{ "id": "ep2ey9jd64", "slug": "the-split-1968-film", "title": "The Split (1968 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "label": "1960s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Split (1968) is an American heist film directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring Jim Brown as thief McClain, adapted from Donald E. Westlake's Parker novel The Seventh; first theatrical release to receive an R rating, about a $500,000 Los Angeles Coliseum robbery.", "snippet": "The Split (1968) is an American heist film directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring Jim Brown as thief McClain, adapted from Donald E. Westlake's Parker novel The Seventh; first theatrical release to receive an R rating, about a $500,000 Los Angeles Coliseum robbery.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "markdown": "# The Split (1968 film)\n\n**The Split** is a 1968 American crime film directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring [Jim Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-brown) as a professional thief who organizes a half-million-dollar robbery of the Los Angeles Coliseum during a football game, and adapted from the 1966 novel *The Seventh* by Richard Stark, the pseudonym of [Donald E. Westlake](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-e-westlake).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) Produced by [Irwin Winkler](https://www.edgepedia.org/irwin-winkler) and Robert Chartoff for Spectrum Productions and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is remembered both as a heist picture in the tradition of *The Asphalt Jungle* (1950) and *The Killing* (1956) and as an early Hollywood film to put a Black leading man at the center of a genre role usually given to white actors.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Chicago opening 8 October 1968; United States theatrical release 4 November 1968[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866) |\n| Source | *The Seventh* (1966), the seventh novel in Richard Stark's Parker series; screenplay by Robert Sabaroff[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) |\n| Rating milestone | The first theatrical release under the new MPAA ratings system to receive an R rating[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) |\n| Plot premise | A gang robs $500,000 in receipts from the Los Angeles Coliseum during a sold-out Rams game, then falls out over the missing money[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) |\n| Lead cast | Jim Brown (McClain), Diahann Carroll (Ellie), Julie Harris (Gladys), Gene Hackman (Lt. Walter Brill), Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman, Warren Oates, James Whitmore, Donald Sutherland[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography Burnett Guffey, music Quincy Jones, editing Rita Roland[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866) |\n| Runtime and format | 90 to 91 minutes, Metrocolor, Panavision[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nMcClain, a recently released ex-convict, returns to Los Angeles and teams with Gladys ([Julie Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-harris)), a former partner in crime who bankrolls one last big score so that both can leave the business.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) He recruits four specialists, testing each without the man knowing he is being auditioned: Bert Clinger ([Ernest Borgnine](https://www.edgepedia.org/ernest-borgnine)) for muscle, Harry Kifka ([Jack Klugman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-klugman)) as getaway driver, Marty Gough (Warren Oates) as escape artist and safecracker, and Dave Negli (Donald Sutherland) as a professional killer.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\nThe gang robs the Coliseum box office take during a Rams game and hides the $500,000 in the apartment of McClain's estranged wife Ellie ([Diahann Carroll](https://www.edgepedia.org/diahann-carroll)), who agrees to hold it on the condition that this be his last job.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) The plan then collapses: Ellie's psychotic landlord Herb Sutro ([James Whitmore](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-whitmore)) kills her and steals the money, and the gang, suspecting McClain of a double cross, tortures him and turns on one another.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) Detective Lieutenant Walter Brill ([Gene Hackman](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-hackman)), a crooked cop, kills Sutro while resisting arrest and keeps the loot; McClain then makes a deal with Brill to eliminate the surviving gang members in exchange for his own share and passage out of Los Angeles.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) The film ends on an ambiguous freeze frame as McClain, preparing to leave for Mexico, hears an unseen woman calling his name.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\n## Production and cast\n\nThe film was produced by Spectrum Productions with [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-goldwyn-mayer) as distributor, and location scenes were filmed in Los Angeles and San Pedro, California.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866) Burnett Guffey, who had won Academy Awards for shooting *From Here to Eternity* (1953) and *Bonnie and Clyde*, was the cinematographer, and [Quincy Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/quincy-jones) wrote the score, which includes the songs \"It's Just a Game, Love\" performed by Arthur Prysock, \"A Good Woman's Love\" sung by [Sheb Wooley](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheb-wooley), and the title theme sung by Billy Preston.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\nThe supporting cast mixed Hollywood veterans, including Julie Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman, and James Whitmore, with actors then on the way up, including [Donald Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-sutherland), Gene Hackman, and [Warren Oates](https://www.edgepedia.org/warren-oates).