In Cold Blood (Columbia Pictures) (1967)

Mat IC; Still No. 112 The still cameraman catches Scott Wilson in a moment of deep contemplation during production of the film version of Truman Capote's “In Cold Blood,'' Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. The film was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. Slow Justice The wheels of justice turn slowly, and even more slowly when it is movie justice. To insure authentic background for his screen re-enactment of a sensational murder trial in Kansas, for his motion picture version of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” writerdirector Richard Brooks utilized the actual trial room in the County Court House at Garden City, Kansas, where the original trial had been held in 1960. “In Cold Blood,” now at the Theatre, is a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. Brooks worked in the Kansas court room every day from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Then the room was turned over to a real judge for a real session. Brooks then moved his film company back in again at 4 p.m. to continue his re-enactment of the murder trial. But, where the county Gisposed of eight cases in three days, it took Brooks the same three days to capture only a few dramatic minutes of screen time for the film trial. “Second”? Team In movie parlance, the term “second team” means the standins, the look-alikes of the stars who literally stand in for them while the cameraman is lighting the set. There was an exception to the phraseology, however, on the Columbia Pictures set during filming of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.” The second team was an actual team of five young actors and actresses who had been given the breaks of their lives by the film’s writer-director, Richard Brooks. Also important in the cast are John Forsythe and screen newcomers Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, respectively. When he was searching for new, young talent, never before seen on the screen, for key roles in the Columbia release at the Psat tare Theatre in Panavision, Brooks visited the University of Kansas at Lawrence and interviewed scores of the students majoring in drama. The producer-director emerged with a “team” of semi-pro, brand new personalities: five student actors who had worked together the year before on a State Department-sponsored tour which took them to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. The tour, like the film roles, came about partly because of the skill they had developed in working, often very hard, as a dramatic group. “It’s like a baseball team,” says Paul Hough, who plays the role of Kenyon Clutter. “You know better how to work together if you know each other and have done sc before.” Members of the “team,” Mat 2A; Still No. 78 though, have striking individuality. Hough, like his friends, has been interested in a theatrical career for a long time. A pianist who leans towards a career in musical comedy, the 22-year old native of Newton, Kansas, was delighted with being chosen for one of the plum motion picture roles of the year. Had Brenda Currin, who plays Paul’s sister, Nancy, in the film, not fallen off a mountain, she might still be anticipating a career as a physical education teacher instead of one as an actress. Brenda, a pert brunette from Rockville, Maryland, now regards her teen-age tumble at a Girl Scout camp almost with merriment. “After the fall, I wasn’t exactly Olympic material,” she says. “So I got interested in dramatics instead.” Mary-Linda Rapelye, the only graduate student of the team, hails from Kansas City and has been stage-struck since age five. A student at Wellesley before going to Kansas_ University Drama School, she plays the role of Nancy Clutter’s close friend, Susan Kidwell. Ronda Fultz specializes in “standup” comedy at_ school musical shows but her movie debut is in the serious role of another girl-friend of Nancy. A native of Pleasanton, Kansas, she also has an ambition for a stage career. Kip Niven, of Prairie Village, Kansas, plays the role of a gas station attendant in “In Cold Blood,” and thinks he may be in something of a rut. His four previous roles were those of gas station attendants in a series of three amateur films and in a University play. Robert Blake, left, and Scott Wilson as Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, respectively, contemplate a trek through hot desert country in this scene from the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." "In Cold Blood," written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks, is a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. Page 10 Mat ID; Still No. 152 John Forsythe portrays nationallyknown Alvin Dewey, of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, in the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood,"' a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. The film was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. Music by Quincy Jones. Mat IB; Still No. 143 Scott Wilson as Richard Hickock in a scene from the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."" A Columbia Pictures release in Panavision, "In Cold Blood" was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. John MeLiam John McLiam, who plays Herb Clutter in the film version of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks for Columbia Pictures release in Panavision at the...... Theatre, made his Broadway bow in “Barefoot in Athens.” Since then the Canadian-born actor appeared in the ANTA production of “Desire