A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young white woman has been raped by a black man. When young black man Garth witnesses the Ku Klux Klan's violent retaliation against his innocent friend, Garth declares a one-man war on the Klan and hunts them down one-by-one.
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Very best movie i ever watch
Sadly Over-hyped
It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Lee Marvin is well cast and Richard Burton amusingly MIS-cast in this adaptation of the William Bradford Huie novel. Marvin plays "Track" Bascomb, an Alabama lawman who tries to keep the peace during a period of unrest. Soon a civil rights demonstration will be coming to his town, and the local foaming at the mouth racists will have none of it. Burton plays Breck Stancill, a liberal minded landowner incensed at the activities of Klan members such as Tracks' own deputy sheriff Butt Cutt Cates (Cameron Mitchell). Yes, Butt Cutt is his actual character name.Although both Marvin and Burton were apparently drinking heavily during production, Marvin comes off a lot better. You see that it can't help but affect Burtons' mopey performance, and any attempts that the actor makes at a Southern accent. Much of the cast does creditable work. David Huddleston is the pompous mayor, Linda Evans a resident who is unfortunately raped within the first quarter hour, Lola Falana a young lady whom Breck took under his wing, and Luciana Paluzzi a civil servant. Other familiar faces like David Ladd, Hoke Howell, Lee de Broux, Jeannie Bell, and Virgil Frye turn up. We also have none other than O.J. Simpson as a black man driven to take matters into his own hands.Samuel Fuller was the original director, and retains a screen writing credit; he left the project early on. The filmmaker in whose hands this ended up was Terence Young, of such James Bond adventures as "From Russia with Love" and "Thunderball".This ultra trashy melodrama establishes a certain tone within the first few minutes, and therefore some viewers will find it pretty hard to stomach. It's pretty violent, and tends to discard such things as good taste. But if this sort of approach intrigues you rather than turns you off, you'll find that this IS rather potent and visceral entertainment. If you're anything like this viewer, you can't help but cheer every time a particularly odious character gets what they deserve.On location shooting in Oroville, California, and a good music score by Stu Gardner & Dale O. Warren definitely help matters. That opening song, "The Good Christian People", is a corker.The scene of Burton effortlessly manhandling Mitchell is a comic highlight, even if it wasn't intended to be that way.Seven out of 10.
Released in 1974 and directed by Terence Young, "The Klansman" is a melodrama with thrills starring Lee Marvin as a sheriff in a small town in northern Alabama trying to keep the lid on racial tensions after a black man rapes a white woman (Linda Evans). Richard Burton co-stars as Breck, an alcoholic who sympathizes with the black community while opposing the local Klan, which is made up of whites in prominent positions, like the unprofessional deputy (Cameron Mitchell) and the rotund mayor (David Huddleston). Lola Falana plays Breck's black spiritual daughter while OJ Simpson (in his first role) plays a vengeful man turning to radical measures to fight the racism. Italian beauty Luciana Paluzzi (from 1965's "Thunderball") is on hand as the Sheriff's assistant at the station, although her lines are dubbed by Joanna Moore.With such a noteworthy cast and a tried-and-true director (who impressively shot the first three Bond films) "The Klansman" should be superlative, but it's not. The plot is great (based on William Bradford Huie's novel), but the screenplay is horribly melodramatic, sometimes to the point of being laughable, like the dreadful (and thoroughly unbelievable) church sequence. The movie comes across as a late-night TV soap opera with edge. I'm assuming that most of the $5 million budget went toward cast & crew wages because the script needed a LOT of kinks worked out, which isn't helped by amateur editing that's often abrupt and awkward. Take, for instance, the fight at the bus station; it has to be seen to be believed. "The Klansman" is an obvious exploitation piece, as these type of films were the ones getting revenue during this low point in Hollywood after bloated-budget films sank a lot of the major studios.Lee Marvin is solid as the protagonist, easily carrying the movie, and Burton still has his charisma, but both were plagued by personal troubles at the time and allegedly drinking heavily. Richard was constantly fighting with Elizabeth Taylor during the shooting, reportedly over Burton's flirtations or affair with a young waitress or an older married woman. There were shouting matches and items flew through the air at their rented house, leading to the destruction of the interior. The crew stayed in a local motel where one full room was filled with cases of alcohol from floor to ceiling. While Marvin and Burton were professionals and always showed up on time the latter clearly slurred lines at times and had to be filmed in a reclining or sitting position to pull off his scenes. Burton was 48 during filming but easily looked a dozen years older.Despite all these negatives, "The Klansman" IS entertaining as a what-were-they-thinking period piece. Speaking of which, look for Evans' camel toe sequence at the bus station (I don't mean to be crude, but – like I said – what were they thinking). If you choose to watch this movie, whatever you do, DON'T expect "Mississippi Burning." The film runs 112 minutes (104 minutes cut) and was shot in Oroville, California, 75 miles north of Sacramento.GRADE: Borderline C-/D+ (3.5/10 Stars)
What was director Young (Dr. No) thinking of taking on this project?! This is every bit as bad as I've heard. To begin with, there's the script, certainly among the worst ever written. Then there's the acting, very stereotypical of its day, except with the stars, Marvin and Burton, who clearly have no idea what they are doing here and don't really care. Then there's the anachronisms - the script belongs to the '60s, it's 5 years out of date. Then of course the morality - while the Klan is rightly to be condemned, can a black murderer be justified? Can he just be asked to leave the county as the sheriff does here? Ridiculous. And then there's the "action" climax - confusing and improbable.Was Young high when he did this? I can't think of any other excuse.Bad when not just awful.
The Klansman is a great movie with a good cast including Lee Marvin, Richard Burton, Cameron Mitchell, O.J. Simpson, Lola Falana, David Huddleston, Luciana Paluzzi, Linda Evans, Ed Call John Alderson, John Pearce, David Ladd, Vic Perrin, Spence Wil-Dee! The acting by all of these actors are very good. There are many great scenes in the film and all of the scenes are filmed really well! Some of the scenes I like are when the KKK make their appearances and those are really excellent scenes! When the KKK are battling is something else and it was filmed remarkably well! The action is awesome! The music is very good. Really this is a fantastic film and in My opinion the actors and actresses have some of their greatest performances in this film! If you like any of the actors and actresses I mentioned above and if you like the movie To Kill a Mockingbird (that stars Gregory Peck) then I strongly recommend The Klansman!