Murder in Greenwich (TV 2002)

The story of Martha Moxley, 15 year old girl murdered in Greenwich in the 1970's, her murder going unsolved for 25 years.

Director:

Tom McLoughlin

Writers:

Mark Fuhrman (book), Dave Erickson (teleplay)

Stars:

Christopher Meloni, Robert Forster, Maggie Grace

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Meloni	...	Mark Fuhrman
Robert Forster	...	Steve Carroll
Maggie Grace	...	Martha Moxley
Toby Moore	...	Tommy Skakel
Jon Foster	...	Michael Skakel
Andrew Robertt	...	Stephen Weeks (as Andrew Mitchell)
Liddy Holloway	...	Dorothy Moxley
Theresa Healey	...	Hildy Southerlyn
Michael Saccente	...	Dr. Baden
James Beaumont	...	Robert Mathers
Carolyn Bock	...	Caroline Fuhrman
Sally Martin	...	Charity Foster
Renée Ellwood	...	Lucy Duke (as Renee Ellwood)
Tim Adam	...	Morris Banks
Bruce Hopkins	...	Lancaster

Storyline

In 1974, the teenager Martha Moxley moves to the high-class area of Belle Haven, Greenwich, Connecticut. On the Mischief Night, eve of Halloween, she was murdered in the backyard of her house and her murder remained unsolved. Twenty-two years later, the writer Mark Fuhrman, who is a former LA detective that has fallen in disgrace for perjury in O.J. Simpson trial and moved to Idaho, decides to investigate the case with his partner Stephen Weeks with the purpose of writing a book. The locals squirm and do not welcome them, but with the support of the retired detective Steve Carroll that was in charge of the investigation in the 70's, they discover the criminal and a net of power and money to cover the murder.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | investigation | mischief night | 1970s | murder victim | 

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Taglines:

Money built walls around the truth. One man knocked them down.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

USA Network

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dominick Dunne Presents: Murder in Greenwich

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia TriStar Domestic Television, Bernard Sofronski Productions, Carlton America

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real identities of several of the protagonists are replaced with pseudonyms in this adaptation. These include: - The Skakel family tutor/supervisor, Ken Littleton (in the film called Morris Banks); - The Moxley's neighbor, briefly suspected of the murder, Ed Hammond (Rob Mathers); - The Skakel family relations whose house several of the Skakel brothers visited that night, the Terrians, including Jimmy Dowdle/Terrian (The Morgans / Larry Morgan); - The family who lived across the street from the Moxleys, the Ix family (the Fosters), in particular Mildred "Cissy" Ix (Constance Foster) and Martha's friend Helen Ix (Charity Foster); - The 11-year old who accompanied Martha and Helen while they listened to music with Michael Skakel in the Lincoln, Geoffrey Byrne (in the film called Paul Joyce, and made a similar age to Martha and Helen/Charity, with whom he "makes out" in the back seat of the Lincoln, contrary to real life events); - Skakel family gardener Franz "Frank" Wittine (Alex Grafton); - Jim McKenzie, a Great Lakes Carbon junior lawyer who "babysits" the Skakel children following the discovery of Martha's body and prior to Rushton Skakel's return (Jackson O'Connor). In addition, the character of Hildy Southerlyn in the film is a fictional device, enabling the introduction of information from several real-life sources. Similarly, Martha's "best friend" Lucy Duke is a fictitious character, probably representing an amalgamation of Christy Kalan, Tory Fuchs and Margie Walker.

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Goofs

There is steam from electric trains in the train station scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Martha Moxley: My name is Martha Moxley. My friends call me "Mox"
[laughs]
Martha Moxley: . In 1974, my family moved to Belle Haven, which is in Greenwich, which is in Connecticut. It was the richest neighborhood in the richest town in the richest country in the world.
[pause]
Martha Moxley: This was our house in Walsh Lane. And across the street, over on Otter Rock Drive, that's where the Skakels lived. They were our neighbors, they were rich and they were Kennedys.
[pause]
Martha Moxley: This was the morning after Mischief Night, we called ...
[...]

User Reviews

A Real-Life Murder Case

Martha Moxley, the fifteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy Connecticut woman, was found clubbed to death near her home in October of 1975. The case received national attention because one of Moxley's neighbors was the Skakel family, related to Ethel Kennedy. Indeed, Martha was a friend of two of the Skakel boys: Tommy and Michael. For over twenty years Moxley's murder went unsolved.

Enter Mark Fuhrman, the infamous L.A. cop who figured heavily in the O.J. Simpson trial. In the late 1990s, Fuhrman set out to investigate this unsolved murder, for the purpose of writing a book, considered by some to be a troubling motive. The result of Fuhrman's efforts, in addition to the publication of his book, was the indictment and conviction of a suspect in the Moxley case, some 25 years after the killing.

With flashbacks to 1975, "Murder In Greenwich" tells the story of this well-known case, from the POV of Fuhrman. The plot is clear, concise, and easy to follow. Martha Moxley's "ghost" (Maggie Grace) narrates part of the story, a plot device I happened not to care for. The film implies both a cover-up and botched police work in the original 1975 investigation. A big part of Fuhrman's efforts centers on re-establishing the time of death. Fuhrman, himself, comes across in the film as irritating, arrogant, and an opportunist.

The most interesting thing about this film is that the story is real. It is not fictional. Real-life incidents usually, though not always, make for engaging viewing. The film has excellent color cinematography, and the production values are high. Acting is quite good, especially the performance of Liddy Holloway, as Martha's mother.

I make no judgments one way or the other about Fuhrman's personal reasons for his work on this case. The movie itself I found to be well-made, except for scenes showing palm trees in Connecticut. The story was interesting, easy to follow, and had an outcome I had previously been unaware of.