Under the Elms;” a road company tour of “St. Joan;” a season with Michael Redgrave in “Tiger at the Gates;” with Lloyd Nolan in “One More River” and “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.” He has been seen off-Broadway in such roles as Hickey in “The Iceman Cometh” and in the New York Shakespearean festivals. McLiam’s most recent motion picture is “Cool Hand Luke” and he also played the role of Harry in “My Fair Lady.” Ruth Store Ruth Storey, who plays the role of Mrs. Bonnie Clutter in the film version of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks for Columbia Pictures release at the ....... Theatre in Panavision, began her show business career in New York in 1941, appearing in such hits as “Bells are Ringing,” and “A View From the Bridge,’ among others. Her motion picture work includes roles in “The Blue Gardenia,’ “What Every Woman Knows,” “Babylon” and “Tl Cry Tomorrow.” In television she has worked in the “87th Precinct” series. Play Selves Director Richard Brooks, always a stickler for authenticity in his motion pictures, got more than he expected in filming the crucial murder trial scene in his screen version of Truman Capote’s best-selling “In Cold Blood.” The gripping new drama, a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision, is now at the...... Theatre. Brooks, who wrote the screenplay as well as directed, needed a panel of 12 men to occupy the jury box of the County Court House in Garden City, Kansas, where the actual trial was held. Brooks found that seven of the candidates for juror had actually been jurors in the original trial, and were willing to take their original positions in the box. The five other jurors of the “In Cold Blood” trial, held in the same courtroom in 1960, had moved out of town. Their places were filled by a pharmacist, a mortician, a motel owner and two lawyers who had legitimate cases coming up in the same courtroom the following day. Scott Wilson Scott Wilson, who plays a real-life murderer in the film version of in Truman Capote’s “In Gold Blood,” the ais 'stias Theatre drama written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks, always wanted to be an actor. At the same time, he didn’t muster the courage to confide this powerful ambition to his own mother until after he had worked two years with a theatre workshop. “In Cold Blood” is a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. A native of Atlanta, Ga., Wilson grew up in Thomasville where he attended high school. After a stint at Southern Tech, he decided to chuck the academic life and headed for Los Angeles, arriving there with $20 to hold him until he found a job. With the paycheck from his first-of-many odd jobs, he enrolled in an acting class. He spent two years with the now defunct Attic Theatre Workshop, before telling his family of his thespic ambitions. While still studying drama, Wilson obtained a “one shot” appearance on television in a segment of “The Lieutenant” and a bit part in a movie, “In the Heat of the Night,” starring Sidney Poitier. When word got around that writer-director Richard Brooks was looking for a relative unknown to play an important role in “In Cold Blood,” Wilson’s agent moved fast. The actor, brought to Brooks’ attention, was promptly cast for the role; he looks like the man he portrays. Wilson made his screen debut in “In the Heat of the Night.” Quincy Jones composed and conducted the music for “In Cold Blood.” Mat IA; Still No. 109 Robert Blake is featured as Perry Smith in the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," a Columbia Pictures release in Panavision. Richard Brooks wrote the story for the screen and directed. The music is by Quincy Jones. Robert Blake Robert Blake’s ability to play the guitar helped him to win one of the plum roles of the year, that of a murderer in the film version of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” the powerful drama written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks for Columbia Pictures release. Filmed on location from Kansas_ to Mexico, “In Cold Blood” is now at the ...... Theatre in Panavision. A native of Nutley, N. J., Blake made his way through Europe and the United States, keeping alive with odd _ jobs. While posted in Alaska, during his Army service, he taught himself to play the guitar. It was this accomplishment that helped for Blake hte coveted “In Cold Blood” role. He portrays a fugitive who daydreamed of fame as an entertainer. The young actor arrived in Hollywood in 1958 and enrolled in Jeff Corey’s drama school, soon landing a $14-a-week job in the Players Gallery production of “A Hatful of Rain.” Later he appeared in “The Connection,” then in the Kirk Douglas film, “Town Without Pity.” Blake next ventured into television, becoming a member of the repertory company of the Richard Boone Show. It was his appearance in two segments of the Boone Show that caught Brooks’ attention and led him to sign Blake after extensive testing for the coveted real-life role in “In Cold Blood.” More recently, Blake has appeared in episodes of “FBI” and “Twelve O’Clock High” on TV and in the feature film, “This Property Is Condemned.” Quincy Jones wrote the music for “In Cold Blood.” Mat 2D; Still No. 114 Robert Blake, left, and Scott Wilson, as Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, respectively, use the washroom of a Kansas bus terminal as a rendezvous on the film version of Truman Capote's ''In Cold Blood.'' A Columbia Pictures release in Panavision, ''In Cold Blood" was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks.