Develiker terrible... so disappointed.

Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

philosopherjack If nothing else, Terence Young's The Klansman has you feeling persistently outraged and repulsed, which seems like the broadly right reaction to a drama about modern-day Southern racism. It's generally a bit unclear to what extent this reflects conscious sociological engagement and illumination, versus tasteless pot-boiling, but the ambiguity isn't uninteresting in itself. It's tempting to credit co-writer Samuel Fuller for what's most interesting in the film - usually when it looks beyond the rather ploddingly ugly foreground drama to explore the wretchedly symbiotic coexistence between white fear of blackness and its economic dependence on it. There's an acknowledgement for instance of how the black population in the county actually outnumbers the white, thus providing constant fuel for voter intimidation mechanisms, and the film is pretty good on how the Klan bastardizes language and religious precepts (in these regards as in numerous others, the film's substance feels less dated than its surface). The plot turns around sheriff Bascomb's attempts to maintain equilibrium in the community when various events, including a white woman's rape and a voting rights demonstration, stir up the perpetually stir-ready Klansmen (that is, basically, the entire local male population) - his concessions are monstrously favourable to the racists who occupy the driver's seat, but of course it's never enough. The film surely spends too much time wallowing in swaggering interactions, and it's hard to look kindly at its relative treatment of white and black female sexuality and its violation - it lacks anything as cinematically or thematically powerful as the central concept of Fuller's later White Dog. Unless that is you react a certain way to the presence of O. J. Simpson as a one-man avenger, essentially occupying his own space within the movie, just as he does in the movie of our lives. Young's film fails particularly in its ending, delivering us merely to inevitable mass violence and destruction, and to a predictably bitter closure lacking in any broader meaning or implication.

merklekranz Despite the obvious political incorrectness, the movie bombs in many other ways. Parts of the script appear to have been written at various times, with absolutely no sense of scenes relating to each other. While Lee Marvin has played the gruff sheriff role enough times to walk through his lines, Richard Burton stumbles and bumbles between Southern and British accents throughout. O.J. Simpson hides in trees and snipes at anything in a white robe and hood. Linda Evans, Lola Falana, and Cameron Mitchell, round out the embarrassed looking cast. What you are left with are racial stereotypes on parade, in a truly forgettable film. - MERK

wes-connors When a White woman is raped in a small Alabama town, well-coiffed Cameron Mitchell (as Butt Cutt Cates) and "The Klansman" think a Black man did the dirty deed. Go figure. Alcohol-drenched sheriff Lee Marvin (as Track Bascomb) investigates the crime. He holds his liquor better than co-star Richard Burton (as Breck Stancill), who doesn't always appear to know where he is or what he's doing. He's alert enough to notice the beautiful women hanging around. Many people think O.J. Simpson (as Garth) is the guilty party. Go figure. You ought to consider watching this movie with your eyes shut and the sound off.* The Klansman (10/25/74) Terence Young ~ Lee Marvin, Richard Burton, O.J. Simpson, Cameron Mitchell

ma-cortes Hard-edge social drama centers around racial conflicts and is one of the most strange cinematic forays in this theme. The film begins with a bill captioning : ¨Drive carefully you are in Wallace County¨. This is the tale of a sheriff (Lee Marvin) in an US Southern town and a rich owner (Richard Burton) who protects the black men. Marvin receives a huge amount of hostility from the non-tolerant white establishment making his job very hard and every around has to decide the values really lie. The Ku Klux Klan (comes from Greek, Ku Klus that means band or circle and Klan that means family) pursues and mistreats the black people and the sheriff attempting to keep peace on racial tensions. When a young woman has been violently raped (Linda Evans), the white men immediately declare the culpability an African-American named Garth (O.J.Simson). He flees to the backwoods and wishes revenge. Meanwhile the Klansmen form some lynching party hunts and pursue him. The young on the run because the violent group seek to destroy him. But the racist posse kidnaps a beautiful African-American (Lola Falana) and rape her.This is a horrifying story of racial violence and xenophobia with countless shots of violation , burning crosses and frequent bad taste. Unfortunately, this is another example of a serious movie about xenophobia and racism in which white roles predominate and African-American characters provide background. Terence Young treads a brutal, gory path in this low-powered look at warped , evil white inhabitants of an American town , and the comparatively clean role played by Richard Burton. Big-name cast is wasted as Cameron Mitchell,Linda Evans, Luciana Paluzzi, David Huddleston as the Mayor, they only partially shine. Rumors circulated about Lee Marvin and Richard Burton , both of whom utterly drunk during the shooting. Even the all star cast can't save this movie because is a nightime Soaper and an exploitation story. Lousy cinematography by Lloyd Ahern and Aldo Tonti, as is necessary an urgent remastering. Furthermore notorious conflicts among producers, director, screenwriters (Sam Fuller, Millard Kauffman) and actors made a real flop. Mid-budget production, and the producers would like to thank the citizens of Oroville for their enthusiastic help and cooperation in the making of the film. The picture belongs a period in which made stories is similar style concerning on racial problems , such as ¨Hurry Sundown¨(1967, by Otto Preminger with Michael Caine, John Philip Law, Jane Fonda), ¨The liberation of L.B. Jones¨(70, by William Wyler with Lee J Cobb, Roscoe Lee Browne and again Lola Falana), ¨Tick, Tick¨ (70 by Ralph Nelson with George Kennedy, Jim Brown), and the Oscarized ¨In the heat of the night¨(by Norman Jewison with Sidney Poitier). And in the 8os stands out ¨Missisipi Burning¨ (by Alan Parker with Willem Defoe and Gene Hackman). Rating : 4,5, below average.