In Cold Blood (1967) | The Chilling Duality of Perry Smith (Video Essay)
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- Опубликовано: 7 дек 2021
- In this video, I will be discussing Richard Brooks’ 1967 film adaptation of Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood. I will be focusing on how the film uses this true story as social and political commentary, through the protagonist of Perry Smith, who murdered a family of four in 1959.
In Cold Blood. 1967. [film] Directed by R. Brooks. Kansas: Columbia Pictures.
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This video is intended for educational purposes
#InColdBlood #TrumanCapote #VideoEssay #Filmmaking #Screenwriting
Rented this movie years ago and watched it with the whole family. My kids were teens at the time and we all watched it completely mesmerized. None of us spoke a word through the entire film and when it was done I think we were all still speechless for a while. IMO one of the best films ever made. Robert Blake gave one of the best performances in cinema history. Absolute masterpiece.
Barnes & Noble bookstore has a DVD 📀 of the film from the Criterion Collection. I have read the book written by Truman Capote, and I saw the article in Life magazine in 1967. Mr. Capote got a very tidy sum for the movie rights of the film. Based on an actual crime that occurred in 1959. Perry Smith had a disturbing childhood, including PTSD from his service in the Korean War. The book is a must-read, and the movie is a must-see, especially the Criterion Collection, which includes bonus footage.
Perry Smith was a very complex person. Truman Capote was a genius of a writer and I'm very glad he had much input into many aspects of the film.
The Book is a MUST read as well.
When Capote was researching this, he visited the famous Menninger Psychiatric Clinic and their opinion was that neither Smith nor Hickock would have committed the murders themselves, but together they formed a 3rd personality and that was the one that did it - this is a behavioral arc we see all the time in just ordinary life!
It gets even worse in a mob situation.
Total bullshit.
A “third personality” stole the car and robbed a bank NOT ME!
GTFO
@@davejones5745 anarchy.
Richard Brooks, the director does something capitalizing on that collective, rather than individual seed for a murder. the Psychiatric clinic's findings are quoted by our narrator, and in a death row scene we see a mugshot. but we barely realize that there are 2 criminal's photos, not one. Perry, front shot. Dick, profile. no law enforcement would issue a mug shot of 2 separate people, as the whole idea is to show one person's differences in profile and front. Brooks is creating his own cinematic device, driving the point home that collectively, 2 are more potentially dangerous than one. but they can become sort of, one. for years, 'In Cold Blood' was shown in analogue, on TV. and the new re-mastered DVD'S show it more correctly. this shot, is now more noticeable on TV. w/ HIGH D.
Missed that! I'm going to have to revisit this movie again.
I love the crisp sharpness of old black & white films. That scene with Robert Blake and the rainy window was brilliant. I'd only seen the film previously on old TV broadcasts and never picked up on the symbolism before. Thank God for blu-ray. Thumbs up for a great video essay.
Thanks for watching! 🙏
I met Will Geer when I was in college in 1978. He was appearing in a play there, and I ran into him by accident (he was having coffee at the time). He told me about being a blacklisted actor during the fifties, and how he'd given private acting lessons with his daughter at his own acting school during his blacklisted years. I think "In Cold Blood" may have been one of his first acting gigs after the blacklist went away.
Robert Blake is an amazing actor, he deserves more credit than he gets.
@@stevenmckay3623 And a murderer in real life, too.
@@lisellesloan3191 Like OJ Simpson he beat the rap!
He murdered.
Paul Stewart is a character actor who often played mafioso types but often sinister or cynical characters. In this film, he played an investigative reporter. John Forsythe played the cop in the fim.
