Straw Dogs (1971)

A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (screenplay), Sam Peckinpah (screenplay),

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dustin Hoffman	...	David Sumner
Susan George	...	Amy Sumner
Peter Vaughan	...	Tom Hedden
T.P. McKenna	...	Major John Scott
Del Henney	...	Charlie Venner
Jim Norton	...	Chris Cawsey
Donald Webster	...	Riddaway
Ken Hutchison	...	Norman Scutt
Len Jones	...	Bobby Hedden
Sally Thomsett	...	Janice Hedden
Robert Keegan	...	Harry Ware
Peter Arne	...	John Niles
Cherina Schaer	...	Louise Hood
Colin Welland	...	Reverend Barney Hood
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
June Brown	...	Mrs. Hedden (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Upon moving to Britain to get away from American violence, astrophysicist David Sumner and his wife Amy are bullied and taken advantage of by the locals hired to do construction. When David finally takes a stand it escalates quickly into a bloody battle as the locals assault his house.

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Plot Keywords:

american | assault | construction | violence | house | 

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Taglines:

Every man has a breaking point.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 December 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Strawdogs

Filming Locations:

Lamorna Cove, Lamorna, Cornwall, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$3,251,794 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 794,608 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Pictures, Talent Associates, Amerbroco

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 113 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (opening credits) Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Peckinpah wanted Richard Harris or Peter O'Toole for the role of Charlie Vennor and the DVD contains an extract from his original letter to Harris.

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Goofs

When Amy fires the shotgun at the last attacker both the hammers are in the 'uncocked' position. She would need to pull the hammer of the relevant barrel backwards to cock the gun.

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Quotes

David Sumner: Jesus. I got 'em all!

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Connections

Referenced in Death Wish (1974)

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Soundtracks

"Cara Nome"
(uncredited)
from "Rigoletto"
Music by Giuseppe Verdi

User Reviews

"I don't know my way home. " - Henry Niles

I didn't know quite what to think after viewing Sam Peckinpah's controversial-for-the-day suspense drama 'Straw Dogs'. I kind of liked it, but I was very confused by it. The film starts off a real bore, and then gets a tad interesting about half an hour into it. At the one hour mark it gets consistently entertaining, and the final half-hour of the film is non-stop suspense and thrills. The film is really dull when the first half, and wildly entertaining the second half. Dustin Hoffman gives an astonishing performance as to be expected as the poor Math geek who decides he's not gonna take sh*t from no one anymore, and Susan George is very so-so in her role (she's topless in the film, so that's a plus for all you hound dogs out there). The movie is very brutal and violent in it's final thirty minutes and it contains a very strange and disturbing semi-mutual rape scene towards the middle. This isn't really a film for the weak-stomached, like a lot films of this genre. Sam Peckinpah does a fine job directing, but the screenplay has some major pacing problems and doesn't follow through on a lot of things. I didn't have a clue what to make of the abrupt and confusing ending the film had. I felt it was trying to put across a message, but I have no idea what that message was. In conclusion, 'Straw Dogs' is well worth watching just to see that exhilarating final thirty minutes and to see a very young Dustin Hoffman. Grade: B-