Dialogue with Doris Nomathandé Dixon (daughter of director Ivan Dixon)
One of the most daring political films of the 1970s, The Spook Who Sat by the Door embodies as much social significance today as it did upon its initial release. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Sam Greenlee, director Ivan Dixon explored what he considered to be “a fantasy” as an African-American male in the United States with the deeply complex story of Dan Freeman, the fictional mild-mannered first black CIA agent, who uses his specialized paramilitary training to organize a black revolution.
Due to its historical and cultural significance, the film was deservedly added to the National Film Registry in 2012. It seems only fitting that a film dealing with guerrilla warfare strategies required guerrilla filmmaking tactics. Originally an independent film co-produced by Dixon and Greenlee with funds raised within the black community, the filmmaking process encountered a number of fits and starts along the way, including being denied film permits in what was then Mayor Richard J. Daley’s Chicago. It was the neighboring Gary, Indiana (at the time led by its first African American mayor, Richard G. Hatcher) that provided the backdrop for the film’s explosive riot scenes, while stealthily shot hand-held shots on the streets of Chicago established the windy city as the story’s setting.
With the production running out of resources, it was the savvy cutting and packaging of early action footage, intentionally misrepresenting the film as a typical 70’s era Blaxploitation flick, which led to the acquisition of completion funds and a distribution deal with United Artists. After a limited-city initial release, with record-setting audiences at the height of the Black Power movement, the film was quickly pulled from theaters. The content was found to be more than explosive in terms of its thought-provoking messages, examining not only the political injustices in the United States, but also the more subtle social layers within the African American experience. Dixon once said, “The Spook said everything I ever wanted to say about race in a film.”
Restored by The Library of Congress and The Film Foundation. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
