack.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Kraft Television Theatre: The Fool Killer (#9.24)" (1956)

Soundtrack:

The Ballad of the Fool Killer

beautiful and haunting images

As a child, this film had an enormous impact on me. It's a wonderful piece of Americana, a folks tale enriched by beautiful and haunting images thanks to the great B&W photography, and though it is not on the same level as Night of the Hunter, it still has an interesting way of dealing with psychological archetypes. I would go as far as saying that in the portrayal of the way reality is transfigured by a child's imagination, this film is just as good - if not better - than this year's Pan's Labyrinth.

And then there is the immense Anthony Perkins. How sad and annoying that people to this day still use his Norman Bates as a milestone against which they measure the rest of his haunting work. They seem to forget that he had played some seriously tormented characters long before that one and just as well: Josh Birdwell in "Friendly Persuasion", Jim Piersall in "Fear Strikes Out" etc... His unique talents have often been wasted, but here he shines. I never saw any resemblance in his way of playing Milo to that other more celebrated character. Rather, it's a variation on his work in Friendly Persuasion, as if his Josh had gone terribly wrong - a portrait of broken youth, broken dreams, broken beauty. The scene by the river still haunts me to this day. As a child I envied Edward Albert Jr and thought he was very lucky, I wished I had an older brother like him.

I have seen it again when I was finally able to get my hands on a VHS copy. I had to concede that the screenwriters should have worked a lot harder, but I still found it haunting and beautiful, just like its unique star.