Klute (1971)
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A high-priced call girl assists a detective in solving a missing person case that may involve a stalker.
The story
After Pennsylvania chemical company executive Tom Gruneman disappears, the police find an obscene letter in his office addressed to a New York City call girl named Bree Daniels. After six months of fruitless police work, Peter Cable hires a detective named John Klute to investigate the disappearance. Klute rents an apartment in the basement of Bree's building, taps her phone, and follows her as she turns tricks. Bree reveals the emptiness of her life to her psychiatrist and admits she is a nervous and paranoid person. She takes Klute to meet her former pimp to discuss a colleague who has disappeared.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Pennsylvania chemical company executive Tom Gruneman disappears, police find an obscene letter in his office addressed to Bree Daniels, a New York City call girl. Peter Cable hires detective John Klute to investigate. Klute moves into Bree's building, taps her phone, and follows her. Bree, who feels empty despite her freedom, admits to Klute that she is paranoid and doesn't recognize Gruneman. She introduces him to her former pimp, Frank Ligourin, revealing that a colleague, Arlyn Page, has disappeared and another, Jane McKenna, committed suicide. Klute and Bree develop a romance. They eventually find Page, who reveals the photo of Gruneman was of an older man. Klute suspects the client was using Gruneman's name and killed him. He traces the letters to Cable, who was reporting to. Cable admits he sent the letters to frame Gruneman after Gruneman witnessed him abusing McKenna. Cable then attacks Bree, but Klute intervenes, and Cable crashes through a window to his death. Bree decides to leave New York, choosing to end her life as a call girl despite her fear of a domestic lifestyle.
- First release year
- 1971
- Runtime (minutes)
- 114
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Alan J. Pakula
- Writers
- Andy Lewis · writer; Dave Lewis · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jane Fonda · Bree Daniels; Donald Sutherland · John Klute; Charles Cioffi; Nathan George; Dorothy Tristan; Roy Scheider · Frank Ligourin; Rita Gam
- Genres
- neo-noir; psychological thriller
- Themes
- paranoia; conspiracies; surveillance
- Tone and mood
- creepy; danger; instability; destabilizing; disorienting
- Premise and plot tags
- neo-noir; psychological thriller; crime; detective; stalking; prostitution
- Source material / true-story basis
- A serial story by Andy Lewis about a man attempting to solve his brother's murder in a city.
- Franchise connections
- Pakula's "paranoia trilogy"
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, praised for its screenplay, direction, and Jane Fonda's performance, though some criticized the unconventional direction. It holds high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 92% · review count: 48; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 8.2/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 48; Metacritic · score: 81 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Actress · win; Academy Award · Best Original Screenplay · nomination; British Academy Film Awards · Best Actress in a Leading Role · nomination; Golden Globe Awards · Best Screenplay · nomination; Golden Globe Awards · Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama · win
- Production trivia
- The film is the first of Pakula's 'paranoia trilogy'.; Jane Fonda spent a week in New York City observing high-class call girls to prepare for her role.; The film's soundtrack features a central motif of a 'siren call' to identify both the protagonist and the killer.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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