I just watched this movie tonight. It came out the year I was born and remember seeing it when I was a kid on TV late night with my grandfather. Seeing it uncut for TV and as an adult I was simply engulfed in the characters personalities from start to finish. Wilson and especially Blake were incredible in this. The last 20 minutes of the movie had me heavy hearted and I could feel the fear Robert portrayed. The cinematography was incredible. I could see where there was an insert of Capote as he injected his narrative into the movie. It did feel out of place but only because I knew before watching it from seeing the movie Capote and knowing his personal involvement that it resonated that way. Perhaps in 67, the scripting of "Capote" may have had a different resonance..I don't know
RIP Robert Blake! One great actor!
The scenes of the house inside and out were the real house on the farm in Holcomb Kansas. The book is great BTW. Details a lot not in the movie.
I imagine the book would be good, yet to read it though
I understand why Perry snapped and killed the family. As he crawled on the floor to grab Nancy’s silver dollar, his life suddenly caved in on him - the utter futility of his life. With his life collapsed under him, he went berserk.
There is NO excuse for murder of innocent people, including “ going berserk”!! 😊
Well, hopefully if two scumbags break into YOUR home and murder YOU and YOUR family, you’ll be just as understanding. You will, right? It’s totally not their fault, they “just went berserk!”
Thank you for this upload. I agree that executing murderers doesn't put other criminals off murdering. However, the fear felt just before being executed........ their victims must have been even more terrified not knowing if they were about to lose their life. I can only feel sorry for innocent victims. Many people have had horrific childhoods, but they don't take it out on others.
I read online, Capote wanted to demonstrate the fallibility of human morality, and by acknowledging our complexity as individuals it opens up compassion. That fallibility is very apparent in Perry's character. There are examples of this in the movie as well.
Watched the movie Capote, and was fascinated with this story, then I got the book, and was devastated at how brilliant it was, and how Capote had written nearly a masterpiece, the only question I had, like most everyone else, was why would Perry kill the young girl, after stopping Dick from raping her, some folks are detached from reality, and I think Perry was one of those people, how depraved is the human psyche, to cut a man's throat who was tied up, then put a shotgun to his face and pull the trigger, then my God put the same shotgun, to the face of two women and shoot? A damn teenage girl, and blow her face off, I think sometimes, the criminally insane , sometimes get tormented by and even possed by unclean spirits, that can influence their behavior. They said that shortly after these heinous murders they laughed and joked about it.
Scott Wilson. Brilliant.
An incredible film. Been thinking about a lot recently. Nice work...
There is a lot to think about. This film deserves more attention than it gets.
@The Grubb Cut This film is powerful. Its got some fantastic scenes
Scott Wilson et Robert Blake sont tellement impressionnants. Quel chef d'oeuvre ❤
Frenchman from Ohio? Asking cuz I’m from Ohio and haven’t ever met one 👀
I read the book it was based on (it was a set text when I was at 6th from college in the early 90s). The reason Perry Smith killed the Clutters isn't because of his dark impulses; it's because the two had resolved that there would be no witnesses, and it was Dick Hickock who reminded Smith of this again and again. It wasn't a "robbery turned murder"; they intended to rob and kill, though they expected to get more out of them than they did because they did not know Herbert Clutter did not keep more cash than he needed day-to-day and had no safe.
Actually Dick says he never was actually going to kill them, and when Perry was in his psychotic episode, he (Dick and Perry) had to kill the rest of the Clutters
Sounds a lot like The Mabel Monahan murder of 1953.
Truman Capote was an amazing auther.. I read his short story also "hand carved coffens" was Also true about a suspected killer who Truman meets..
Sounds interesting
Thank you so much for the suggestion! I look forward to reading it😊
People miss the important lessons that are presented in this film. Its about childhood trauma and its disastrous consequences. Perry Smith had trauma related childhood psychological issues. Once he got triggered during the home invasion what happened to the Cutters was inevitable. Once a person gets triggered like that they are out of control and are strictly acting on impulse. All the pent up anger suddenly gets released and there's no stopping it. Society's response is to react to the symptoms instead of eliminating the root causes. This is why the same thing keeps happening again and again.
