Infamous (2006 film)
Infamous is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Douglas McGrath. It is based on George Plimpton's 1997 book, Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career and covers the period from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, during which Truman Capote researched and wrote his bestseller In Cold Blood.
Capote is played by Toby Jones. Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Lee Pace, and Jeff Daniels also have featured roles, with a supporting cast that includes Peter Bogdanovich, Sigourney Weaver and Hope Davis, and a song performance by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Plot
In late 1959, Truman Capote is a celebrated author who is enormously popular in New York City society for both his writing achievements as well as for his wit and fashion flair. Openly gay and flamboyant, Capote spends much of his time with "the Swans", a group of aristocratic women including Slim Keith and Babe Paley, who share gossip with him. Unbeknownst to the Swans, Capote plans to use their gossip in a book titled Answered Prayers. However, Capote puts the planned book on hold after reading an article about the murder of a farming family in Holcomb, Kansas, in the back pages of the New York Times.Curious as to how the residents would react to a brutal massacre in their midst, the author and his friend, Nelle Harper Lee, travel to Holcomb so Capote can interview people for a magazine article. However, once there, he realizes there might be enough material for what he eventually describes as a "nonfiction novel". However, his offbeat behavior both amuses and dismays the locals. The KBI's lead detective on the case, Alvin Dewey, is uncomfortable with Capote's dress and demeanor and refuses to cooperate. Capote eventually wins over the people of Holcomb with personal anecdotes about celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and ultimately gets the information he needs for his book.
Richard Hickock and Perry Smith are arrested for the murders and sentenced to death, but a lengthy period of appeals begins. Permission is given to Capote to interview them in their cells. He is able to convince Hickock to give him information about the murders in exchange for book royalties that could go to his children from a former marriage, but Smith is not interested in the idea of money, as there is no one for him to give it to. Capote repeatedly attempts to gain Smith's trust and fails. He empathizes with the convicted killer's unhappy childhood, and Smith's remorseful manner, artistic skills, and obvious intelligence impress him. When Smith learns that both of their mothers committed suicide, he begins to trust Capote.
Having been assured that he would be painted in a sympathetic light, Smith learns that Capote plans to title his book In Cold Blood, violently subdues Capote and threatens to rape him. However, Smith stops, claiming that he wanted Capote to feel betrayed, too. Later, Capote explains that the title has a double meaning, meant to refer to the justice system taking the lives of Smith and Hickok in cold blood. Capote tells Smith that if he does not tell his side of the story, he will simply go back to New York and write whatever he wants, and Smith will have no say. Once Smith reads some of what Capote has written, he realizes that Capote was being honest and finally discusses what transpired the night of the murders.
Smith confides in Capote that he is devastated that now that he has found someone to love, he cannot have him. Capote reciprocates his feelings, and the two share a kiss. The appeals take five years, during which Smith writes two letters a week to Capote. After the appeals are denied, Capote returns to Kansas to be present at their execution on April 14, 1965. Smith kisses Capote on the cheek and says "Adios, amigo". Capote witnesses Hickok's hanging, but is unable to watch Smith's death. He runs out of the building and breaks down crying in the rain.
Smith left all of his belongings to Capote, including the letters and a charcoal sketch of Capote that Smith had drawn. Nelle states her opinion that three men died that night, as Capote was never able to recover from Smith's death. The book is published and is a major success, turning Capote into one of the most wealthy and famous authors in the country, but it is the last book he is able to finish, as he begins a downward spiral of drugs and alcohol. The film ends with a distraught Capote calling Nelle and asking her to go out to celebrate a productive day of writing on his new novel. The camera pans to a notebook titled "Answered Prayers", with the page blank.
Cast
Production
Development
Douglas McGrath first conceived of Infamous as far back as 2000. He approached Christine Vachon of Killer Films with the concept, and she liked the idea and told him to write a script. McGrath wrote half the script before shelving it so he could write and direct Nicholas Nickelby. After that film was released, he returned to working on Infamous. After finishing the script, Vachon showed it to Warner Independent, which she had a first look deal with, and they greenlit the project immediately. The film was made on about a $12 million budget. For the role of Truman Capote, both McGrath's agent, Sam Cohn, and Ellen Lewis, his casting director, suggested Toby Jones on the very first day when they got the script. McGrath auditioned many actors for the part but realized Jones was right not only for his physical resemblance, but because of how immersed he was in the role. McGrath said: "We did end up casting him after a long, long search of better known actors where we auditioned and tested and met with lots of people who really wanted to play the part. But when I read with them — and they were wonderful actors — they always seemed like wonderful actors doing a very good impersonation of Truman. But they didn’t actually fully become Truman Capote. You never fully forgot who they were and accepted them as Truman — until Toby." Toby Jones studied Capote's mannerisms extensively and was able to get the voice right after protruding his lower jaw out just slightly, which he noticed Capote did. Woody Allen, who knew Truman Capote, introduced McGrath to Dick Cavett, who gave the production access to every single one of his interviews with Truman Capote. McGrath claims that he showed the film to a childhood friend of Capote's and she was so struck by Jones' resemblance both in appearance and voice to Capote, that she believed Capote was in the room for the first time since his death.McGrath did extensive research and consulted a wide variety of sources for the film. He read Capote's handwritten letters and notebooks, interviewing his surviving friends from both New York and Kansas. McGrath's primary source was the 1997 comprehensive biography Truman Capote by Capote's longtime friend and colleague, George Plimpton. Plimpton created the book based on his own interviews with Capote, as well as his interviews with Capote's friends, acquaintances, enemies and critics. After completing his research into Capote's rise and fall, McGrath concluded that the cause of Capote's downfall must have been the toll writing In Cold Blood took on him, and decided that he wanted the film to primarily be centered on the complex relationship between Capote and Smith. Although most believe Capote's downfall began with the November 1975 publication of "La Côte Basque, 1965", a scandalous chapter from Answered Prayers, in Esquire, McGrath's view was not without support. Capote's colleague John Knowles told Plimpton that he believed that 1966 was the beginning of the end for Truman: "The execution of the two murderers in Kansas was a terribly traumatic experience for him. But I don't think there was any one turning point in his life, no moment when Truman's life turned around. If there was, it was the success of In Cold Blood. It was such an overwhelming success in every way, critically, financially, I think he lost a grip on himself after that. He had been tremendously disciplined up to that time. One of the most disciplined writers I've ever met. But he couldn't sustain it after that. A lot of his motivation was lost. That's when he began to unravel." This view was also held by Capote's friend Gerald Clarke, who wrote his own 1988 biography, Capote, which would later become the basis for the previous year's film of the same name, also about the writing of In Cold Blood. Capote told Clarke:
In a quote that stuck with McGrath, who referenced it on the DVD audio commentary, Capote told George Plimpton in a New York Times interview on January 16, 1966: