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Straw Dogs
Sign in to save1971 American film by Sam Peckinpah
Film · TMDB
7.2David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.
Cast
- Dustin Hoffman as David Sumner
- Susan George as Amy
- Peter Vaughan as Tom Hedden
- T. P. McKenna as Maj. John Scott
- Del Henney as Charlie Venner
- Jim Norton as Chris Cawsey
Themes
- rape
- countryside
- based on novel or book
- primal fear
- england
- country life
- cornwall, england
- revenge
- rural area
- shocking
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Ratings
IMDb
7.4/10
67,962 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
82%
Metacritic
75/100
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 113 min
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 3 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- Sam Peckinpah
- Screenplay by
- David Zelag Goodman Sam Peckinpah
- Based on
- The Siege of Trencher's Farm , (1969 novel), by Gordon M. Williams
- Produced by
- Daniel Melnick
- Starring
- Dustin Hoffman Susan George
- Cinematography
- John Coquillon
- Edited by
- Paul Davies Tony Lawson Roger Spottiswoode
- Music by
- Jerry Fielding
- Production companies
- ABC Pictures Talent Associates Amerbroco Films
- Distributed by
- Cinerama Releasing Corporation (US and UK) 20th Century Fox (International)
- Release dates
- November 1971 ( 1971-11 ) (UK) 22 December 1971 ( 1971-12-22 ) (Los Angeles)
- Running time
- 117 minutes , 112 minutes (Edited cut)
- Countries
- United States United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $2.2 million or £1 million or $3.2 million
- Box office
- $8 million (rentals)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Duration
- 117
- FilmAffinity ID
- 731920
Show 4 more facts
- publication date
- 1971-00-00
- title
- Straw Dogs
- review score
- 75/100
- capital cost
- 2200000
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Article
Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay, by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman, is based on Gordon M. Williams's 1969 novel, The Siege of Trencher's Farm. The film's title is derived from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens people to the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog, being of ceremonial worth, but afterwards discarded with indifference.
The film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and two complicated rape scenes, which were censored by numerous film rating boards. Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over a perceived increase of violence in films generally.