No. He killed them with Dick Hickock's agreement, to avoid there being any witnesses. The mistake was that they forgot about Floyd Wells who told them about his wealthy former employer.
Many people have childhood trauma. Many of them are triggered. Many of them stop themselves from acting on it. There is a chance to stop it and to deny that is to give license to those that act abominable to their fellow human beings.
nice analysis but he keeps calling the robert blake character, perry smith, the protagonist. he may be the central character of the book and film but he's no protaganist. either in the literary sense or ethical sense. he's a brutal, mindless idiot easily manipulated and without empathy. the cops, particulay john forsythe's role, is the protaganist in this case.
this film is unique in that it presents both sides of the "death penalty" argument. does the state have the right to murder? of course the answer is "no." the state doesn't hold a monoploy on murder. but the argument goes beyond this. the reason the death penalty isn't ethical isn't that it protects the guilty from a cruel punishment but that, justice being an imperfect pursuit, it protects those wrongfully convicted.
"in cold blood" is a great film. i recommend it a lot to reactors, along with many other ignored suggestions. i also mention all the other great films released in 1967 like "cool hand luke," "to sir with love," the graduate," "bonnie and clyde," "the dirty doazen," "valley of the dolls" (so bad its good), "el dorado," "wait until dark" "bedazzled" and the first "mainstream" porn film from sweden "i am curious yellow." it could be shown on broadcast tv today with very few edits.
Ok? And so what are you trying to say? That he shouldn’t be punished because of that? What happens next time he “gets triggered”? He’s just allowed to cut someone’s thought because his childhood was bad?
Yeah, all you say might be true but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. In fact, if true, he MUST be locked away from society. And it’s not something that goes away with therapy obviously so regardless of any of that, he still just be locked up and punished. ESP because “being/getting triggered” doesn’t take away his knowing of right and wrong. He never would be in the situation he was in TO GET triggered and “lose control” if he hadn’t already been making bad decisions I.e robbing and tying up a family. Therefore, he’s already a criminal committing assault before he’s even “triggered” so what’s your excuse for THAT?
That's a bunch of garbage we all have free will they both had free will from God and they chose to play God triggered my ass
Another attempt at the indictment of capital punishment? By the end of the short presentation, the focus is on the killers and their disadvantaged upbringings. We are supposed to morn the executions of Smith and Hickock. The movie is manipulated with made up dialogues to make us sympathize with them. In real life, Smith and Hickock became ruthless murderers who displayed little or no remorse for killing the Clutter family. You can make a movie say what you want it to. Real life is often different. These two got what they deserved.
Absolutely correct analysis.
Excellent assessment of this true life documentary, in which I caught the fever of in 1989, at the age of 22, when I finally got around to reading the book.
the resemblance were uncanny in all of this film especially of Perry Smity and Robert Blake.
I was 10 years old when this movie came out, my parents went to see it with another couple, my mom said she had a hard time sleeping that night...
The prosecution lawyer plays granpa in The Waltons.
Will Geer
Yes Will Geer was at the height of his health when this movie was shot, what you seen in The Waltons was a Will Geer much more infirmed than in 1967, a different of five years a more frail man not as robust.
Well edited. I enjoyed this video very much. Music choice was a brilliant addition.
My Dad worked for Clutter in 1948, i was conceived there. We moved to L.A. and Dad suggested my Mothers cousin Floyd take his place. The rest is history.
I saw this movie at the drive in when it was first released. It creeped me out then and it still creeps me out today. Smith and Hickcock got what they deserved!
It creeps me out even more to know creeps exactly like them are not that uncommon, just uncaught.
@@allenh7835 if Hickok didn't tell Wells of what he wanted to rob Clutter family..they probably would of been uncaught
This is a fine review. Thank you!
Thank YOU for watching 🙏
You've done an excellent edit and analysis. Thank you
Cheers mate, thanks for watching
The rich versus the poor in the American 50's....sad but true.
You don't have to be poor. Make better decisions and take life by the balls.