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) Hackman had just completed *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967), and his Academy Award nomination for that film was announced while he was making *The Split*; his role here, however, does not appear until roughly the final third of the picture.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) For Jim Brown, the former [Cleveland Browns](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland-browns) fullback who had turned to acting in 1964 with *Rio Conchos*, the film was a star vehicle in which, as he later noted in his autobiography, he played the boss of a crew of famous white co-stars.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\n## The Parker adaptation\n\n*The Seventh* is the seventh novel in the series of crime novels about the professional thief Parker, written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark.[3](https://themagnificent60s.com/2021/07/17/book-into-film-the-split/) In the film the character is renamed McClain, and the first half of the movie, especially the stadium heist, follows the novel closely.[4](https://toughbusiness.neocities.org/thesplit68) The storyline pays homage to earlier heist thrillers such as *The Asphalt Jungle* (1950) and *The Killing* (1956), in which a gang of thieves falls out over stolen loot through bad luck and unforeseen circumstances.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) Other Parker novels filmed around the same period include *The Hunter*, adapted as *Point Blank* (1967) by the same producers, Winkler and Chartoff.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\n## Reception\n\nRoger Ebert, the film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, wrote in October 1968 that *The Split* was \"the first Hollywood film to deliberately, overtly exploit black-white tensions in American society,\" while also calling it \"a first-rate piece of entertainment.\"[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-split-1968) He noted that during the first 30 minutes Brown's character makes what appear to be unprovoked attacks on four white men, attacks later revealed as tests of the men he wants for his crew, and he described Brown as looking \"like a Bogart type: tough, cynical, quiet-spoken, a loner.\"[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-split-1968) Renata Adler of *The New York Times* found the film uneven, praising the first hour's direction, its chases \"on the order of *Bullitt*,\" and its use of split screen during the credits, while observing that the last hour makes \"a sudden and extremely ambitious leap outside its genre\" into racially serious material, and concluding that \"the film is almost completely successful in its two unmatched parts.\"[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) Pauline Kael, reviewing the film in *The New Yorker* in November 1968, was far cooler, writing that for long stretches she mostly listened to the Quincy Jones music, a comment she framed as a judgment on Flemyng's handling of actors and staging of action.[6](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1968/11/23/muddling-through)\n\nThe film opened to mixed reviews but performed well at the box office, leading MGM to cast Jim Brown in further genre films such as *Kenner* (1969) and *tick...tick...tick* (1970).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split) On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 31% Tomatometer score from three critic reviews.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10003169-split) Later assessments have often grouped it with the blaxploitation films of the late 1960s, though Turner Classic Movies' survey argues it is not representative of that genre and is better understood as a contemporary film noir.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n\n## Availability\n\nIn the United States the film is available to stream free with ads on Tubi and Plex, and to rent from $3.99 or buy from $9.99 on services including Apple TV, Prime Video, Google TV, and YouTube.[8](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-split/1075421/where-to-watch/) A DVD edition was released on April 5, 2012.[8](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-split/1075421/where-to-watch/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Jeff Stafford, \"The Split,\" Turner Classic Movies, June 21, 2009](https://www.tcm.com/articles/245795/the-split)\n2. [The Split (1968), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22866)\n3. [Brian Hannan, \"Book Into Film – 'The Split' (1968),\" The Magnificent 60s, July 17, 2021](https://themagnificent60s.com/2021/07/17/book-into-film-the-split/)\n4. [\"Time Capsule: The Split (1968),\" tough business: a Parker site](https://toughbusiness.neocities.org/thesplit68)\n5. [Roger Ebert, review of The Split, Chicago Sun-Times, October 17, 1968](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-split-1968)\n6. [Pauline Kael, \"Muddling Through,\" The New Yorker, November 16, 1968](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1968/11/23/muddling-through)\n7. [The Split, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10003169-split)\n8. [Where to Watch The Split (1968), Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-split/1075421/where-to-watch/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Split (1968 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Split (1968 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Split (1968 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-split-1968-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Split is an American heist film directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring Jim Brown as thief McClain, adapted from Donald E." }