In Cold Blood
1967  NR  DRAMA  2h 15min
CAST— Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald S. O’Laughlin, Jeff Corey, Will Geer
MUSIC— Quincy Jones  DIRECTOR— Richard Brooks  BASED ON— In Cold Blood (book), by Truman Capote

     Engrossing and affecting study of a violent crime, based upon true events, chronicled in Truman Capote’s groundbreaking nonfiction work In Cold Blood. Perry Smith and Dick Hickok, two struggling ex-cons, travel through Kansas in pursuit of the perfect score: $10,000 in the home of the Clutter family. After robbing them, they brutally murder the entire family and flee the scene. The subsequent investigation turns up clues but no sign of the killers. Meanwhile, Perry and Dick fall on hard times and their relationship turns hostile. It’s only a matter of time… The film focuses less on the actual crime than on the relationship between the two killers, especially Perry’s half. Robert Blake hands in a fine performance as the quietly brooding Perry; the same can be said of Scott Wilson as outspoken Dick. Shot in sharp black and white the film feels like a mix between a crime documentary and an intimate character study. The other side of the coin, the research angle, can be seen in the films Capote (2005) and Infamous (2006). AKA Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.
OUR RATING— ***
REMADE AS— In Cold Blood (1996)