I enjoy watching your video well done
Will Geer, in this brief but powerful scene, the jurors that he is addressing are not actors but the actual jurors that found the murderers guilty as charged.
7 of the 12 only.
Not all.
really enjoyed this, good stuff mate
Thanks for watching bro!
With Robert Blake's recent passing, I started thinking about this film. This is a great analysis of this film.
this is perfection
Excellent video
🙏
Wonder if the cars were the same. So much was detailed to the real life details and events.
such a powerful film! still!
Robert Blake was Perry Smith in that role. No better acting done by anyone. Scott Wilson was great. Two human beings killed 4 human beings. Life is so precious. What made the two disturbed men commit those senseless acts is as much a mystery as what made their own lives lead to that horror. Perry pulled the trigger but Without Dick Hickock it never would have happened.
We've been to the Clutters drive but didn't go out to the house... very spooky at night with the howling winds and tumbleweed!
I like your straightforward commentary. When i got to that point howe, where you say: “What i want to focus in is the last five minutes of the film”, I decided i must go watch it first. Then im going to come back to listen to what you cane up with too. I’ve subscribed. I enjoy your thoughts and style
Thanks for subscribing! New video coming very soon... Definitely one to watch after you see the movie though...
Look forward to it
Fantastic performances from Robert Blake and Scott Wilson
Perry was chewing gum, but he asked or motioned for a detective to take it. The detective held up some paper, and wrapped it closed. The detective in an interview years later said that he wished he hadn't thrown it away.
Great film but Perry wasn't crying while talking to the pastor. That was the reflection outside of the window from the rain seen by his face.
“The lighting outside the window perfectly hits the rain as to project the vivid imagery of tears running down Perry’s face…” He didn't say Perry was crying...
The most important line was ' he was the most decent person I ever met right until I cut his throat.,'
Great essay! ICB is my Godfather!
Now THIS is the way to create a true story!
Blake is dazzling esp once Perry is sentenced. Films been remade but Blake and Wilson own those roles!!!!!
Your analysis is spot-on, you should have more subscribers!
You are too kind
I disagree that this movie is unknown. I think the book and film are well remembered.
R.I.P Robert Blake.
Has this film been downloaded by anyone?
I failed to understand how black and white adds realism, atmosphere maybe. We don't see in black and white and it wasn't really a thing until photography was invented.
This is the quote from the cinematographer, “We decided to shoot in black-and-white because we wanted to make it real; we were filming in the actual locations where the various incidents in the story had taken place, including the actual murder sites, and the use of black-and-white gave the film a heightened sense of truth without making things too lurid.” I think there's probably a few things at play in this. Firstly that B&W film was a lot more refined than color film was at the time, and so the image would most likely come out a lot sharper. But on top of that, atmosphere, as you mentioned is likely a factor. Considering the subject matter, the gloomier atmosphere of the B&W film adds a sense of realism to the dark themes. So it's not necessarily the realism of what our eyes see but how the story feels.
Good job..well done
This movie reminds me of another infamous case and movie from 1971, 10 Rillington Place in North London and the terrifying events that took place, the story of serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie his killing of 8 people, the difference here was an innocent man Timothy Evans as hanged for a murder Christie committed and worse testified for the prosecution, Christie was eventually hanged for his crimes, and this case was one that hastened the end of capital murder execution in the UK, public opinion moved against it, yes there have been other mass killings in the UK since, can think of Dennis Nielsen, Peter Sutcliffe and Fred West who all would have been executed had the attributes changed.
Just here to coment on every video.
Never mentioned the Music....
They got what they deserved. Why should they be allowed to live after the way they brutally murdered their innocent victims.Funny how they try and create sympathy for the one who sliced open a throat and blew the heads off of 4 defenseless people.
Capital punishment certainty solved the problem of monstrous killers like Hitchcock and Smith. Its called justice being served for the victims of horrible injustice those two monsters committed. The clutter family.
Didn't Eric Roberts and Anthony Edwards do this movie to with Kevin tight
A TV mini series I believe, yes. Sam Neill is in it too
@@thegrubbcut8353 ok
The writer was wrong.. The real truth being.....After apprehension, some men can not be allowed free of the Prison which institutionalized them. Period.
bawled my eyes out. the humanity
This movie is as old as my mum
I like films that are easy to follow scott is guid aye
The music and noise is distracting.
You state that the two killers were "murdered".
So you must believe that the jurors and the judge should have been arrested and charged with murder.
Maybe not in a court of law, but in a court of morality leaving the decision of someone else’s life in the palm of another’s hand, no matter what they’ve done, puts them in the same position of control that the “real” murderer had. What’s the use in that? An eye for an eye?
No, I don’t think that the jurors and judge should be charged with murder in a court of law. But there is a level of moral culpability that lays at their feet, when given the choice to physically and intentionally kill another person - even if not with their own hands, and even if “permitted” by the law (and this would be a good time to mention that morality is often not an inevitable feature of law).
.
Vince Edward's is a.dead ringer for Perry
believe me Capote would have felt very differently about these two if he'd met them by his bedside at midnight with a knife to throat and a shotgun to his head. He instead met them safely tucked behind bars unable to hurt him. I never forgave Capote for feeling sympathy for these killers. Never forget the victims.
The thing is "In cold blood" is basically a "not so reliable" recollection of real life events filtered through Capote's eyes, ears and mind. It's of vital importance to underline how Capote was also a troubled masochistic individual who got caught, both emotionally and romantically???, in a one-sided relationship with Perry Smith. The book, and its cinematic adaptation, tend to lead the audience to think Smith and Hickock were two mistreated-by-society individuals with ugly childhoods who RELUCTANTLY HAD TO MURDER THE CLUTTERS IN ORDER TO LEAVE NO WITNESSES. If you actually dwell into the case, you will realize the whole "we thought there was a safe-robbery gone wrong story" was just a poorly crafted fairytell of an excuse the two defendants came up with to feel less guilty and to come across as poor sad drifters in the eyes of law enforcement and jury. My opinion? Hickcock, a sadistic voyeur who confessed he wanted to rape one of the victims at the scene, and Smith, a low-functioning sociopath, ENTERED THE HOUSE THAT LATE EVENING PRECISELY TO RAPE, HARM AND MAYBE KILL THE VICTIMS. Hickcok, due to his spoiled upbringing, thought that he could somehow always get away with whatever he set himself to do. Both attackers had already been in jail and both had already robbed someone at that point.... so the whole "killing witnesses over some safe they were unable to locate" simply doesn't add up. Why did they enter the house without concealing their faces? You know what experienced type of criminal doesn't conceal their face and uses their own name on a scene? The type of criminal who knows the victim is probably going to die or to never report the incident out of fear and shame. They knew that Herb, who was a locally well known figure at the time, would have called the police. They could have just entered the house with some kind of mask on, tie the victims up at gun point, locate the safe, "torture" Herb a bit to get the opening code info out of him and then leave the scene. CAPOTE-SMITH WHOLE "FRIENDSHIP" IS IN MY OPINION ONE OF THE BIGGEST CASES OF HYBRISTOPHILIA EVER DOCUMENTED IN TRUE CRIME HISTORY.
I believe what you claim is spot on. These two were complete misanthropic losers.
I think it happened the way they said, because they're story doesn't make them sound more sympathetic. If they both wanted to rape Nancy then she would have been raped, but she wasn't. Hickock admitted to wanting to rape her but said Perry stopped him. Also, in the book, Perry wanted to get masks but Dick, who always was pushing for 'no witnesses', didn't see the point. Finally, the men weren't known for sexual crimes, they were known for theft, violence and money crimes, so it makes more sense that they really were there for money and in a rage killed the family to ensure a lack of witnesses.
