I'd highly recommend The Murder of Mary Phagan(1988) , a great Jack Lemmon outing in the latter part of his long career. It was based on the real life story of a twelve year girl Mary Phagan who worked in a pencil factory in Georgia and allegedly murdered by her young employer Leo Frank. A memorable scene was when a black guy, who in the real life story had defecated in the bottom of an elevator shaft and in the film the feces was subtituted with a miniature novelty umbrella. That black guy IMHO and in evidence uncovered in more recent years probably committed the murder because he wanted the girl's paycheck. He is portrayed as guilty as a 3 $ bill.
Yes, excellent film and it's interesting to compare it with They Won't Forget, 1937, treating the same case, although with fictionalized names, and starring the great Claude Rains as the unscrupulous prosecutor.
Re: any made-for-tv movie you'd recommend
Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 1:55 pm
by Frame Rate
When the production of made-for-TV movies really got rolling, as the 1960s ended and live-TV anthology drama was nearly extinct, off-network syndication and extended residual-payment clauses seem to have been omitted (either as an oversight or to hold costs down) from the initial talent-and-technical contracts drawn up, even though overseas theatrical distribution provisions were often included.
When the U.S. home-video era blossomed, that meant lots of re-negotiations for extended rights and payments, not all of which were successful -- or even attempted. Thus the seeming "disappearance" of so many early MFTV features -- at least until their reappearance, a generation later, on the collectors' "grey market" in copies of sometimes abysmal quality.
MFTV movies of more recent decades, thankfully, now usually go into production with virtually all conceivable "windows of exhibition" covered in the initial contracting, thus assuring (but still not guaranteeing) the film's continued availability to interested viewers/purchasers/renters long after the higher profile television first-runs and re-runs have concluded.
It was based on the real life story of a twelve year girl Mary Phagan who worked in a pencil factory in Georgia and allegedly murdered by her young employer Leo Frank.
That became an important legal case. A good set of lectures in the "Modern Scholar" series from Recorded Books is "Fundamental Cases: The Twentieth-Century Courtroom Battles that Changed Our Nation" by Alan Dershowitz. The second lecture is about the Leo Frank case.
With the advent of HD and streaming networks that pay big bucks to create new content, the cinematic quality of "made for tv" has leapfrogged. There is essentially no difference in the technical quality of content on TV as compared to theatrical media, and in general the quality of the stories told is better because they don't have to be blockbusters.
Not seen much in the way of made-for-tv 'movies' for ages (and the few I have have mostly long been forgotten), one can comment that a fair bit of what passes for films nowadays (VICTORIA AND ABDUL, RED JOAN, FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY) come over to me as television drama shown on a big screen before settling back to its proper home. Of course, television companies have long had an association with the producers of such works, going back at least to Channel 4's 'Film on Four' and later offerings such as THE QUEEN and THE KING'S SPEECH. Having said that, the above titles are all British...
I'd highly recommend The Murder of Mary Phagan(1988) , a great Jack Lemmon outing in the latter part of his long career. It was based on the real life story of a twelve year girl Mary Phagan who worked in a pencil factory in Georgia and allegedly murdered by her young employer Leo Frank. A memorable scene was when a black guy, who in the real life story had defecated in the bottom of an elevator shaft and in the film the feces was subtituted with a miniature novelty umbrella. That black guy IMHO and in evidence uncovered in more recent years probably committed the murder because he wanted the girl's paycheck. He is portrayed as guilty as a 3 $ bill.
Yes, excellent film and it's interesting to compare it with They Won't Forget, 1937, treating the same case, although with fictionalized names, and starring the great Claude Rains as the unscrupulous prosecutor.
I admit I've never seen "They Won't Forget" in it's entirety. Thus I didn't realize it was about the Phagan murder. The few snippets and choice selections I've seen usually center around Lana Turner and her ahem 'thorax', introducing her as a new starlet with a bright future. Sort of the fare found in the 60s docu "Love Goddesses" or maybe an MGM lookback compilation like the "That's Entertainment" series.
