And this is all before Sutherland embraced what would become his sincerely sinister era, playing villains so engaging that you couldn’t help but end up siding with them just a little. Consider his friendly spook in Oliver Stone’s JFK – no other performer could have delivered such a ridiculously paranoid monologue of conspiratorial Coles Notes and make them sound even slightly plausible. He could shoot a stare as cold as ice, directly piercing audiences’ hearts, such as in Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak, an excellent experiment in fear-mongering. And he managed to reach into the nightmares of an entirely new generation with his performance as the cruel fascist manipulating the gladiatorial contests of The Hunger Games.
What a great phrase -- "a ridiculously paranoid monologue of conspiratorial Coles Notes ..."
Growing up, I’m not sure there was another young adult in all of Canada more obsessed with Oliver Stone’s JFK than me. I can’t recall exactly how I was introduced to the 1991 film — I had the habit of going to my local Blockbuster and grabbing any release whose length required two VHS tapes — but very quickly I fell down Stone’s rabbit hole. So much so that I coerced my father to drive me to a JFK conspiracy theorist talk at the local Chapters, and even shell out for two tickets to hear Stone himself give a guest lecture at the University of Toronto. And I cannot help but think so much of my attraction to Stone’s film was in part owing to Sutherland’s masterful appearance mid-film, in which the actor, playing “Mr. X,” is asked by his director to deliver a 10-minute-plus monologue detailing the entire history of the U.S. military-industrial complex. It is such a ridiculously paranoid role of conspiratorial fever dreams, but through his usual poise and dignified presence, Sutherland sells it with the slick confidence of a master manipulator.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Fletcher Prouty
Prouty believes that JFK was hit by a flechette from the umbrella man.
Jeremy Gunn tells an audience that Fletcher Prouty was totally unreliable.
Fletcher Prouty actually claimed that Marina Oswald was in on the plot.
Mr. DiEugenio can't explain why Fletcher Prouty did such a poor job of testifying before the ARRB.
A summary document of his interview with the ARRB
Here is a link to the complete transcript of Prouty's interview with the ARRB along with some other documents.
Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and Army intelligence.
Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups.
A Fletcher Prouty letter has some explicit antisemitism.
Prouty wrote a laudatory letter to a journal dedicated to denying the Holocaust.
Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual?
Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star
Regarding the 112th Intelligence Corps (INTC) Group and/or the 316th INTC Detachment
Did Prouty keep the notes from his supposed phone call about Army intelligence?
Prouty's experience with military presidential protection duties.
Flagrant failure by the Secret Service to take minimum precautions?
Did Lee Harvey Oswald participate in a covert program in Indonesia in 1958?
Was General Edward Lansdale in one of the pictures of the three tramps?