I'm a solid unwavering supporter of capital punishment. Call it revenge, call it retribution, call it what ever you want. But if someone commits a heinous crime they should be treated in a heinous matter as a just reward. It's interesting that in the movie Perry Smith's heart slows the moment he reaches the end of the rope. In real life, as with his accomplice, Perry hung there for 20 minutes. Hopefully it was the same long and excruciatingly painful twenty minutes that poor and innocent Herb Clutter suffered after his throat was sliced open and he was shot in the face. Enjoy your time in Hell, Perry.
He's literally me
Honestly, I see Perry as a victim here. He had a rough life and was a product of his environment. He would've never killed anyone if Dick hadn't pushed his 'score' onto him. In addition, he was subjected time and time again to witnessing violent acts and others being violent towards him. He wasn't taught right from wrong, despite what his father would like to believe. In the book, it goes more in depth about how Perry truly believed in fantasies of sunken treasure and he wanted to explore. Personally, to me, he seems like a mentally stunted person- a fragile child in the body of an adult. He's not innocent because he killed the Clutters but I think if life had treated him a bit better and if he was just a little luckier, he and the Clutters wouldn't have died.
I thought what kills you in hanging isn't suffocation it's your neck breaking, hence why the drop is so steep. Also, I thought it was Hickock not Smith who hung there for 20 minutes.
nice analysis but he keeps calling the robert blake character, perry smith, the protagonist. he may be the central character of the book and film but he's no protaganist. either in the literary sense or ethical sense. he's a brutal, mindless idiot easily manipulated and without empathy. the cops, particulay john forsythe's role, is the protaganist in this case.
this film is unique in that it presents both sides of the "death penalty" argument. does the state have the right to murder? of course the answer is "no." the state doesn't hold a monoploy on murder. but the argument goes beyond this. the reason the death penalty isn't ethical isn't that it protects the guilty from a cruel punishment but that, justice being an imperfect pursuit, it protects those wrongfully convicted.
"in cold blood" is a great film. i recommend it a lot to reactors, along with many other ignored suggestions. i also mention all the other great films released in 1967 like "cool hand luke," "to sir with love," "the graduate," "bonnie and clyde," "the dirty doazen," "valley of the dolls" (so bad its good), "el dorado," "wait until dark" "bedazzled" and the first "mainstream" porn film from sweden "i am curious yellow." it could be shown on broadcast tv today with very few edits.
@@baileymoore7779 I just read the book and you're right; Hickock hung for 20 mins and so likely took longer to die, but the way Capote writes it Perry's neck broke instantly.
This is what Roger Ebert said about Jensen: "Another of Brooks' mistakes, I think, was his decision to write a liberal reporter into the script. This figure obviously represents Capote. He hangs around during the last half of the film, tells about Death Row, narrates the hangings and provides instant morals about capital punishment. He is useless and distracting." He was right. His moralizing was nauseating and out of place and if that needs to be there then use Capote himself.
Yeah, generally I'm not big on capital punishment either, but the way Truman so emphasized - at times seeming like he had more symapthy and outrage for the killers than even the actual family they murdered - just comes off as weird and creepy. America HAS had a broken incarceration/death penalty system in need of reform but I'm just not sure that THIS is the exact case to moralize about its failings. Yes, its sad and now in the modern day 2020s I doubt they would have been sentenced to death, but there are WAY more unjust executions that would justify this kind of righteous indignation and be more deserving of it. Just sayin..
Capital punishment is NOT murder! If we stood by it, there wld be less murders of families like the Clutter’s!
For starters, this is an analysis of a movie. No use getting political here.
Regardless, you're wrong either way. The statement "if we stood by it, there would be less murders of families like the Clutter's" is ironic considering 27 of the 50 American states still have capital punishment, and yet murder is still very much a common occurrence throughout America. This is because the 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater' approach to justice serves no purpose other than to exact revenge. Not only that, but I don't see why a person who has committed a crime on earth gets to serve out their sentence in the afterlife. The idea of imprisonment is so that a person sacrifices a proportionate amount of time to the crime they have committed. In a more wicked sense, the criminal is forced to suffer in a similar way to the victims of their crime. A life sentence does more than just straight up killing the perpetrator. Anyway, you do you.
