“In Cold Blood” (1967) written & directed by Richard Brooks, starring Robert Blake, Scott Wilson and John Forsythe / Z-View
In Cold Blood (1967)
Director: Richard Brooks
Screenplay: Richard Brooks (based on Truman Capote’s book of the same name)
Stars: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson and John Forsythe
The Pitch: “Let’s make a movie based on the best-selling book In Cold Blood!”
The Tagline: “Written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Dick Hickcock [Scott Wilsion] and Perry Smith [Robert Blake Perry] have a plan to steal $10,000 cash from a rich farmer’s safe and then high-tail it to Mexico where they will live out their days safe from extradition. The two ex-cons violate their parole and drive through the night to Holcomb, Kansas where according to one of Hickcock’s past cellmates, a fortune sits in the Cutter safe.
The only thing Hickcock and Smith find at the Cutter house are Mr. Cutter, Mrs. Cutter and their two teenage children. Hickcock and Smith place the family members in separate rooms, tie them up and search for the safe. There is no safe, no fortune and just a little over forty dollars in cash in the house. Hickcock and Smith brutally kill the Cutter family and then head back towards Kansas City.
The discovery that the Cutter family was brutally murdered makes national news and as the investigation grows, Hickcock and Smith decide to head to Mexico. They pass bad checks, pawn the items they buy and use the money to get across the border. It isn’t long before they’re low on cash and decide to go to Vegas to raise more. In Vegas Hickcock and Smith are picked up on a parole violation.
The cops interrogate them separately. Neither admits to knowing anything about the Cutter family murders. As the evidence begins to pile up, Hickcock suddenly tries to pin the murders on Smith. Smith then turns on Hickcock and the case is made. A trial, a death sentence and the gallows are all that Hickcock and Smith have left to look forward to. Sadly, one is left with the feeling that either man alone would not have committed the murders.
Wilson (probably best known to folks as Hershel from The Walking Dead) and Blake (probably best known as the crazy old celebrity acquitted of killing his second wife in 2005) are excellent as the leads. Robert Brooks deserves kudos for his screenplay and direction.
Watch for cameos by: Will Geer [Grandpa from The Waltons] and music by Quincy Jones!
Award Nominations:
Academy Awards –
- Best Director
- Best Cinematography
- Best Original Music Score
- Best Adapted Screenplay
Rating:
