BlacKkKlansman

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Yes, it really happened: In 1979 a black police officer infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. No, we’re not talking about an episode of CNN’s “United Shades of America” starring W. Kamau Bell. This was a real-life undercover sting by Ron Stallworth, a member of the Intelligence Team at the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The sting exposed several members of the military as Klan members, including two NORAD officers who controlled nuclear weapons.

How did a black man pass as a Klansman? He had a white stand-in for face-to-face meetings. But on the phone or under a hooded robe he masqueraded as a racist white man that “hated blacks, Jews, Mexicans, Asians.”

Stallworth ultimately became the leader of the KKK’s local chapter and gained the trust of Grand Wizard David Duke.

Honest.

It’s not so surprising that Spike Lee decided to co-produce and direct a film based on Stallworth’s tell-all book. (Full disclosure: Spike Lee, the acclaimed director of “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X,” is black)

The film – “BlacKkKlansman” — is billed as a biography, a comedy, and a crime drama. Take your choice, but the Klan is usually considered a serious subject.

John David Washington (son of Denzel Washington) stars as the undercover cop.

Topher Grace (Venom in “Spider-Man 3” and TV’s “That ‘70s Show) takes on the role of David Duke, then-head of the KKK.

Others in the film include Adam Driver (of “Star Wars” fame) and Alec Baldwin (the ubiquitous actor seen in everything from the new “Mission Impossible” to TV’s “Saturday Night Live”).

“BlacKkKlansman” is currently infiltrating Tropic Cinema.

The film project was brought to Spike Lee by Jordan Peele, director of “Get Out.”

As Spike Lee recalls it: “When he explained it to me, my next words were, ‘Is it true?’ People say, ‘Didn’t Dave Chappelle have a skit like that?’ I could see why Jordan and his team thought this was something that would work for me.”

Added disclosure: Spike Lee’s wife once approached me to help her launch an entertainment magazine.

Further disclosure: I taught at NYU where Spike Lee studied film.

Final disclosure: I liked this film.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com