Winter Kills (1979)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

William Richert

Writers:

Richard Condon (book)
William Richert (writer)

Release Date:

11 May 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They are the power. Protected by violence and ruled by corruption. [Video]

Plot:

19 years after President Timothy Keegan was assassinated, his brother Nick discovers a dying man claiming to have been the gunman...

Plot Keywords:

Wealthy | Reference To Khrushchev | Morgue | Directorial Debut | Flashback Sequence

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Nick Kegan
John Huston	...	Pa Kegan
Anthony Perkins	...	John Cerruti
Eli Wallach	...	Joe Diamond
Sterling Hayden	...	Z.K. Dawson
Dorothy Malone	...	Emma Kegan
Tomas Milian	...	Frank Mayo
Belinda Bauer	...	Yvette Malone
Ralph Meeker	...	Gameboy Baker
Toshirô Mifune	...	Keith
Richard Boone	...	Keifitz
David Spielberg	...	Miles Garner
Brad Dexter	...	Captain Heller One
Michael Thoma	...	Ray Doty
Ed Madsen	...	Captain Heller Two

Runtime:

97 min | Netherlands:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Company:

Winter Gold Productions

Quotes:

John Cerruti: Your father spent eleven million dollars to raise your brother up from a skirt-chasing college-boy to President of the United States. For twenty years he told him what to do and how and why he was gonna do it and what would happen when it was done. Your father put Tim in the White House - why...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Who Killed 'Winter Kills'? (2003) (V)

How Political Satire is Done

A wily, labyrinthine political satire that is saved from being over the top by the brilliant performances of its cast. The movie takes the paranoid storytelling style of the Cold War thriller, but applies it to American domestic politics instead. It is very much like "Three Days of the Condor" in that respect. However, "Winter Kills" has a much more sophisticated point of view on American politics than the latter film, and does a great job of showing how the interconnected corruptions of family, culture, technology and politics all intersect in the most surprising, and horrifying ways. The movie was way ahead of its time in this respect, and is just as relevant to day as it was when it was made - perhaps more so.