The Murder of Mary Phagan
The Murder of Mary Phagan | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime Drama History |
Written by | Jeffrey Lane (teleplay) George Stevens Jr.(teleplay) |
Story by | Larry McMurtry |
Directed by | William Hale |
Starring | Jack Lemmon Richard Jordan Kevin Spacey Rebecca Miller William H. Macy Cynthia Nixon |
Theme music composer | Maurice Jarre |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | George Stevens Jr. (producer) Caroline Stevens (associate producer) |
Production locations | Richmond, Virginia Petersburg, Virginia |
Cinematography | Nicholas D. Knowland |
Editor | John A. Martinelli |
Running time | 251 min. |
Production company | Orion Pictures |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | January 24 January 26, 1988[1] | –
The Murder of Mary Phagan is a 1988 American two-part television miniseries starring Jack Lemmon. The supporting cast features Richard Jordan, Robert Prosky, Peter Gallagher, Kathryn Walker, Rebecca Miller, Paul Dooley, Charles Dutton, Kevin Spacey, Cynthia Nixon, Dylan Baker and William H. Macy.
Summary
Dramatizing the true story of Leo Frank, a factory manager who was convicted of the murder a 13-year-old girl, a factory worker named Mary Phagan, in Atlanta in 1913. His trial was sensational and controversial and at its end, Frank was convicted of murdering Mary Phagan and sentenced to death by hanging. After Frank's legal appeals failed, the governor of Georgia commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on June 21, 1915, destroying his own career in the process. On the morning of August 17, 1915 Frank was kidnapped from prison and lynched by a small group of prominent men from Marietta, Georgia, Mary Phagan's home town.[2][3][4] [5][6][7][8]
Production
Written by Larry McMurtry, produced by George Stevens Jr., and directed by William "Billy" Hale, the miniseries stars Lemmon and features Kevin Spacey, Rebecca Miller, Peter Gallagher, Charles Dutton, Richard Jordan, Cynthia Nixon, Dylan Baker and William H. Macy. Lemmon noted during a publicity appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson shortly before the miniseries was broadcast, that the cast was the best with which he had ever worked.
The film was shot in Richmond, Virginia, extensively in Shockoe Bottom, with a running time of 251 minutes (over 4 hours), originally broadcast over two evenings by NBC.
Cast
- Jack Lemmon as Gov. John Slaton
- Richard Jordan as Hugh Dorsey
- Robert Prosky as Tom Watson
- Peter Gallagher as Leo Frank
- Kathryn Walker as Sally Slaton
- Rebecca Miller as Lucille Frank
- Paul Dooley as William Burns
- Charles Dutton as Jim Conley
- Kevin Spacey as Wes Brent
- Cynthia Nixon as Doreen
- Dylan Baker as the Governor's Assistant
- William H. Macy as Randy (credited as W.H. Macy)
- Kevin Kravitz as Jurist (unbilled)
- William Newman
- Russell Murray as Militia Guard (unbilled)
Honors
The film won three Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries[9] and a Peabody Award.[10]
Other treatments
An earlier movie version of the case, with the names changed, was directed by Mervyn LeRoy in 1937 and titled They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains and Lana Turner. In 1997, David Mamet published a book about Leo Frank titled The Old Religion. The following year a Broadway musical titled Parade, written by the playwright Alfred Uhry, with music composed by Jason Robert Brown was produced. In 2004 the journalist Steve Oney published his history of the Mary Phagan case, titled And the Dead Shall Rise. The trial and Frank's lynching have also been explored in works of academic history.
References
- ^ Hal Erickson (2008). "The Murder of Mary Phagan (1987)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^ "Leo Frank and the murder of Mary Phagan" - Our Georgian History
- ^ MSN movies: The Murder of Mary Phagan, MSN
- ^ Murder of Mary Phagan, University of San Diego, Filmnotes
- ^ "Leo Frank", Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ "Little Secrets" Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, About North Georgia
- ^ "Leo Frank", Atlanta Nation
- ^ "The Lynching of Leo Frank", American Jewish Historical Society
- ^ Television Academy
- ^ "Peabody Awards". Retrieved 2019-01-30.
External links
- 1988 television films
- 1988 films
- 1980s crime drama films
- American biographical series
- American crime drama films
- Films about Jews and Judaism
- Films about miscarriage of justice
- Films set in Atlanta
- Films set in the 1910s
- NBC network original films
- Peabody Award-winning television programs
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries winners
- Films with screenplays by Larry McMurtry
- Crime films based on actual events
- Films set in 1913
- Films set in 1915
- Films directed by William Hale (director)
- 1980s American films