The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ivan Dixon

Writers:

Melvin Clay (writer)
Sam Greenlee (novel)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

The controversial best selling novel now becomes a shocking screen reality.

Plot:

A black man plays Uncle Tom in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American Revolution.

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Race War | Revolution | Blaxploitation | Inner City

Cast

Lawrence Cook	...	Dan Freeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Aaron	...	Carstairs
Elaine Aiken	...	Mrs. Hennington
Tom Alderman	...	Security Officer
Kathy Berk	...	Doris
Don Blakely	...	Stud Davis
Colostine Boatwright	...	Dancer
Paul Butler	...	Do-Daddy Dean
John Charles	...	Stew
Sidney Eden	...	Instructor II
Stephen Ferry II	...	Boy Guardsman
Stephen Ferry	...	Colonel
Frank E. Ford	...	Cobra
Robert Franklia	...	Trainee
Beverly Gill	...	Willa
Martin Golar	...	Perkins
Don Greenlee	...	Trainee
Jeff Hamilton	...	Policeman
Harold Harris	...	Trainee
Jim Heard	...	Trainee
Bob Hill	...	Calhoun
Doug Johnson	...	CIA candidate
Harold Johnson	...	Jackson
Johnnie Johnson III	...	Cobra
Virgie Johnson	...	Cobra
Paula Kelly	...	Dahomey Queen
Margaret Kromgols	...	Old Woman
Larry Lawrence	...	Cobra
Janet League	...	Joy
David Lemieux	...	Pretty Willie
Frank Lesley	...	TV Commentator
Ramon Livingston	...	Cobra
Tyrone R. Livingston	...	Cobra (as Tyrone Livingston)
Walter Lowe
Clinton Malcome
Joseph Mascolo	...	Senator Hennington
Rodney McGrader	...	Cobra
James Mitchell
Byron Morrow	...	General
Lenard Norris	...	Trainee
Ponciano Olayta Jr.	...	Soo
Kenneth Lee Orme	...	Trainee
J.A. Preston	...	Dawson
Anthony Ray	...	Shorty (as Pemon Rami)
Ernest Robinson	...	Stunt Gaffer (as Ernie Robinson)
Audrey Stevenson	...	Mrs. Duncan
Orlanders Thomas	...	Cobra
Perry Thomas	...	Cobra
Maurice Wicks
Bobbie Gene Williams	...	Woman II
Cora Williams	...	Woman I
Johnny Williams	...	Waiter
Mark Williams	...	Trainee

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 (1974) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

63rd Street & Cottage Grove Avenue, Woodlawn, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Bokan

Trivia:

(David Lemieux), who played "Pretty Willie", was a member of the Black Panthers and later became a Chicago police detective.

Quotes:

Dan Freeman: You have just played out the American dream... and now, we're gonna turn it into a nightmare.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Gone with the Wind (1939)

Too powerful to be dismissed

Dan Freeman (played by Lawrence Cook) is a token black CIA operative. Trained in all sorts of espionage, he is relegated to working in the copying department as a "showcase" employee of integration. As the title suggests, he's placed by the door of the office so he's the first person everyone sees. Incensed by his mistreatment (and the racial stereotyping of his superiors), he resigns to his native Chicago as a social services worker.

Secretly, he is training a street gang into a guerrilla army to be the vanguard in a race war, using all of his training by "the man" against "the man".

The details are impressive. Freeman explains how to establish a hierarchy in an underground movement, how to recruit new members, living on the street, and forming new cells. He also details how racial stereotypes can be used to one's advantage, citing how no one ever notices a smiling black man in an office carrying a mop.

The film is a faithful adaptation of Sam Greenlee's controversial novel of the same title, and a haunting look at what MIGHT have (and maybe damned near) happened in the USA during that turbulent period of history. The film was quickly followed by a long line of "blaxploitation" films, often made with little regard for content and style. But "Spook", shot on a small budget, has a powerful message: Never underestimate anyone! Not even "the spook who sat by the door"!

As a motion picture, it does have technical weaknesses, but the drama is well-played, the plot is very tight and the characters are believable. The language, however, is very harsh. A white man (like myself) may find the diatribes against "whitey" shocking, but this film was made during a time of great racial strife, and it echos those times.

Made in 1973, it still packs a punch, and is worth tracking down and buying (Do a web-search! That's how I got my copy!).

A ground-breaking film! (Does anyone but me catch the irony of the main character's name? "Free Man"?)