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10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Praise for film, 20 August 2003
Author: nawtambu

The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a cult classic and named one of the most influential black films of the 70s (by Torriano Berry and Venise Berry in their book The 50 most influential black films). This film holds this title with good reason. The film begins with a senator facing the prospect of losing an election without the pivotal black vote. To win favor he decided to charge the CIA with racism since they have no black agents. The CIA agrees, although those in charge of the training do all that is possible to kick all of the recruits out. Only one survives, Dan Freeman. Freeman finds himself the token black, he is often called to show visitors what progress the CIA is making in race relations, before continuing his menial tasks of copying papers and giving tours. Though he plays his role, one gets the impression he is planning something big. After a few years of service with the CIA he returns home to Chicago and in his capacity as a social worker he organizes local gangs using his knowledge and training from the CIA. Without spoiling the rest of the film there is the classic struggle about how to approach change through the system or to over throw? This is represented by Freeman and a former friend who is now police chief in Chicago. Included is some of the socio-political issues that made the 60s and 70s what it was, making this film one that stands out in a decade of films high on action and low on plot. Taking budget issues into consideration and what director Ivan Dixon had to do to get the film made, it is well worth watching (even again).

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
All POWER TO the PEOPLE!!, 30 July 2002
Author: k. jackson (nuport@webtv.net) from Newark, N.J.

This interesting drama hits dead on point for those of who dream of a better government and a better America .In the film ,a racist politician losing in the polls and fearing the loss of the so-called Negro vote decides to give the people a few crumbs off the table by allowing some black men to be recruited into the CIA. Certain under handed deals are made to insure none of these men will succeed ,however one guy makes it through all the rigorous training and educating. And in an incredible graduation scene (see it to believe it!)is congratulated for being the 1st of his race into the CIA. The films budgetary restraints are apparent throughout, but the entire cast deliver good performances most convincingly the main character.I won't spoil it suffice to say the guy gets to put all the training to very good use,as he resigns from the racist system and sets out to make real change for his community. I would give this 15*s

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A Vastly underrated and under-viewed Black Film !, 22 May 2002
Author: tmpj from Chicago IL

I have seen this film on several occasions ( though not lately), have spoken to its author , and have known several of its cast members, the most notable of which would be Lawrence Cook and Paula Kelly. For a time the film was withdrawn from circulation, though it was briefly brought back in a limited release in the late 1980s. It was made on a shoestring budget. The subject matter was so controversial that the then Mayor of Chicago would not allow it to be filmed in the city, which is where Greenlee had sought to film it. Gary, Indiana had to be the stage, instead. Despite the obvious budget ( and therefore technical) limitations--not to mention the dearth of then well known names--the film is highly effective. Many a movie patron who sat through it went home feeling somewhat--perhaps considerably--less secure about himself and the world around him. I loved the film.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
An essential slice of revolutionary black cinema, 12 December 2004
6/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

Very intelligent and sublimely scripted film that stars Larry Cook in a truly powerful role. Cook plays Dan Freeman, the first CIA-recruit since the start of the agency. After an intense training and a mind-strong career of 5 years, Freeman returns to the ghetto where he grew up and mobilizes the future-less black youth to stand up for themselves and begin a violent revolution against the white authorities. The message and criticism in the screenplay is so well-elaborated because Sam Greenlee adapted it from his own novel. True, the film contains a little too much talking and some of the sentimental speeches are hard to swallow (like Freeman's supposedly heart-breaking tale of how he taught his grandmother to read), but most of the criticism against America are quite thought-provoking, daring and way ahead of their time. Around the hour, more action kicks in and we're treated to several convincing riot-sequences and atmospheric images of the ghetto under siege. But, perhaps the most fascinating aspect about "The Spook who sat by the Door" is the psychological battle inside the protagonist's head, resulting in a dazzling end-scene. Knowing the controversy a film like "New Jack City" caused, I'm sure that this movie would provoke far worse situations when re-released properly.

