Klute (1971) ft. Scott Cole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpsl3xLSRuU

Guest:

• Scott Cole

  • Twitter-X/IG (@colecommascott) movie commentator, and occasional writer/contributor for The Movie Friends podcast.com (@moviefriendspodcast)

  • Previously on for Chinatown (1974), Nashville (1975)

Cast:

• Alan J. Pakula, Director

• Andy and Dave Lewis, Writers

• Gordon Willis, Cinematography

• Michael Small, Music

• Carl Lerner, Editing

• Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels

• Donald Sutherland as John Klute

• Charles Cioffi as Peter Cable

• Roy Scheider as Frank Ligourin

• Dorothy Tristan as Arlyn Page

• Rita Gam as Trina

• Nathan George as Trask

• Vivian Nathan as the psychiatrist

• Robert Milli as Tom Gruneman

• Morris Strassberg as Mr. Goldfarb

• Jean Stapleton as Goldfarb's secretary

Background:

• Klute was released on June 23, 1971.

• On a budget of $2.5 million, Klute would earn roughly $12.5 million worldwide and finish #12 for 1971.

• Critics were generally positive about the film overall especially for the two lead performances by Fonda and Sutherland, and the film would be nominated for two Oscars: original screenplay (Andy and Dave Lewis) and winning Best Actress (Jane Fonda).

• It is the first installment of what has informally come to be known as Pakula's "paranoia trilogy", followed by The Parallax View (1974) and All the President's Men (1976), all films dealing with themes of paranoia, conspiracies and surveillance.

• Klute currently holds a 92% among critics on RT, an 81 score on Metacritic, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: A Pennsylvania businessman vanishes. The only clue — threatening letters sent to a New York City call girl named Bree Daniel (Jane Fonda). Private detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) heads to the city to find answers and finds himself drawn into Bree's dangerous world.

Did You Know:

• Klute was only the second film score for Michael Small, who said that Pakula took a big risk here to work with an unknown composer.

• Pakula wanted composer Michael Small not to play low notes in his score, because the audience already knows that it's scary.

• Sutherland and Fonda developed a nonexclusive romantic relationship offscreen which lasted until about June 1972. He was her date to the Oscars when she won Best Actress for this movie.

• Future film star Sylvester Stallone made an appearance as an extra in this film. He's the one dancing in front of the organ pipes during the first disco scene.

• The scene with the psychiatrist was mostly ad-libbed. Pakula used just one camera and later said he should have used two, as Vivian Nathan's reactions were much more interesting in the takes where the camera focused on Jane Fonda.

• When Jane Fonda asked her father for advice on what to say for her Oscar acceptance speech, he suggested: "There's a great deal to say, but I'm not going to say it tonight."

Best Performance: Jane Fonda (Bree)/Michael Small (Composer)

Best Secondary Performance: Donald Sutherland (Klute)/Alan J. Pakula (Director)

Most Charismatic Award: Donald Sutherland (Klute)/Jane Fonda (Bree)/Roy Scheider (Ligourin)

Best Scene:

• Prowler on the Roof

• Late Night Trist

• Disco

• Therapy Montage

• Bree Betrays Klute

• Final Tape

Favorite Scene: Therapy Montage

Most Indelible Moment: Final Tape/First John Meeting

In Memorium:

• Anne Schedeen, 77, American actress (ALF, Marcus Welby, M.D., Three's Company).

• Margaret Kerry, 97, American dancer and actress (Peter Pan, If You Knew Susie)

• Anthony Guidera, 65, American actor (Species, The Godfather Part III, The Rock) and model.

• Ronnie Schell, 94, American actor (Gomer Pyle – USMC, Good Morning World, Jetsons: The Movie).

• Gene Shalit, 100, American journalist (Ladies' Home Journal), media critic (Look) and television personality (Today).

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Bree Daniel: Don't feel bad about losing your virtue. I sort of knew you would. Everybody always does.

Bree Daniel: Tell me, Klute. Did we get you a little? Huh? Just a little bit? Us city folk? The sin, the glitter, the wickedness? Huh?

John Klute: Ah - that's so pathetic.

Bree Daniel: Fuck off!

Bree Daniel: [voiceover] I have no idea what's going to happen. I... I just can't stay in this city, you know? Maybe I'll come back. You'll probably see me next week.

Bree Daniel: And for an hour... for an hour, I'm the best actress in the world, and the best fuck in the world.

Bree Daniel: You have a really nice mouth.

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.

Peter Cable: I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm so deeply puzzled. I've done terrible things, I've killed three people. Really, I don't consider myself a terrible man, no more than-than others.

Bree Daniel: You're not gonna get hung up on me, are you?

Bree Daniel: I keep wanting to destroy it...to go back to the comfort of feeling numb again.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 6

Impact/Significance: 7.33

Novelty: 8

Classic-ness: 8.5

Rewatchability: 6.17

Audience Score: 7.5 (7.1 IMDB, 79% RT)

Total: 43.5

Remaining Questions:

• Did Cable intentionally jump or fall?

• How were Cable and Klute getting access to the phone lines to record Bree?

• How long do Klute and Bree last together?