Winter Kills
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Richard Condon's 1974 political satire, Winter Kills, is a black comedy exploring the assassination of a U.S. President. The novel parallels the real life assassination of John F. Kennedy and the various conspiracy theories that surround the event.
Contents |
[edit] Book
Before the movie begins, U.S. President Timothy Kegan is shot in Philadelphia at Hunt Plaza. The ensuing presidential commission condemns a lone gunman as the killer. The film starts years later, when Kegan's half-brother, Nick, witnesses the death-bed confession of a man claiming to have been part of the 'hit squad'. As the protagonist attempts to find the plotter(s), he encounters numerous groups and persons that could have led or been part of the conspiracy. One person is Lola Camonte, a hostess, lobbyist and fixer. She recounts the story of President Kegan asking her about appointing a member of organized crime to the Court of St. James. The character, Joe Diamond, is the fictional representation of Jack Ruby.
Condon's book describes the numerous intertwined threads of the conspiracy, from the Mafia, Cuba, even possible domestic police connections. Only in the final act, in which Nick meets with his vicious and perverse Joseph P. Kennedy 'father-figure', is the truth revealed with a twisted ending.
[edit] Movie
| Winter Kills | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | William Richert |
| Produced by | Fred Caruso Robert Sterling Leonard Goldberg |
| Written by | William Richert |
| Starring | John Huston Toshiro Mifune Sterling Hayden Anthony Perkins Jeff Bridges Elizabeth Taylor |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| Editing by | David Bretherton |
| Distributed by | AVCO |
| Release date(s) | 1979 |
| Running time | 97 min |
| IMDb profile | |
Winter Kills (1979). The film is distinguished by having a high-powered cast, including John Huston, Toshiro Mifune, Sterling Hayden, Anthony Perkins, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jeff Bridges. Most of the film was lensed by legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. The director, however, was a novice named William Richert.
The production went so far over budget that it was shut down three times and declared bankruptcy. The film had been produced by two wealthy marijuana dealers -- Robert Sterling and Leonard Goldberg. Goldberg was murdered by the mafia in the middle for production, for failure to pay his debts, and Sterling was later sentenced to 40 years in jail for drug smuggling[1]. William Richert and much of the cast went to Germany and filmed a comedy called The American Success Company which made enough money to fund a resumption of Winter Kills two years later.
Influential publications including the New York Times, Newsweek, and the New Yorker gave positive reviews but it made little money when released. Richard Condon and William Richert hypothesize that distributor Avco Embassy killed it deliberately in order to avoid threatening defense contracts elsewhere in the conglomerate.
The movie simplifies the plot of the book somewhat, and emphasizes humor. The ending of the movie is ambiguous, leaving it unclear whether President Kegan had been killed by his (and the president's) father (John Huston), or the father's assistant, John Cerruti (Anthony Perkins).
[edit] References
- ^ "Judge hits millionaire pot smuggler with 40-year sentence," UPI, October 23, 1982
