The Last Hangman (2005)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Adrian Shergold

Writers:

Bob Mills (writer)
Jeff Pope (writer)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Respected citizen. Loving husband. Professional killer.

Plot:

The life and times of Albert Pierrepoint - Britain's most prolific hangman

Plot Keywords:

Hangman | Celebrity | Nazi | Execution | Number 21

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Simon Armstrong	...	Minister
Ann Bell	...	Violet Van Der Elst
Nicholas Blane	...	Governor of Strangeways
Clive Brunt	...	Warder at Strangeways
Cavan Clerkin	...	George Cooper
James Corden	...	Kirky
Marie Critchley	...	Woman in Pub
Neil Fitzmaurice	...	Cliff the Scouser
Keiran Flynn	...	Neville
Clive Francis	...	Field Marshall Montgomery
Christopher Fulford	...	Sykes
Frances Shergold	...	Alice
Elizabeth Hopley	...	Dorothea Waddingham
Peter Jonfield	...	Mr. Andrews
Bernard Kay	...	Uncle Tom

Also Known As:

Pierrepoint (UK) (new title) (USA)
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (Australia) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images, nudity and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

UK:90 min | Argentina:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Granada Television

Trivia:

Despite the title Pierrepoint was not Britain's last hangman. He retired in the mid 1950s, shortly after executing Ruth Ellis - (see Dance with a Stranger (1985)). Britain never had a "last hangman", as the last two executions before suspension of capital punishment were carried out in different cities at the same time. As the last two people executed were both guilty of the murder of John West, it was decided to carry out sentence at the same time in Aug 1964. In Nov 1965 People were still being sentenced to death.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Weights of the condemned being expressed in the American way as pounds, rather than the British stones and pounds. Pierrepoint was most meticulous, and would have based all his executions on the UK Home Office table of drops for hanging, which uses British units.

Quotes:

Albert Pierrepoint: I did a lot of jobs in Germany. More than were really good for me. Too many really. I get so bloody tired now...

Soundtrack:

You're a Very Good Pal of Mine

A Dirty Job

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain's most prolific executioner, overseeing the hanging of more than 600 condemned men and women including Derek Bentley, Ruth Ellis and Lord Haw Haw. Adrian Shergold's film starring Timothy Spall in the title role is a dark period piece exploring the stark relationship between compassion and work ethic.

Pierrepoint approaches his grisly duties with pride, professionalism and a stoical detachment – a third generation hangman, he is well accustomed to checking his personal life at the prison gate while he gets on with the job at hand.

But duty and morality are constantly battling in the back of his mind - a struggle neatly illustrated when he is seconded to Germany after the War and tasked with dispatching Nazi war criminals. His clinical work here is deliberately and uncomfortably linked to the crimes of the Nazis who gassed their Holocaust victims with the same brutal precision.

Back in England, as liberalism begins to take hold and high-profile executions enrage a population bubbling with discontent, Pierrepoint's reputation in the eyes of the public slides swiftly and irretrievably from British war hero to callous murderer – a bewildering descent perfectly captured by Spall's mesmerising performance. Juliet Stevenson is not bad either as Pierrepoint's loyal wife gradually embittered by years of turning the other cheek at her husband's double life.

The film celebrates dignity and humanity but is laced with a uniquely British attitude evocative of Vera Drake and The Remains of the Day. Like these earlier social dramas, Pierrepoint culminates memorably in a momentary quivering of its previously resolute stiff upper lip.