Cockfighter

Overview

Also known as Born to Kill, Wild Drifter and Gamblin' Man, the film explores a Georgian (Warren Oates) who trains fighting cocks for championship tournaments.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/29/2017
UPC:	0889290390547
Original Release:	1974
Source:	Film Detective
Language:	English
Time:	1:23:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Warren Oates	Frank Mansfield
Richard B. Shull	Omar Baradansky
Harry Dean Stanton	Jack Burke
Ed Begley Jr.	Tom Peeples
Troy Donahue	Randall Mansfield
Millie Perkins	Frances Mansfield
Laurie Bird	Dody White Burke
Robert Earl Jones	Buford
Patricia Pearcy	Mary Elizabeth
Steve Railsback	Junior
Tom Spratley	Mister Peeples
Pete Munro	Packard
Kermit Echols	Fred Reed
Oliver Coleman	Senator Foxhall
Donnie Fritts	Gangleader - old man mask
Bobby Dunn	Gambler
Warren Finnerty	Actor
Charles Willeford	Actor
Michael Franks	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles Willeford

Roger Corman	Producer
Samuel W. Gelfman	Producer
Monte Hellman	Director
Charles Willeford	Screenwriter
Lee Alexander	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Although it has done nothing to enhance director Monte Hellman's reputation among animal rights activists, this gritty exploitation of underground cockfighting has pecked out a substantial cult niche for itself. Hellman regular Warren Oates delivers a bravura performance as a rough-and-tumble master cockfighter who, after his big mouth costs him the Cockfighter of the Year award, vows to never speak until he can reclaim the much-coveted championship from rival Harry Dean Stanton. Oates steals the show, expressing himself only through minimal voice-overs and his unmatched charisma. When it comes to his character's unsteady relationships with costars Laurie Bird and Millie Perkins, Oates explores his character's cocky competitiveness as a repression of sexual desire, one of many undercurrents that raise Cockfighter above its assumed stance as a Roger Corman-produced B-flick. Likewise, in a moment mirroring a fight, Oates is attacked in the ring by Bird's character, who is appropriately dressed in rooster red and named "Ms. Bird." But Hellman never forgets the film's exploitation roots, raising the cockfights to the level of spectacle -- a cinematic undertaking that is not for the weak of stomach or politically disinclined.