Klansman (Burning Cross)
by Terence Young
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lee Marvin; Richard Burton; Cameron Mitchell; O.J. Simpson; Luciana Paluzzi; Linda EvansDirector: Terence Young
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-13
Studio: Reel Enterprises
Movie Reviews of Klansman (Burning Cross)
Movie Review: Intolerance, ignorance, injustice ('I's that are blind)
Summary: 3 Stars
REEL ENTERPRISES is a Georgia-based purveyor of public domain movies, both classic era and modern. Their catalog includes several titles unavailable elsewhere.
Despite its bad press, THE KLANSMAN is -not- a terrible movie, nor in any way laughable-- the subject matter is far too grim to be humorous. Secondly, Richard Burton and Lee Marvin -do not- appear here either drunk or dissipated by alcohol. They don't mumble their lines or stagger through scenes, despite claims to the contrary.
Three decades of political correctness virtually guarantee this film could never be made today. It's far too repulsive with its racial slurs, hatred and stereotypes for modern audiences. The setting is a small Alabama town where whites are a minority that intimidates black citizens with Klan activity and extreme gang violence.
Some of the more repulsive moments:
Two blacks walking home from a bar are jumped by a large group of armed whites. They flee into the woods, where one is wounded by rifle fire. He is set upon, castrated and executed, as his helpless friend watches from nearby bushes. This man, played by O.J. Simpson, later becomes an avenging angel who clandestinely shoots one-by-one the men involved in his friend's death.
When a white woman (Linda Evans) is raped by a black, she's ostracized as unclean by church and community and abandoned by her husband.
The deputy sheriff (Cameron Mitchell) arrests a young black woman (Lola Falana) under false pretenses, and takes her (along with his buddies) to a warehouse where he viciously rapes and leaves the defiled virgin to hemorrhage on a dirty floor. Before agreeing to rush her to a hospital, the sheriff (Lee Marvin) coerces the girl into promising she will claim that four black men attacked her.
A local landowner (Richard Burton) whose ancestor was lynched in 1861 when he refused to support Secession, is widely despised by local whites because of his hatred of the KKK and support of poor blacks. The film climaxes on the man's mountain with a deadly clash against several Klansmen. It's a sickening scene, one that doesn't turn out as you'd like.
THE KLANMAN is ultimately a competent depiction of outrageous events that soon build to a nightmarish explosion of violence. As brutal as it is, the story holds your interest even to its unhappy ending. Credit for this must go to a strong cast and script.
(Note: The PARAMOUNT VHS tape from 1999 is still the most complete version of this film. All subsequent releases are heavily edited.)
Summary of Klansman (Burning Cross)
In the south, a white liberal and a sheriff are caught in the middle of racial tensions. A white teenager is raped and it is blamed on a black man. A black teenager is subsequently murdered, which brings in protestors. The sheriff's deputy is a Klan member and rapes a black woman he has illegally arrested, which results in a massive shootout between the blacks and the Klansmen. Good cast.Similar DVD Movies
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