Since watching A Crime to Remember a few months ago I've read two true crime books about the murder of Franklin Bradshaw.
I just watched this episode again, and while the gist of the crime was portrayed adequately there are several things that could have been improved upon.
It was helpful to have Jonathan Coleman, the author of one of the books, as well as Marilyn Reagan, the eldest Bradshaw daughter, on to comment.
What could have made the episode better were several things:
1) The actor playing the murder victim had a good resemblance to Bradshaw, however he had a New York accent.
2) The victim's widow, Berenice, was a petite, beautiful woman throughout her life. She lived to 92! They used a frumpy, overweight actress with a Baltimore accent. Both Franklin and Berenice were born and raised in the west.
3) Although Frances, one of the murderers, was a heavy smoker (and died from COPD at age 65) I don't think anyone else in the family smoked. And to portray the majority Mormon police as well as Doug Steele as smokers was ridiculous.
4) Frances was not nearly as attractive as the actress they cast.
5) When all the real names are a matter of public record I'm not sure why they changed some of the names. The son who took flying lessons, was locked out for years (not once) and attacked his college roommate was Larry Schreuder (now Larry Bradshaw), the son (who was blond and chubby) who murdered Franklin was Marc Schreuder, and the daughter from the second marriage was Lavinia Schreuder.
I just watched this episode again, and while the gist of the crime was portrayed adequately there are several things that could have been improved upon.
It was helpful to have Jonathan Coleman, the author of one of the books, as well as Marilyn Reagan, the eldest Bradshaw daughter, on to comment.
What could have made the episode better were several things:
1) The actor playing the murder victim had a good resemblance to Bradshaw, however he had a New York accent.
2) The victim's widow, Berenice, was a petite, beautiful woman throughout her life. She lived to 92! They used a frumpy, overweight actress with a Baltimore accent. Both Franklin and Berenice were born and raised in the west.
3) Although Frances, one of the murderers, was a heavy smoker (and died from COPD at age 65) I don't think anyone else in the family smoked. And to portray the majority Mormon police as well as Doug Steele as smokers was ridiculous.
4) Frances was not nearly as attractive as the actress they cast.
5) When all the real names are a matter of public record I'm not sure why they changed some of the names. The son who took flying lessons, was locked out for years (not once) and attacked his college roommate was Larry Schreuder (now Larry Bradshaw), the son (who was blond and chubby) who murdered Franklin was Marc Schreuder, and the daughter from the second marriage was Lavinia Schreuder.