Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

les6969 I cannot better the review of this TV film given earlier by 'Michael Elliott' but I want to add my thoughts on how this film left me feeling. It is sad that there are so many persons in the 'Deep South' who seem to be so full of hate that their sense of decency is so completely destroyed. The man was found guilty for many reasons but evidence was certainly not one of them. Racial prejudice, Social prejudice ( he was rich and from the north ), Desire for Political advancement, Desire for fame ( name in the paper etc ) or just plain hatred for no other reason than you are thick as two planks were among the reasons this man was murdered and the real murderer allowed to get away. OK he was found guilty by a jury but they were not shown all the evidence and they had listened to a convincing ambitious prosecutor who seems to have coached many of his so called witnesses and even made up evidence and ignored any that proved 'Franks' innocence. But what is more disturbing is the lynching of this man after it had started to become clear that someone else had done this. In a court today ( we hope ) this would never have happened. The guy who wrote the note and changed his story many times would be a prime suspect but in this case it appeared not to be so? I cannot understand why the hatred for 'Frank' was more than the south's usual hatred for blacks? Or was it just that having made a massive mistake their pride wouldn't allow them to back down? One thing that this film does omit is the fact that many of those baying for Franks blood were Ku Klux Klan members or sympathisers. This film left me feeling angry and bewildered at the ignorance and lack of intelligence, morals and decency of so many people and not that many years ago.

trob226 This TV miniseries would put most feature films to shame. First rate story, historically based, first rate cast all at the top of their game, all seemed to know that this was an important story to tell. The late Jack Lemmon, the late Richard Jordan, Peter Gallagher, Charles Dutton and Robert Prosky were spot on, and I thought Rebecca Miller as Lucille Frank was marvelous. Even the more minor characters (which included a young William H. Macy as "W.H.Macy") were letter perfect. The only thing that keeps me from giving the film a 10 is that it needed to be tightened up in the last hour or so, but if you edited it a bit and otherwise released it as a feature right now, Oscars would be handed out. It's that compelling and that well executed.

malvernp This mini-series captures Jack Lemmon in a strong role as a real historical figure. Governor Slaton of Georgia risked (and ultimately lost) a promising political career in his search for the truth as to what really happened to Mary Phagan. Lemmon is heroic in an understated way----very different than many of the manic-like comedy performances that conspicuously dotted his long career.The story was filmed before in 1937 by Warner Brothers with Mervyn LeRoy directing as "They Won't Forget." This is the film that launched the career of Lana Turner as a major sex symbol. She played the very small Mary Phagan-like role when just a young teenager---and who could forget her famous stroll through town as she strutted her sexy stuff just before her murder? In "They Won't Forget," the story was changed significantly to eliminate any reference to the Leo Frank-like character as a Jew. Instead, he was depicted as a teacher (not a pencil factory manager) with apparently a Christian background."They Won't Forget" was a typical Warner Brothers social drama of the 1930s. It fudged on the facts but was quite gripping and engrossing. Claude Rains may have been somewhat over-the-top as the prosecuting attorney---but he commanded your attention.On the other hand, "The Murder of Mary Phagan" stays much closer to the true story. It's interesting to compare the two films to see just how much easier it was in 1988 to tell the whole narrative of the Leo Frank case than it was in 1937.For another source of information on this remarkable historical event, seek out Harry Golden's fine book of many years ago---"A Little Girl is Dead."

sherlock-34 This program boasts a great cast, but more importantly it is a textbook case of how a television drama should be mounted. An intriguing but basic courtroom drama that takes on greater significance as the plot develops. Fine characterizations abound in this production. It doesn't get much better than this.