Klute
Encyclopedia
Klute is a 1971
film
which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda
, Donald Sutherland
, Charles Cioffi
and Roy Scheider
. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula
.
Klute was the first installment of what informally came to be known as Pakula's "paranoia trilogy". The other two films in the trilogy are The Parallax View
(1974) and All The President's Men
(1976).
The film includes a cameo appearance
by Warhol Superstar
actress Candy Darling
, and another by All in the Family
costar Jean Stapleton. The music was composed by Michael Small
.
Jane Fonda
won the Academy Award for Best Actress
for her role in the film.
executive Tom Gruneman. The police reveal that an obscene letter was found in Gruneman's office, addressed to a prostitute in New York City
named Bree Daniels (Fonda), who had received several similar letters from him. Much to the surprise of the police, Peter Cable (Cioffi), an executive at Gruneman's company, hires family friend John Klute (Sutherland) to investigate Gruneman's disappearance.
Klute rents an apartment in the basement of Daniels' building, taps her phone, and follows her as she turns tricks. Initially, Daniels appears to be liberated by the freedom of freelancing as a call girl
. In visits to a psychiatrist throughout the film, however, she reveals that she feels empty inside and wants to quit. Klute asks Daniels to answer some of his questions, but she refuses. He approaches her again, revealing that he has been watching her. She assumes that he will turn her in if she does not cooperate, but does not recall Gruneman at all. She reveals that she was beaten by one of her johns two years earlier, but after seeing a photo of Gruneman, she says she cannot say for sure one way or the other. She is only certain that the john "was serious" about the attack.
Daniels takes Klute to meet her former pimp, Frank Ligourin (Scheider). Ligourin reveals that one of his prostitutes passed on the abusive client to Bree and another woman named Arlyn Page (Dorothy Tristan). The original prostitute committed suicide
, and Page became a drug addict
and disappeared. Klute gives his surveillance tapes to Daniels, telling her he is finished with her part of the case. But, realizing that he cannot continue the investigation without her, he re-enlists her help to track down Page.
As they search the city for the woman over several days, Klute and Daniels develop a romance. She admits to a deep paranoia
which makes her think that she is being watched. Throughout the film, she is frequently shown from the perspective of a stalker
in a building across the street.
When the couple finally track down Page, she says that the "freak" (john) was not Gruneman, but an "older man". Shortly after the meeting, a boat in Kill Van Kull
turns up Page's body, another apparent suicide. Klute deduces a connection between the two suicides of the prostitutes who have been with the mysterious abusive client, surmising that the client probably also killed Gruneman and may kill Daniels next. He revisits all of Gruneman's contacts anew, to try to find connections with the case. By typographic comparison, the supposed obscene letters of Gruneman are traced to Cable, with whom Klute has been meeting regularly to report on his investigation.
Klute asks Cable for an additional $500 to buy the "black book" of the first prostitute who committed suicide. He tells Cable that he is certain the book will reveal the identity of the abusive client. This flushes Cable out, as he confronts Bree and reveals that he sent her the letters. Cable explains that Gruneman had interrupted him when he was attacking a prostitute. Certain that Gruneman would use the incident as leverage against him within the company, Cable attempted to frame Gruneman by planting the letter in his office. He confesses to killing Page and the other prostitute to cover his tracks. After playing an audiotape he made as he murdered Page, he attacks Daniels. Klute rushes in, and Cable jumps out the window to his death.
The film closes with Daniels moving out of her apartment to return to Pennsylvania with Klute.
and the film was nominated for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced.
Fonda also received awards for her performance from the New York Film Critics Circle, Kansas City Film Critics Circle
and the National Society of Film Critics
.
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, Charles Cioffi
Charles Cioffi
Charles Cioffi , also credited as Charles M. Cioffi, is an American movie and television actor.-Biography:He was born in New York City and attended Michigan State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity....
and Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula
Alan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
.
Klute was the first installment of what informally came to be known as Pakula's "paranoia trilogy". The other two films in the trilogy are The Parallax View
The Parallax View
The Parallax View is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn and William Daniels. The film was adapted by David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr and an uncredited Robert Towne from the 1970 novel by Loren Singer...
(1974) and All The President's Men
All the President's Men (film)
All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
(1976).
The film includes a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
by Warhol Superstar
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life...
actress Candy Darling
Candy Darling
Candy Darling was an American actress, best known as a Warhol Superstar. A male-to-female transsexual, she starred in Andy Warhol's films Flesh and Women in Revolt , and was a muse of the protopunk band The Velvet Underground.-Early life:Candy Darling was born James Lawrence Slattery in Forest...
, and another by All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
costar Jean Stapleton. The music was composed by Michael Small
Michael Small
Michael Small was an American film score composer best known for his scores to thriller movies such as The Parallax View, Marathon Man, and The Star Chamber. Relatively few of his scores are available on compact disc...
