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IMDbPro

The Traveling Executioner

  • 19701970
  • RR
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
409
YOUR RATING
The Traveling Executioner (1970)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:01
1 Video
14 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Western
Stacy Keach is electrifying as Jonas Candide, an ex-carny who in 1918 travels around the bayou with a portable electric chair. At $100 a head, he renders his services with loving care. But t... Read allStacy Keach is electrifying as Jonas Candide, an ex-carny who in 1918 travels around the bayou with a portable electric chair. At $100 a head, he renders his services with loving care. But then he falls for a female "client".Stacy Keach is electrifying as Jonas Candide, an ex-carny who in 1918 travels around the bayou with a portable electric chair. At $100 a head, he renders his services with loving care. But then he falls for a female "client".
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
409
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Jack Smight
  • Writer
    • Garrie Bateson
  • Stars
    • Stacy Keach
    • Marianna Hill
    • Bud Cort
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jack Smight
  • Writer
    • Garrie Bateson
  • Stars
    • Stacy Keach
    • Marianna Hill
    • Bud Cort
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Traveling Executioner
    Trailer 3:01
    The Traveling Executioner

    Photos14

    The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Bud Cort and Stacy Keach in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Bud Cort in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach and Marianna Hill in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Marianna Hill in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach and Marianna Hill in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    Stacy Keach in The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    The Traveling Executioner (1970)
    The Traveling Executioner (1970)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Stacy Keach
    Stacy Keach
    • Jonas Candideas Jonas Candide
    Marianna Hill
    Marianna Hill
    • Gundred Herzallerliebstas Gundred Herzallerliebst
    • (as Mariana Hill)
    Bud Cort
    Bud Cort
    • Jimmyas Jimmy
    Graham Jarvis
    Graham Jarvis
    • Doc Prittleas Doc Prittle
    James Sloyan
    James Sloyan
    • Piquantas Piquant
    • (as James J. Sloyan)
    M. Emmet Walsh
    M. Emmet Walsh
    • Warden Brodskias Warden Brodski
    John Bottoms
    • Lawyeras Lawyer
    Ford Rainey
    Ford Rainey
    • Stanley Maeas Stanley Mae
    James Greene
    James Greene
    • Gravey Combsas Gravey Combs
    Sam Reese
    Sam Reese
    • Priestas Priest
    • (as Sammy Reese)
    Stefan Gierasch
    Stefan Gierasch
    • Willy Herzallerliebstas Willy Herzallerliebst
    Logan Ramsey
    Logan Ramsey
    • La Folletteas La Follette
    Charles Tyner
    Charles Tyner
    • Virgilas Virgil
    William Mims
    William Mims
    • Lynnas Lynn
    Val Avery
    Val Avery
    • Jakeas Jake
    Walter Barnes
    Walter Barnes
    • Sheriffas Sheriff
    Charlie Briggs
    • Zakas Zak
    Paul Gauntt
    • Jeremyas Jeremy
    • Director
      • Jack Smight
    • Writer
      • Garrie Bateson
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was filmed at Alabama's then recently closed Kilby Prison off of Coliseum Blvd. in Montgomery. As part of an agreement with the state for filming rights, filmmakers were supposed to have demolished the prison's massive walls with pyrotechnics during/after the film. However, the walls were so thick, three charges failed to do the job, and their remnants stayed around for years afterwards.
    • Goofs
      An important plot point is the existence of a portable electric chair which makes the career of "traveling executioner" possible. Unfortunately, as shown in the movie, it can't work. To perform an execution Keach "starts" a big electric generator in his horse-drawn van. But the generator has no power source! At the time the story takes place the internal combustion engine was new and rudimentary. The only transportable source of mechanical power was the steam engine. There were no diesel powered generators. Of course a steam engine large enough to produce the necessary mechanical power to turn the electric generator would have been almost as large as the van and would have required hours to build up enough steam to do the job. Also, a substantial amount of coal to make the steam would be needed. In any case, no motive power is shown and this explains why there were likely no traveling electrocutionists. Why a remote prison would not simply hang convicted criminals is likewise not explained.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Lost Empire (1984)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    Fields of Ambrosia
    One of the great forgotten cinematic gems of yesteryear! From 1970, a young, whipcord fit, badass Stacy Keach stars as Jonas Candide, a traveling executioner who cruises the American South with his beloved portable electric chair, pulling the switch on murderers and thieves in 1918. Keach is shockingly good as he gets caught up in a scheme to save the life of a beautiful German woman slated for execution.

    Keach's trademark facial scar is on full display here, not obscured by a mustache as it would be almost forevermore in later films. It adds something to the role, like a tiny crack in an otherwise perfect human statue. The film also features character actor Bud Cort in an early role.

    The opening and finale scenes where Keach delivers Jonas' Fields of Ambrosia monologues are some of the best in 1970s cinema, and Jonas Candide is one of the great characters of Seventies film, he's a drunkard, a womanizer, a liar, a glutton, (the massive meal Candide sits down to eat after an execution has to be seen to be believed, massive plates of biscuits, Canadian bacon and Darwin knows what else) yet beneath it all he has a heart, Jonas, like the film, is darkly funny and darkly lovable.

    Fantastically directed by Jack Smight, with a fine score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the seemingly only feature film screenplay credit by forgotten rebel screenwriter Garrie Bateson.

    If there ever was a Traveling Time Traveler, a jump back into the wayback machine could correct the travesty of not nominating this film for Oscars for Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture in 1970!
    helpful•7
    0
    • newnoir
    • Feb 8, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 23, 1972 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Der reisende Henker
    • Filming locations
      • Kilby Prison, Montgomery, Alabama, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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