It is claimed that this movie was "lost" for over 30 years so it got honored by an immense cult-status. I can only recommend for you to see it yourself.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The greatest of all African-American movies., 31 July 1999
10/10
Author: Sgt.H.H.Booker II, B.A., M.A. (asmic@pacbell.net) from Sylmar, California

I viewed this film in a Pan African Studies class at California State University, Northridge in 1993. Professor James Dennis who was a Civil Rights activist who made the Mississippi Freedom Rides told us this was the best film about and by African-Americans, and I agree with him wholeheartedly! I would like to get this video and show it in the classes I teach in history. This film was ahead of its time. Sam Greenelee is a very good writer and captures the essence of the struggle for African-Americans.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Too powerful to be dismissed, 17 October 2000
10/10
Author: Baroque

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"?)

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Greatest guerrilla movie ever made, 26 March 2006
10/10
Author: fox_orvngs from United States

This is one of the undiscovered treasures of cinema people, if you haven't seen it you need to. They never paid for one permit and they did this movie for about $90,000USD, but they don't skip a beat. Same editor as Schindler's List; if you watch the movie you can tell why Spielberg uses this guy, he is a master.

Even if you don't agree with the films message you have to agree that this is one of thee finest made independent films in existence, and considering the subject matter it is a surprise this film was ever shot, because the book had a pretty hard time getting published too.

I think this film is everything Melvin Van Peebles wanted SweetBack to be.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent, 20 January 2007
9/10
Author: realredundant from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I took the message of self determination and exploiting the exploitative system to take skills and knowledge back to ones own community. Inspiring. Using counter terrorism tactics to teach the street gangs guerrilla warfare is just an example of this but it's handled well in the movie. I like that they don't throw in a tacky ending but leave it out there.

The scenes with Dan training in the CIA are confusing at first because you don't quite know where the movie is going and it did seem a little too easy for him to convince a street gang to follow him into urban revolution but that aside the sub plots like the friend who turns him in and the middle class black woman of his being scared by the revolutionary blacks make for a brilliant film.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
An all-time favorite of mine., 15 September 2006
9/10
Author: Killakai from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This film is what it is because of its story (which it owes to the novel) and overall good acting, especially by the main character. In addition, there are some great lines in he movie that display and respond to the racism of the times. In so many ways this film is still relevant today. The plot, more than anything else makes this movie a classic. Few films of that era, or any other, captured any meaningful part of the essence of a black revolutionary struggle. Most were full of 'getting the man' or 'paying back whitey' and that really isn't much a political agenda. One of my favorite parts is when the main character says:

"this ain't about hating white folks, because its gonna take way more than hating to sustain you. This is about wanting to be free..." and I can't remember the rest, but it was an important thing to put inside the movie.

Lastly, one of my favorite things about the movie is the ignorance of the white mayor, which is mirrored in real life today. They are so absorbed in their upper-class, ultra-white view of the world, they can never see an alternative view of things especially as it relates to how people of color see themselves, their lives and their respective governments.

Regardless of your political stance on things, you'd have to admit: Iraqi's did not greet us as liberators. The Vietnamese largely did not want American politics or interference. Cubans have not largely rebelled against Fidel Castro in spite of all of the pr4ssures placed on them by the US. Part of it is, that the US gov't is oblivious to what people really want and the other part is that they really don't care what people want, they care about their own interests.

This was shown throughout the film when the CIA director and the mayor made any number of condescending and overtly racist remarks about and directly to black people.

lots of great sound-bites in this. I love this film, its one for the collection.

And I was told when I viewed it in college, that it was played to all CIA recruits, I guess as a deterrent.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A big surprise!, 14 October 2005
8/10
Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London

A big surprise! I wasn't expecting anything as intelligent or exciting as this. More craft than one would expect of a low budget outing from largely first timers and it barely puts a foot wrong. None of the glam of the more obvious candidates for best black film, this just gets on and does it's job. This being the film's theme in many ways - just do it! There are many, like the writer on the DVD interview, who wonder why so little has been achieved in the US by this community and this marvellous movie is certainly food for thought for many around the world whether they be the oppressed or the oppressor who cannot figure out how the balance of power never seems to change. A really must see film.

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