@@gabrielf7427 We do NOT stand by it no matter how many states still have it. Our justice system is a joke & you know it! It certainly isnt swift & many still live for decades waiting for that so called swift judgement!🙄 Furthermore, just look how you tried to use words to tear a simple comment I made down. Yet, you didn’t attack the comment really, you tried to cut me down to size. The answer is plain & simple. If the death penalty was swift to those who we know without a doubt committed the murders, there wld be a bit more hesitancy indeed! As it goes, the truly evil & wicked get away with horrors every day. “You do you!” That isnt even a good & right statement! Its NOT TRUTH! Its a false comment, pretending to be a bit kind to me! A lie!! Many, many like you, do not even believe in that statement that you all let roll off yr tongues. You dont want to live & let others “Do Us!” In fact, you were whittling me down to size for several mins then tried to end it like that?!🙄 Not only do you NOT want me to “do me!” You dont want any of us to voice our own beliefs, much less have it our way! You dont want it “our way” at all. You want to shove what you believe & the way you want everything to be down everyone else’s throats! Then put yr own personal justice out there by claiming how you think others shld spend their guilty verdict here AND put yrself as God trying to declare what you think shld or shld not happen in the hereafter! Mercy me! Over one little statement I made about real life murders & how much of a joke the death penalty has become. Those men who MURDERED that family, deserved death & thats what they got on this earth. The hereafter, that is God’s business & I will never presume to put myself in His place. God IS GOD & His judgements are for Eternity! Death here is only an instant, temporary. In eternity, you stand before One that no man can lie to or hide from. Your still alive over there & those murderers cld possibly be in Glory right now. IF they decided that, in the cell before they were hanged. That is between them & their Maker! Here, in this life, they murdered 4 people & paid that price in the here & now... or rather in 1965. If only justice here was still like that. There wld be a lot less. I may be wrong though bcz we are a far more evil world now. We have taken goodness, true goodness & made it a joke & have put more violence before our younger generations for years now & we call good bad & bad behavior good. In fact the movie “In Cold Blood” is MILD to todays standards & our young people have grown up with these kind of people being sensationalized & glorified in many ways. Seeing many perverted things & morbid serial killings on regular tv every night has dirtied innocent minds & dulled consciouses. Look what we have become! Its ALL a joke really! Thats why we have diff views as well. In fact, I wld be willing to bet that you are a lot younger than I. You’ve grown up being spoon fed this lawlessness & mocked people like me for years now. Thinking these that came before are stupid & we need these old ways of thinking gone! Many call us silly for our beliefs that say there are such things as sin & stamp us with phobias & wait in the shadows to pounce on anyone who cld possibly be caught being “politically incorrect!” God forbid for anyone to chance that!! This is All terribly wrong too. All anyone has to do is look back at how innocent this world once was & even that generation we call the “Greatest” which really wasnt that long ago. (Not that the world did not have evil upon it, it has indeed). Just a lot less & it truly was safer back then than now. Its bcz we truly have lost something & that is really truly sad. Thats what Im pouring my heart out about & was trying to point that out. There are those that will hear my heart in this & those that will just laugh. Nothing I can do about that but pray. God help us all & God bless you Gabriel! 🙏🏼
Ps. Love the name. 👍
@@gabrielf7427 like Robert maudsly.
@@gabrielf7427 I agree. Retributive justice needs to take into account the ability for an individual to be redeemed. Ending the life of another, for capital punishment, adds no societal value aside from merely making one feel better. At the end of the day, a human is a human. And we have inalienable rights.
"An eye for an eye and the world goes blind". Deterrence, despite being a major form of criminal justice, does not have any actual evidence that it deters people from committing crimes.
Those two men got exactly what was coming to them!
What a lovely one sided commentary. Nothing biased here.
I believe you'll find this is a commentary on a movie (it's perspective), not on the actual subject matter... The only thing one-sided here is all the comments saying capital punishment is right.
@@travispickle7387 That is naive to say the least. The commentary absolutely led to a conclusion. His perspective was trying to unpack behavior as at the very least….understandable.
Where do you draw any lines as to actions vs consequences?
What punishment would you implement for criminals who couldn’t care less about the anything or anyone and willingly take lives in further of that pursuit?
Capital punishment is correct - who knows how many more innocent lives these two would have taken? they wouldn't have stopped. they would have been emboldened by getting away with it.
And, Perry and Dick won't kill any more families.
And nor would they have with life in prison 😛
But they might have murdered another prisoner, a guard or other prison staff.
Executions are not pointless or immoral !!! You are WRONG and have it BACKWARDS !!! Executions are to punish pointless and immoral crimes !!! It is about an imperfect justice !!!
CP is not murder, but otherwise superbly done
I wish the book and movie had spent more time highlighting the Clutter family. While there are plenty of things we can empathize with Hickock and Smith. What is lost is the lack of empathy in the selfish way this decent hardworking God fearing family was slaughtered. Hickock and Perry knew right from wrong. Yet they treated the Clutter family like objects. Like a door that doesn't open like its supposed too so its kicked in, or like the dogs on the side of the road that HIckock reveled in hitting with the car. This family's lives were taken for no other reason than to satisfy the killers fears that these two petty crooks would be inconvenienced by a breaking and entering charge. Perry and Dick's execution was not to dissuade other crimes. It was to rid this world of two people who were a Cancer upon society.
The state should never be granted the power to kill the citizens gif any reason.
yeah so you basically covered every thing that every film class teaches for the last 40 years. nothing new here
Perry was a complete scumbag nonetheless, but i feel terribly weak for feeling a little bad for him, not nearly as much as the clutters but still
Chilling duality? Savagely slaughtered a family. Duality? Really?
nice analysis but you keep calling the robert blake character, perry smith, the protagonist. he may be the central character of the book and film but he's no protaganist. either in the literary sense or ethical sense. he's a brutal, mindless idiot easily manipulated and without empathy. the cops, particulay john forsythe's role, is the protaganist in this case.
this film is unique in that it presents both sides of the "death penalty" argument. does the state have the right to murder? of course the answer is "no." the state doesn't hold a monoploy on murder. but the argument goes beyond this. the reason the death penalty isn't ethical isn't that it protects the guilty from a cruel punishment but that, justice being an imperfect pursuit, it protects those wrongfully convicted.
this is a great film. i recommend it a lot to reactors, along with many other ignored suggestions. i also mention all the other great films released in 1967 like "cool hand luke," "to sir with love," the graduate," "bonnie and clyde," "the dirty doazen," "valley of the dolls" (so bad its good), "el dorado," "wait until dark" "bedazzled" and the first "mainstream" porn film from sweden "i am curious yellow." it could be shown on broadcast tv today with very few edits.
Being the "central character" of the book and film is quite literally what defines him as the literary protagonist.
As for an ethical protagonist... What are you even on???
Both these idiots had free will given from God and they chose to be God. It's as simple as that. We like to find something else to blame it on. I don't care how bad my day is. I'm not going to murder four people in cold blood! Extreme cases already only things. I agree with capital punishment. Otherwise life and prison is what I'm for. Let them think about it for the rest of their lives behind bars
That's funny cause God doesn't exist. "It's as simple as that."
"We like to find something else to blame it on." Like how we blame the existence of life on God, because we're so uncomfortable with the unknown? Suppose you don't believe in climate change or evolution either???
did those people who got murdered had free will?
We've been to the Clutters drive but didn't go out to the house... very spooky at night with the howling winds and tumbleweed!