The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) (TV)

Director:

Paul Wendkos

Writer:

William Bast (writer)

Release Date:

10 February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Lizzie Borden took an ax, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one.

Plot:

A dramatization of the famous 1893 Massachusetts trial of the woman accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an ax.

Plot Keywords:

Axe | Murderess | Axe Murder | Murder | Female Killer

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Montgomery	...	Lizzie Borden
Fionnula Flanagan	...	Bridget Sullivan
Ed Flanders	...	Hosea Knowlton
Katherine Helmond	...	Emma Borden
Don Porter	...	George Robinson
Fritz Weaver	...	Mr. Andrew Borden
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Sylvia Knowlton
John Beal	...	Dr. Bowen
Helen Craig	...	Mrs. Abby Borden
Alan Hewitt	...	Mayor Coughlin
Gail Kobe	...	Alice Russell
Robert Symonds	...	Andrew Jennings
Hayden Rorke	...	Julien Ralph
Iggie Wolfington	...	Store proprietor
Amzie Strickland	...	Adelaide Churchill

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

George LeMaire Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: High voltage power cables on pylons can be seen on the hills behind the Borden house.

Quotes:

Adelaide Churchill: Lizzie what's wrong?
Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Borden: Oh Mrs Churchill, do come in. Someone has killed Father.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Nicky (2000)

Lizzie goes from witch to slasher!

I love this movie for two reasons: a big crush on Liz Montgomery and an interest in the case of Lizzie Borden. I don't know how she got this role, but she quickly goes from a sexy witch into a very scary and unstable psychopath, a role she soon excelled in two other TV-movies. This movie is chilling as it recreates the murders and the actual Borden house's floorplans to document and terrify the audience with a pseudo-documentary feel and psychological touch of suspense. The other roles were filled with lookalike actors and forms the atmosphere that you are really there in Fall River as the murders and trial occur. Some of the historical facts of the case and some witnesses are omitted for a more clearer script and continuity. The film also seems to suggest that Lizzie could see her stepmother's dead body from the top step long before it had been discovered [the father had been discovered first and had been killed sometime after he had been noticed. The bodies were found in the reverse order that they had been killed.}. This movie does remind me a touch of Lizzie's male counterpart, Jack The Ripper, whose movie starring Michael Caine also used very speculatory data to deduce the killer. Both movies are very chilling and true to their period with very dark primal undertones. This movie is a bit more than a cult classic, it's a TV-movie that should have been released theatrically. Someone ought to get on the ball and put this out on video for more people to appreciate it.