.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her role in the film.
Plot
The film begins with the disappearance of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
executive Tom Gruneman. The police reveal that an obscene letter was found in Gruneman's office, addressed to a prostitute in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
named Bree Daniels (Fonda), who had received several similar letters from him. Much to the surprise of the police, Peter Cable (Cioffi), an executive at Gruneman's company, hires family friend John Klute (Sutherland) to investigate Gruneman's disappearance.
Klute rents an apartment in the basement of Daniels' building, taps her phone, and follows her as she turns tricks. Initially, Daniels appears to be liberated by the freedom of freelancing as a call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
. In visits to a psychiatrist throughout the film, however, she reveals that she feels empty inside and wants to quit. Klute asks Daniels to answer some of his questions, but she refuses. He approaches her again, revealing that he has been watching her. She assumes that he will turn her in if she does not cooperate, but does not recall Gruneman at all. She reveals that she was beaten by one of her johns two years earlier, but after seeing a photo of Gruneman, she says she cannot say for sure one way or the other. She is only certain that the john "was serious" about the attack.
Daniels takes Klute to meet her former pimp, Frank Ligourin (Scheider). Ligourin reveals that one of his prostitutes passed on the abusive client to Bree and another woman named Arlyn Page (Dorothy Tristan). The original prostitute committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, and Page became a drug addict
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
and disappeared. Klute gives his surveillance tapes to Daniels, telling her he is finished with her part of the case. But, realizing that he cannot continue the investigation without her, he re-enlists her help to track down Page.
As they search the city for the woman over several days, Klute and Daniels develop a romance. She admits to a deep paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
which makes her think that she is being watched. Throughout the film, she is frequently shown from the perspective of a stalker
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
in a building across the street.
When the couple finally track down Page, she says that the "freak" (john) was not Gruneman, but an "older man". Shortly after the meeting, a boat in Kill Van Kull
Kill Van Kull
The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey in the United States. Approximately long and wide, it connects Newark Bay with Upper New York Bay. The Robbins Reef Light marks the eastern end of the Kill, Bergen Point its western end...
turns up Page's body, another apparent suicide. Klute deduces a connection between the two suicides of the prostitutes who have been with the mysterious abusive client, surmising that the client probably also killed Gruneman and may kill Daniels next. He revisits all of Gruneman's contacts anew, to try to find connections with the case. By typographic comparison, the supposed obscene letters of Gruneman are traced to Cable, with whom Klute has been meeting regularly to report on his investigation.
Klute asks Cable for an additional $500 to buy the "black book" of the first prostitute who committed suicide. He tells Cable that he is certain the book will reveal the identity of the abusive client. This flushes Cable out, as he confronts Bree and reveals that he sent her the letters. Cable explains that Gruneman had interrupted him when he was attacking a prostitute. Certain that Gruneman would use the incident as leverage against him within the company, Cable attempted to frame Gruneman by planting the letter in his office. He confesses to killing Page and the other prostitute to cover his tracks. After playing an audiotape he made as he murdered Page, he attacks Daniels. Klute rushes in, and Cable jumps out the window to his death.
The film closes with Daniels moving out of her apartment to return to Pennsylvania with Klute.
Reception
Jane Fonda won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and the film was nominated for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced.
Fonda also received awards for her performance from the New York Film Critics Circle, Kansas City Film Critics Circle
Kansas City Film Critics Circle
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle is a group of media film critics in the Kansas City metropolitan area. James Loutzenhiser, a local psychiatrist and film buff, who died in November 2001, founded the group in 1967...
and the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
.
Main cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jane Fonda Jane Fonda Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an... |
Bree Daniels |
| Donald Sutherland Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the... |
John Klute |
| Charles Cioffi Charles Cioffi Charles Cioffi , also credited as Charles M. Cioffi, is an American movie and television actor.-Biography:He was born in New York City and attended Michigan State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.... |
Peter Cable |
| Roy Scheider Roy Scheider Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C... |
Frank Ligourin |
| Dorothy Tristan | Arlyn Page |
| Rita Gam Rita Gam Rita Gam is an American film and television actress and documentary film maker. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Career:... |
Trina |
| Nathan George Nathan George Nathan George is an American supporting actor who was active between 1971 and 1997. He co-won a 1969 Obie Award with Ron O'Neal for Charles Gordone's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "No Place to be Somebody." This performance also received a Drama Desk Award... |
Trask |
| Vivian Nathan | Psychiatrist |
| Lee Wallace Lee Wallace Lee Wallace is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. He is a left-sided fullback who can also operate on the left side of midfield.-Heart of Midlothian:... |
Nate Goldfarb (uncredited) |
| Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Stallone Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed... |
Discotheque Patron (uncredited) |