The Spook Who Sat by the Door (film)

The Spook Who Sat by the Door
1973 movie poster
Directed byIvan Dixon
Written by
Based onThe Spook Who Sat by the Door
by Sam Greenlee
Produced by
  • Ivan Dixon
  • Sam Greenlee
StarringLawrence Cook
Paula Kelly
Janet League
J. A. Preston
David Lemieux
CinematographyMichel Hugo
Music byHerbie Hancock
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • September 21, 1973 (1973-09-21)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a 1973 action crime–drama film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Sam Greenlee (which was first published in the United Kingdom by Allison and Busby after being rejected by American publishers).[1][2] It is both a satire of the civil rights struggle in the United States of the late 1960s and a serious attempt to focus on the issue of Black militancy. Dan Freeman, the titular protagonist, is enlisted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in its elitist espionage program, becoming its token Black person. After mastering agency tactics, however, he becomes disillusioned and drops out to train young Black people in Chicago to become "Freedom Fighters". As a story of one man's reaction to white ruling-class hypocrisy, the film is loosely autobiographical and personal.[3][4]

The novel and the film also dramatize the CIA's history of giving training to persons and/or groups who later utilize their specialized intelligence training against the agency – an example of "blowback."

Directed by Ivan Dixon, co-produced by Dixon and Greenlee, from a screenplay written by Greenlee with Mel Clay, the film starred Lawrence Cook, Paula Kelly, Janet League, J. A. Preston, and David Lemieux.[5] It was mostly shot in Gary, Indiana, because the themes of racial strife did not please Chicago's then-mayor Richard J. Daley.[6][7] The soundtrack was an original score composed by Herbie Hancock,[8] who grew up in the same neighborhood as Greenlee.[1]

In 2012, the film was added to the National Film Registry,[9][10][11] which annually chooses 25 films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Somerset was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Busby was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Walker, David (January 19, 2004). "DVD Reviews: Spook Who Sat By the Door". DVD Talk. Monarch // PG // January 27, 2004.
  4. ^ Fuchs, Cynthia (March 29, 2004). "The Spook Who Sat By the Door (1973) – Freedom Dues". PopMatters.
  5. ^ "The Spook Who Sat by the Door". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  6. ^ Bates, Karen Grigsby (May 26, 2014), "MXO ‘The Arts Unplugged’: Remembering Sam Greenlee Through His Most Famous Book!" MXO.
  7. ^ Reese, Gregg, "Radical novelist Sam Greenlee dies at 83", Our Weekly (Los Angeles), May 22, 2014: "Inhibited by Mayor Richard J. Daley’s power base from filming in the novel’s Chicago locale, the production moved to nearby Gary, Ind. and the hospitality of its first African American mayor Richard G. Hatcher to resume filming."
  8. ^ "Herbie Hancock – The Spook Who Sat By The Door", United Artists Records, via discogs.
  9. ^ O'Dell, Cary (December 6, 2018), "'The Spook Who Sat By the Door': National Film Registry #24", Library of Congress.
  10. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  11. ^ "2012 National Film Registry Picks in A League of Their Own". Library of Congress (Press release). December 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  12. ^ King, Susan (December 19, 2012). "National Film Registry selects 25 films for preservation". Los Angeles Times.