In Cold Blood (1967)

Truman Capote's extraordinary nonfiction book about the course of two killers in this world--their lives, their senseless slaughter of an entire family, their executions--was faithfully adapted for the screen in this 1967 film by Richard Brooks (Deadline USA, The Blackboard Jungle). Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are remarkable as the murderers, but what has kept this film special over the decades is Brooks's blunt, clearheaded, and nonsensational approach to the story. (The term "semidocumentary" has been applied to Brooks's style on this film, and it's an entirely fair description.) The experience of watching In Cold Blood is naturally unsettling, but the director--as with Capote--leaves final judgments about justice to the beholder. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Real Life Horrors

"In Cold Blood" was a watershed movie back in 1967, one of the first police procedural films focusing on more or less authentic methods of police investigations to catch the killers. Also it is one of the first movies to show the two criminals (played chillingly by Robert Blake and Scott Wilson) as real people, not glamorized nor are they excessively demonized; just real men who made a real bad choice. The crime in question was the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. The film then breaks off in two directions, the killers aimlessly trying to get away by traveling to Mexico, California before finally getting arrested in Las Vegas. The other story is of the meticulous investigation by Kansas Bureau investigator Alvin Dewy (played stoically by John Forsythe).

The movie may seem run of the mill now, but there was little like it in the late `60s. It is based on the runaway bestselling novel by Truman Capote, who revolutionized non-fiction writing with his book. The story (as well as the actual crimes) is shocking and mesmerizing. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are powerful symbols of misguided youth. I felt that the most interesting scene in the movie was where they were collecting glass bottles to sell for a little gas money; a long way from the $10,000 they thought they'd get from the Clutter farm. Smith's (Robert Blake as a crazed killer, who'd have thought it) psychopathology is especially unnerving because he liked the family, even the father, but he never thought twice about cutting his throat.

"In Cold Blood" is an important movie that came out of a Hollywood that was changing. Studios were going from conventional films to more experimental; this was the same year that "Bonnie and Clyde" was released. The film shared the same theme of killer and graphic violence, but was too glamorized when played by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Blake and Wilson are much grittier and more real.

The movie plays more or less straight, although the night of the murder is staged as something out of a horror movie with the creepy music and skewed camera angles. But I guess it must have been scary for the family who was murdered too, so I forgive the artistic touch there.

A must watch for anyone interested in crime or film history. May 10, 2008

The Anatomy of a Murder

The film begins on a cold day. A bus goes on the highway with "Kansas City" as its identification. Perry has a letter from Dick telling about some great wealth. Dick has a map to a rich farmer with a safe. They dream of great wealth, the sum of $10,000! A family in Kansas begins a new day. Dick seems compulsively reckless. Perry speaks of his fantasies. There is a mention of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" as if to symbolize the futility of their plans. The talk tells about their personalities and history.

The Clutter family don't have a dog that will bark at strangers. The next morning visitors find the bodies. The police are called, and the investigation begins. The knot used to tie the victims is a clue. The bloody shoe-prints tell about the killers. The family radio is missing. A newspaper offers a reward. Dick runs a scam to pass a phony check and get cash in change. [This scam still happens on the Internet.] Will this trail of paper tell on them? Then a telephone call arrives from a prisoner who names a suspect. A reporter tells of a psychological study of men who committed senseless murders. Does it fit this duo? Perry has a flashback to a traumatic experience in his youth. Dick had been a good athlete in school but turned mean after prison. The vigilance of the police detects their presence, but the pair gets away. They are caught in Las Vegas.

The police question each of them separately. Do their stories agree? Their lies trip up their alibis. Why do convicts get tattoos? Dick finally breaks down - and blames Perry! On the trip back to Kansas Perry confesses the details. The robbery and murders are recreated on screen. [The scenes at the Clutter home seem drawn out.] The prosecutor at the trial sums up their crimes and explains why they must get the death penalty. The jury took 40 minutes to convict them and provide the penalty. The appeals held off the execution for 5 years. Then the day arrived. Perry's reminiscing sets the tone for the final scene. There is a shocking surprise at the end of this drama, but there was a prior clue. [This was not in the book.]

This story can serve as an argument for the justness of the death penalty when it is properly applied. The few who benefit from an expanding prison population will not agree. To reduce crime you must enable prosperity; poverty causes crime. This point is subtly made in the beginning when describing the backgrounds of Dick and Perry.
November 23, 2007

Just HAD to find out what made these killers do it!

I've always been fascinated with this true story of a notorious cold-blooded crime, so decided to order the new movie version from Netflix.

Surprise! I got the original movie version filmed in 1967, starring a young Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the crazed, complex killers. On second thought, I decided to watch this one because I truly like movies like this in black and white. (Sort of reminds me of the old Glenn Ford movies ... adds a further touch of "creepiness" to me.)

This chilling tale based on Truman Capote's nonfiction novel follows two drifters who murder an allegedly rich Kansas family and flee to Mexico. Filmed in the house where the real-life incident occurred, In Cold Blood paints a compassionate portrait of the Clutter family ... and their killers (Robert Blake and Scott Wilson). Nominated for four Oscars, this disturbing movie was shot in black and white but implies that the meaning of justice is not.

This was a highly dramatic movie, keeping me on the edge of my seat the entire time I viewed it. I was surprised at my reaction to Robert Blake's character; the compassion I felt for him was real ... but much less so than the compassion I had for his victims.

This movie disturbed me in its intensity, bringing home the fact that there are many killers out there in today's world, just waiting to pounce on innocent victims for their own warped reasons ... and they look no different than "the boy next door." Frightening!

Yet I still want to see the new version ... for comparison purposes. I find it extremely interesting and educational to see how different directors and actors interpret and portray identical situations.

I advise everyone to see both movies. (The same advice I gave for King Kong.) September 24, 2007

In cold Blood

Good movie , good actors but Capote's book is so perfect that to
make a movie as much as good is almost impossible.

August 31, 2007

In Cold Blood

I didn't like it - but I think I might be the only one. In Cold Blood follows the the story (by the same name) written by Truman Capote. The film invites us into the criminal's minds and acts through some pretty sensational black and white shouts. However, parts of the movie very much began to drag and Brooks almost, it seems, begins to gorge the audience on the main characters. Before too long I found myself more than full of the dragging plots and character development. August 7, 2007

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