L'uomo del clan

A famous Hollywood story goes that sometime in the mid-to-late 70's, Richard Burton was at a party and got talking to Lee Marvin, whom he thought he had never met. Eventually Burton remarked that the two men should work together at some point, to which Marvin simply stated, "we have."

That Burton forgot making 'The Klansman' is unsurprising, considering his unintentionally hilarious and obviously intoxicated performance in the film. He stars as a liberal Southern landowner named Breck Stancill, who is brought into the local furore after a white girl makes allegations of assault against a black man. Marvin co-stars as the town Sherriff, Track Bascomb, who tries in vain to quell the uprising of racially motivated violence that ensues. Also, in his first credited role, OJ Simpson plays a vigilante who uses the situation to start a one-man revolt against the Ku Klux Klan.

An adaptation of the 1967 William Bradford Huie novel of the same name, the film had a troubled production history. Adaptation rights were first purchased that same year, but were then passed around for the next couple, with no projects ever getting off the ground. At one point Samuel Fuller was attached to write and direct, but that too never transpired. His screenplay was eventually rewritten by Millard Kaufman and Terence Young took over as director. Burton and Marvin were then brought in and proceeded to drink their way through the shooting process.

The finished film is a tonally confused, visually unexciting and oftentimes very funny concoction that doesn't have a lot going for it on paper. Huie's hard-hitting story about racial violence is diluted and obfuscated by camp moments like a fight scene where Burton drunkenly karate chops people, throwing many through doors. The dialogue sounds stilted and preacherly when it isn't hilariously over the top.

The movie is cheap looking, even for something billed as a work in the exploitation genre, looking like cinematographer Lloyd Ahern forgot to clean his camera lens before shooting began. As well as all that, many of the supporting actors have had their voices dubbed in post-production and it's not a subtle or decent piece of work (with the dubbing of Luciana Paluzzi being the most notably inept).

Which is not to mention Burton's performance at all. In every scene it is obvious he's four sheets to the wind and clearly has no interest in the material. Struggling with his Southern accent, he's like a poorly drawn, very funny caricature. Though reports say he was doing an equal amount of drinking, Marvin actually delivers a steady, interesting performance as the Sheriff, not once appearing intoxicated. There is much pleasure that can be drawn from watching Burton act in 'The Klansman', but none of it was intentional.

Having listed all those detractions, it may surprise you that 'The Klansman' is actually a very entertaining movie. There are moments where the themes and sequences from Huie's novel are treated with a measured hand, like the rape scene and some of the locals' ignorant conversations, as well as the finale. These are visceral, powerful and neatly directed by Young.

Burton and Marvin's characters are well drawn, with the Sherriff being one of surprising depth- again, thanks in large part to Marvin's performance. The OJ Simpson character is intriguing, even if his story is not fully explored, and the local racists- led by David Huddleston- have some great scenes that are genuinely affecting.

At the end of the day- whether they wanted it to be or not- the film is funny, and anything that makes you belly laugh in these dark times is a positive experience. 'The Klansman' is not a hard-hitting story about racial prejudice and violence in a small town, nor is it a good adaptation of William Bradford Huie's source material. It has dark elements that are well realized for the screen, and are quite difficult to watch- brutal racism is never palatable- but, overall, it's a joyride piloted by a drunken Welshman that's very entertaining.

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.

The Klansman could be one of two things. It is either a brave exploration of racial hatred and violence in the US Deep South. Or, it is a reckless film which is trying to generate entertainment by exploiting racial tension. I don't agree with the majority of critics who say that this film is violent and trashy rubbish.... in my eyes, it poses enough interesting questions and pushes the audience out of their comfort zone sufficiently to be a worthwhile film. I wouldn't say that it's a great, misunderstood masterpiece, but it is definitely a film that needs reappraisal.

The story is set in Atoka County, Alabama, where race relations are balanced on a knife edge. The rape of a white woman by a negro triggers off a campaign of Ku Klux Klan violence, including the castration of a black youth, which in turn leads to retaliation by black extremists such as O.J. Simpson. Thrown into the struggles are Lee Marvin (the town sherriff who knows that racism is bad but tolerates it in order to cling to a degree of order) and Richard Burton (a landowner who sympathises with blacks, but is haunted by memories of what the Klan did to his grand father).

The film contains at least one unwatchable rape scene and some tasteless dialogue. It also suffers because Burton is so clearly miscast as a southern sympathiser (his accent is dodgy and he seems disinterested in the story). However, it takes a highly chraged theme and deals with it interestingly and provocatively. The violence jolts you out of your chair and forces you to think about the two sides of the argument. The climax is memorable and leaves you feeling empty and sick, especially at the waste of life caused by the single-minded, lethal actions of racist extremists.

A decent film, then, worth seeing for yourself. The critics got this one wrong. Give it a go.

Lee Marvin is well cast and Richard Burton amusingly MIS-cast in this adaptation of the William Bradford Huie novel. Marvin plays "Track" Bascomb, an Alabama lawman who tries to keep the peace during a period of unrest. Soon a civil rights demonstration will be coming to his town, and the local foaming at the mouth racists will have none of it. Burton plays Breck Stancill, a liberal minded landowner incensed at the activities of Klan members such as Tracks' own deputy sheriff Butt Cutt Cates (Cameron Mitchell). Yes, Butt Cutt is his actual character name.

Although both Marvin and Burton were apparently drinking heavily during production, Marvin comes off a lot better. You see that it can't help but affect Burtons' mopey performance, and any attempts that the actor makes at a Southern accent. Much of the cast does creditable work. David Huddleston is the pompous mayor, Linda Evans a resident who is unfortunately raped within the first quarter hour, Lola Falana a young lady whom Breck took under his wing, and Luciana Paluzzi a civil servant. Other familiar faces like David Ladd, Hoke Howell, Lee de Broux, Jeannie Bell, and Virgil Frye turn up. We also have none other than O.J. Simpson as a black man driven to take matters into his own hands.

Samuel Fuller was the original director, and retains a screen writing credit; he left the project early on. The filmmaker in whose hands this ended up was Terence Young, of such James Bond adventures as "From Russia with Love" and "Thunderball".

This ultra trashy melodrama establishes a certain tone within the first few minutes, and therefore some viewers will find it pretty hard to stomach. It's pretty violent, and tends to discard such things as good taste. But if this sort of approach intrigues you rather than turns you off, you'll find that this IS rather potent and visceral entertainment. If you're anything like this viewer, you can't help but cheer every time a particularly odious character gets what they deserve.

On location shooting in Oroville, California, and a good music score by Stu Gardner & Dale O. Warren definitely help matters. That opening song, "The Good Christian People", is a corker.

The scene of Burton effortlessly manhandling Mitchell is a comic highlight, even if it wasn't intended to be that way.

Seven out of 10.

I must confess a certain amount of guilt in enjoying this movie. It bumbles along at a shockingly easy-to-watch pace and stops well short of making any intelligent moral statement condeming racial prejudice (the dilema inherent in the Sheriff character was an exception). Normally the type to turn this kind of film off I found the way in which it used such serious themes as an excuse to unashamedly descend into an action thriller worryingly entertaining. At times you kind of got the feeling the screenplay writers had scripted a plot and strenuously tried to fit serious racial points around them. At times the violence became good guy/bad guy driven just like that in Dr. No, also directed by Young.

Perhaps this is the genius of the movie - making a profound statement as to the way cinema tends to illicit an emotive response from the viewing public by making entertainment out of serious issues. Somehow I think not.