The Klansman (1974) on blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Reggie W, about those stories concerning Marvin and Burton being drunk.
Are you "Proof" positive?

I guess you could say the "proof" is in the pudding in this case

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I honestly couldn't say what was going through my aunt's mind. I know my mother still expresses embarrassment that she allowed my brother and me to sit through it. I don't remember too much about it, other than the rape scene with the mentally challenged guy.

I do know that we set out for HARRY AND TONTO (also rated R, but perhaps the most kid friendly R rated movie in the MPAA's history), and my aunt (who was driving) decided at the last minute she didn't want to sit through "that."

Well, if you don't recall the Butt Cut rape scene it may be because at 13 it was so gruesome and damaging you passed out from the shock and blocked it out of your memory.

 

[WilliamMcK]

Well, if you don't recall the Butt Cut rape scene it may be because at 13 it was so gruesome and damaging you passed out from the shock and blocked it out of your memory.

I don't honestly remember being shocked - and certainly not damaged. I was vaguely bored during most of it... and mildly (and morbidly) fascinated by the sexual violence. I think I found the revelation at the end of CHINATOWN (which I saw a bout a year later, on a "return to the cinemas" engagement just prior to the Oscars) more disturbing.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Poor Linda Evans. Between this and Mitchell the following year, she was really slumming it.

 

[B-ROLL]

Poor Linda Evans. Between this and Mitchell the following year, she was really slumming it.

That was a Big Valley she had to get out of ...

 

[atfree]

1974....I was 11....saw this (read the book too, which was much better) and Big Bad Mama, both released that Fall. Grew up a lot that year.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

1974....I was 11....saw this (read the book too, which was much better) and Big Bad Mama, both released that Fall. Grew up a lot that year.

Wow, at 11 years old what did you think of The Klansman? I recall I was about that age when my grandfather handed me a book and said "Read this." and it was Joseph Heller's Catch 22. I read it. I don't think I grasped what the whole thing was about and I am not sure what my grandfather thought I would take out of it at that age. I remember what struck me as very odd when I read it that first time was how strange the character names were.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I don't honestly remember being shocked - and certainly not damaged. I was vaguely bored during most of it... and mildly (and morbidly) fascinated by the sexual violence. I think I found the revelation at the end of CHINATOWN (which I saw a bout a year later, on a "return to the cinemas" engagement just prior to the Oscars) more disturbing.

I found the Butt Cut rape scene and how Marvin follows it up to be fairly hideous. Not sure how I would have interpreted it as a 13 year old.

 

[atfree]

Wow, at 11 years old what did you think of The Klansman? I recall I was about that age when my grandfather handed me a book and said "Read this." and it was Joseph Heller's Catch 22. I read it. I don't think I grasped what the whole thing was about and I am not sure what my grandfather thought I would take out of it at that age. I remember what struck me as very odd when I read it that first time was how strange the character names were.

I was disappointed. The book, while very graphically violent and included the rape scenes, was not salacious. The movie came across to me as a low budget exploitation film that looked like a TV movie. I came out of "The Klansman" feeling like I needed a bath, while I came out of "Big Bad Mama" feeling like I needed a shower....with Angie Dickinson!

I will add my parents were pretty progressive on what I read/saw. I saw my first R-rated film in 1970 at age 7 (CC and Company at the drive in), and saw M*A*SH, The French Connection, The Godfather, Deliverance and The Exorcist during their initial releases. I was reading at age 4 and much above my grade level, so by the time I saw these films I had already read the books they were based on.

 

[bigshot]

You guys are making me want to see this movie! It sounds like a big budget version of Poor Pretty Eddie.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

You guys are making me want to see this movie! It sounds like a big budget version of Poor Pretty Eddie.

Well, I can't in good conscience recommend it to anybody...except Quentin Tarantino...so indulge at your own risk. It is hands down the worst performance Richard Burton ever gave so there is that.

 

[bigshot]

That deserves an award in itself! So much competition for that honor!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I think most people think it is Exorcist II that is his worst but that is because most people have not seen The Klansman.

 

[bigshot]

I love Exorcist II. It's a real kaleidoscopic roller coaster of a movie. Burton is entertaining in that film, but Linda Blair steals the show.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Me, too--not for the actors, but for the visuals and atmospherics. If it were a silent movie with a Morricone score it'd be classic.

 

[bigshot]

I love the tap dancing scene!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I love Exorcist II. It's a real kaleidoscopic roller coaster of a movie. Burton is entertaining in that film, but Linda Blair steals the show.

Nothing against Linda Blair but she is truly horrible in Exorcist II. I am a John Boorman fan so I have things about Exorcist II I like but not the acting which is on the whole is pretty poor.

However, Burton in The Klansman is:

1. Drunk, sitting, lying down, or slurring due to this fact.

2. Occasionally attempting a Southern accent poorly and randomly.

3. At times doing a ridiculous exaggerated limp.

The script does him no favors and when he has to actually break out his Kung Fu moves Mr. Young is pretty obviously attempting to shoot this from angles that hide how awful this is but no matter how he could have shot it we see too much.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Burton shortly after making The Klansman...

 

[RBailey]

Another thing to look out for in the Burton-Fu fight scene: you can see the padded mattress Cameron Mitchell falls on behind the suitcases in the bus station.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Another thing to look out for in the Burton-Fu fight scene: you can see the padded mattress Cameron Mitchell falls on behind the suitcases in the bus station.

Sure can...