Klute (1971)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

Andy Lewis (written by) and
David P. Lewis (written by)

Release Date:

25 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

One man is missing. Two girls lie dead. ...and someone breathing on the other end of the phone. [USA Theatrical]

Plot:

A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.

Plot Keywords:

Call Girl | Stalking | Detective | Prostitute | Letter

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Bree Daniels
Donald Sutherland	...	John Klute
Charles Cioffi	...	Peter Cable
Roy Scheider	...	Frank Ligourin
Dorothy Tristan	...	Arlyn Page
Rita Gam	...	Trina
Nathan George	...	Det. Lt. Trask
Vivian Nathan	...	Psychiatrist
Morris Strassberg	...	Mr. Goldfarb
Barry Snider	...	Berger
Betty Murray	...	Holly Gruneman
Jane White	...	Janie Dale
Shirley Stoler	...	Momma Reese
Robert Milli	...	Tom Gruneman
Anthony Holland	...	Actor's Agent
Fred Burrell	...	Man in Hotel
Richard B. Shull	...	Sugarman (as Richard Shull)
Marc Malvin	...	Asst. Prod. in Adv. Agency
Rosalind Cash	...	Pat
Jean Stapleton	...	Goldfarb's Secretary
Jan Fielding	...	Psychiatrist's Secretary
Antonia Rey	...	Mrs. Vasek
Robert Ronan	...	Director in Little Theatre
Richard Russell Ramos	...	Asst. Dir. in Little Theatre (as Richard Ramos)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerome Collamore	...	Custodian (uncredited)
Candy Darling	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Kevin Dobson	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
Veronica Hamel	...	Model (uncredited)
Richard Jordan	...	Man kissing Jane Fonda in night club (uncredited)
Margaret Linn	...	Evie (uncredited)
Tony Major	...	Bill Azure (uncredited)
Harry Reems	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Joe Silver	...	Dr. Spangler (uncredited)
Sylvester Stallone	...	Discotheque Patron (uncredited)
Ellen Stretton	...	Woman at Bar (uncredited)
Lee Wallace	...	Nate Goldfarb (uncredited)
Mary Louise Wilson	...	Ad Agency Secretary (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula

Writing credits
Andy Lewis		(written by) and
David P. Lewis		(written by) (as Dave Lewis)

Produced by
C. Kenneth Deland	....	executive associate producer
David Lange	....	co-producer
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Small

Cinematography by
Gordon Willis

Film Editing by
Carl Lerner

Casting by
Alixe Gordin

Art Direction by
George Jenkins

Set Decoration by
John Mortensen

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
Irving Buchman	....	makeup artist
Bob Grimaldi	....	hair stylist
Paul McGregor	....	hair stylist: Miss Fonda (as Paul Macgregor)

Production Management
Ed Fay	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William C. Gerrity	....	assistant director (as William Gerrity)

Sound Department
Christopher Newman	....	sound (as Chris Newman)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Chapman	....	camera operator
Sherman Kunkel	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Gary Muller	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Irene Bowers	....	assistant film editor
Angelo Corrao	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Michael Small	....	conductor
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbra Bjorkman	....	script supervisor
Arthur Eckstein	....	title designer
Mary Hughes	....	production assistant
Mary Cross	....	double (uncredited)
Ralph S. Singleton	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Gus Productions
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Master (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1971) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1971) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1983) (1995) (1999) (Finland) (TV)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:M | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | France:Unrated | USA:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:11 | UK:18 (video: 1988) | USA:R | Canada:18A

Filming Locations:

Filmways Studios - 246 East 127th Street, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Gus Productions

Trivia:

Barbra Streisand turned down the role of Bree Daniels, which Jane Fonda eventually played.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Bree and Klute return to Bree's apartment from the market, the phone rings. Klute lifts the receiver halfway through the third ring whereupon the sound of the bell abruptly cuts off (rather than resonate a couple of seconds as it did during the first two rings), revealing the phone's ring as a studio recording.

Quotes:

Bree Daniel: Men would pay $200 for me, and here you are turning down a freebie. You could get a perfectly good dishwasher for that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

"Are you a button freak?"

What an awesome film. A good movie to contrast this with, is the film "Devil's Own". Both were directed by the late, great Alan J. Pakula, but were products of vastly different quality. You couldn't pick up a paper, and not read about how much Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt hated each other, and the end product suffered because of it. You had the core of a good movie torn apart, because the Pitt part, and the Ford part didn't co-exist.

No Such problem with "Klute". Here, all the pieces fit together. Scheider's suave, non-chalant pimp, Sutherland's lonely, enigmatic pseudo-gumshoe, and Fonda's basket case call girl all fit wonderfully. In fact, there are no slackers in this cast. Michael Small's creepy score also deserves mention, as does Pakula's masterful use of gritty, realistic New York City.

It's almost depressing to watch the raw talent at work in films like "Klute". Nowadays, films are so much the result of magazine polling, and the ever-present bottom line. It's true, we still have independent films, but even they are getting co-opted by big money. Still, I suppose there still are the John Sayles' of the world holding out. God bless 'em.