IN COLD BLOOD DIRECTED BY RICHARD BROOKS COLUMBIA TRISTAR I'D HESITATE TO call ...

D DIRECTED BY RICHARD BROOKS COLUMBIA TRISTAR

I'D HESITATE TO call Robert Blake portraying a brutal killer a case of life imitating art. After all, In Cold Blood is already based on a true story, and Blake's victims in this case weren't asking for it.

The former child star plays Perry Smith, a softhearted loser who dreams of finding lost treasure. Scott Wilson plays Dick Hickock, a smooth-talking grifter fresh out of prison. When the two hook up, bad things happen.

Hickock claims he knows of a "sure thing"—an old farmer named Clutter with a safe full of cash. When the two break into the house, though, they find there is no safe; by morning, the Clutter family is dead. The savage murders shocked the nation, and Truman Capote's bestseller helped define the "true crime" genre.

Brooks followed Capote's lead, shooting the film in as many actual locations as he could, including the house where the murders took place. While this gives the film a documentary feel, Brooks also plays around with structure, jumping back and forth in time and between characters. All in all, it's as compelling today as it was in 1967. With loads of great character actors, and no extras.