Re: any made-for-tv movie you'd recommend
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:34 pm
by busby1959
BORN INNOCENT (1974) with Linda Blair, Kim Hunter, Allyn Ann McLerie, Richard Jaeckle and Joanna Miles. It packed a heck of a punch when it was first aired and caused waves of controversy. It still holds up very well today. Beware of editied prints.
Just a few of my favorites that I immediately thought of, most of which should be of particular interest to classic movie buffs:
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) in the running for the best tv-movie ever and with Cicely Tyson giving a performance arguably better than any screen actress of the early 1970's. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071175/
:excellent performance by Cicely Tyson , it always makes me think of the theatrically released film "Conrack" which came out around that time or a year before. And when Conrack comes up I always think of "...Miss Jane Pittman". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071358/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Family Reunion (1981) The best of Bette Davis' tv pics IMO, very atypical film for her in this period as a woman now retired from teaching who decides to spend her time mending the various broken relationships in her family. This is like something that would have starred Marie Dressler or May Robson in the 1930's. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082360/
:Bette was having some interesting roles in the latter years of her career. I remember the excellent "Skyward"(1980) with a wheel-chairbound teenaged girl learning to fly a biplane. Bette plays a seasoned old-salt female pilot ala a sassy Jacqueline Cochran type. It was Ron Howard's directorial debut and it spawned a short-lived tv series. Perhaps a far-fetched storyline by some, but I thoroughly enjoyed this tv film. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081526/?r ... lmg_act_10
Yes, Bette had a great run of tv movies 1978-1984, earning an Emmy and two additional nominations in that era. Others I enjoyed were "White Mama" (1980), "A Piano for Mrs. Cimino" (1982) and (quite topical at the moment) "Little Gloria, Happy at Last" (1983). Unfortunately her long awaited teaming with James Stewart was wasted in a heavy handed tvpic (complete with an outrageous ending) and it seems after her health problems in the mid 80s, the networks would only give her featured roles in tv pics rather than leads.
I enjoy pretty much all of 70s-80s tv movies that had roles for the great stars of the 30s-40s even if the films aren't so great. Still, it was fun to see Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Joan Blondell, Dorothy Lamour, Joan Fontaine, Olivia De Havilland, Myrna Loy, Sylvia Sidney, Joan Bennett, et al. still in there pitching.
One of the best TV movies I ever saw is Murder By Natural Causes, 1979. It's from Levinson and Link who went on to make Columbo and stars Hal Holbrook, Katherine Ross and Richard Anderson. The film has one of the cleverest plots I've ever seen and just writing this makes me want to watch it all over again. Seek it out, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
This film is up on You Tube right now. I watched it yesterday. The film came after their run with the original Columbo. Also note the name of the play in this film, Prescription Murder. It was the name of Levinson and Links play that led to the pilot movie for Columbo in 1968. Good film!
Re: any made-for-tv movie you'd recommend
Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 12:11 am
by brendangcarroll
Without question, THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK (1983) starring Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, Raf Vallone and Sir John Gielgud. Shot on location in Rome and based on the true story of the Roman Catholic Irish priest, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (Peck) who saved hundreds POWs from the nazis in occupied Rome during WW2. It's big budget of $6 million made this seem like a major cinema release. Fine acting and a score by Morricone too! Nicely juded performances by Gielgud as Pope Pius XII and Plummer as the Nazi commandant.
Re: any made-for-tv movie you'd recommend
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2019 5:29 pm
by coolcatdaddy
Someone else mentioned one of my favorites, "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" that led to the "Waltons" tv series.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The UFO Incident" (1975), starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons as Barney and Betty Hill, based on the book "The Interrupted Journey" about the couple's supposed encounter with an alien craft.
The film leaves things a little ambiguous on whether the Hills encounter was actually real or something psychological. Jones is riveting during the therapy and hypnosis sessions that explore some of the racial prejudice trauma that might have led to the alien encounter as a psychological event.
Re: any made-for-tv movie you'd recommend
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:47 am
by Ray Faiola
Two Levinson & Link pictures: REHEARSAL FOR MURDER with Robert Preston and PRESCRIPTION: MURDER with Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo (based on play. not a pilot).
And THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE SLOVIK with Martin Sheen.
