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The Legend of Lizzie Borden

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Director
  
Writer
  
Duration
  

Language
  
English

7.8/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Drama, History, Mystery

Initial release
  
February 10, 1975

Country
  
United States

The Legend of Lizzie Borden movie poster

Nominations
  
Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film

Awards
  
Edgar Awards for Best Television Feature/Mini-Series Teleplay

Cast
  
(Lizzie Borden), (Bridget Sullivan), (Hosea Knowlton), (Emma Borden), (George Robinson), (Mr. Andrew Borden)

Similar movies
  
Related Paul Wendkos movies

The Legend of Lizzie Borden is a 1975 American made-for-television historical mystery-drama film starring Elizabeth Montgomery as accused murderer Lizzie Borden, along with Katherine Helmond, Fritz Weaver and Hayden Rorke. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 1975.

Contents

The Legend of Lizzie Borden movie scenes

The legend of lizzie borden


Plot

The Legend of Lizzie Borden movie scenes

The film, although based on fact, is a stylized retelling of the events of August 4, 1892 when the father and step-mother of New England spinster Lizzie Andrew Borden were found brutally murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. The subsequent incarceration of the prime suspect (Lizzie herself) as well as the coroner's inquest and trial are largely faithfully depicted, using actual testimony. In what may be seen as deviation from the film's docudrama narrative, as Lizzie hears her verdict, flashbacks are shown of her actually committing the murders in the nude and bathing after each death, thus explaining why no blood was ever found on her or her clothes; however, it is left ambiguous whether Lizzie was actually reminiscing about the crimes or simply fantasizing how she herself would have disposed of her victims. In another deviation, after Lizzie's acquittal, her sister Emma asks her point-blank if she killed their parents; Lizzie does not answer. The epilogue states that the killings of Andrew and Abby Borden remain unsolved.

Cast

Elizabeth Montgomery and Lizzie Borden were sixth cousins once removed, both descending from 17th-century Massachusetts resident John Luther. Rhonda McClure, the genealogist who documented the Montgomery-Borden connection, said, "I wonder how Elizabeth would have felt if she knew she was playing her own cousin." One of the gowns worn by Montgomery in the film is on display at the bed-and-breakfast that now occupies the Borden house.

Awards

The film won writer William Bast the 1975 Edgar Award for Best TV Feature/Miniseries. It also won two Emmy Awards, for Costume Design (presented to Guy C. Verhille) and Film Editing (John A. Martinelli), and received nominations in three other Emmy categories: Lead Actress (Montgomery), Art Direction (Jack De Shields), and Sound Editing (Harry Gordon).

The film was also nominated for Best Motion Picture Made for Television in the 1976 Golden Globe Awards.

European version

The European theatrical version is more explicit than the one broadcast on ABC, showing Borden nude in the scenes where she kills her parents. This version also runs an extra 4 minutes, 104 minutes total versus the United States version of 100 minutes.

Release

A Region 1 DVD release of the film was released on October 7, 2014 and is now available for purchase.

References

The Legend of Lizzie Borden Wikipedia
The Legend of Lizzie Borden IMDb The Legend of Lizzie Borden themoviedb.org