To Have Him and Hold Him by Kieran Frank

An aspiring actress and fashion model, Bree uses her skills as part of her repertoire for certain clients (such as the older gentleman Mr.

Renting a sparse apartment in the basement of Bree’s building, Klute taps her phone and surveys her closely as she goes about her daily activities, which includes turning tricks. Six months after Gruneman’s puzzling departure, family friend and detective John Klute is hired by one of Gruneman’s colleagues Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) to assist in the on-going investigation. The only clue to his whereabouts is an obscene letter discovered in his office which is addressed to a call girl in New York City – Bree Daniels. In the opening preamble of the film we learn of the disappearance of a prominent Pennsylvanian executive by the name of Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli). Are these audio tracks demeaning to her in some way? What effect does this have on the person in question we ask ourselves. In Klute, the recordings of Bree are used as both a leverage tool and also for more carnal purposes. The recording of such messages and the potential implications for the private life of the individual was a theme which films of this era – including Sidney Lumet’s The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) – sought to address. The part that modern technology plays in such a world is addressed at an early juncture (over the opening credits to be precise) as we hear Fonda’s character’s voice on a tape recorder as she seduces a client over the telephone.

Mostly set in an urban milieu, Klute is also realistic in terms of its depiction of modern city life and the individual’s place in such an ever-changing environment. The issue of sexual relations is discussed openly and is never concealed. This is a progressive cinema verite in which the consideration of a previously taboo subject matter is quite frank and without restraint. Starring Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels – a call girl working in New York City – and Donald Sutherland as the titular John Klute – a Pennsylvanian detective – Klute is one of several films released in the early 1970s which reflects the new wave in American cinema begun with 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. Pakula-directed film Klute is not so much a film noir or a thriller, but rather an insightful character study which manages to get under the skin of its central character revealing her essential strengths, flaws and vulnerabilities.

To Have Him and Hold Him by Kieran Frank