This TV movie follows the facts of the case pretty faithfully. Charles Lindbergh's oldest child is kidnapped from one of his homes - scooped right out of his crib without the crime being seen or heard. Lindy pays a ransom only to find out the baby was probably killed soon after if not during his kidnapping, and two years pass before serial numbers that were part of the ransom are circulated by Bruno Hauptman and he is arrested for the crime.
The trial portion of the film shows, to me, irrefutable evidence - 14K of the 50K ransom at Hauptman's home, the balance of the amount invested with a broker. He quit his job the day the ransom was paid. The phone number and address of go between Dr. Condon scribbled on a wall in Hauptman's house, and an expert witness saying that the ladder used in the kidnapping was made from the same wood found in Hauptman's garage. Hauptman said the ransom money came from a business partner who went back to Germany and died of a lingering illness. But that business partner was indigent and lacked proper medical care precisely because of that. Why would he not have taken his money to Germany with him to get proper care?
I guess it is not that Hauptman does not look guilty, it is just the lingering doubts about everybody else - The Lindberghs suddenly decided to stay in their country home that night. Did Hauptman just get lucky or did he have inside information? Prior to Hauptman's arrest one of the servants in the Morrow household - Lindbergh's in-laws - killed herself rather than be questioned about the crime again. And then finally, decades later, Lindbergh himself turned out to have beliefs and actions - a belief in eugenics and a secret life with children by multiple women - that has tarnished his flying ace reputation.
It seems the producers are trying to get an anti death penalty message shoe horned in here, with dialogue from the New Jersey governor who delayed Hauptman's execution several times as well as a psychiatrist who wanted his sentence commuted to life so Hauptman could be studied. Then there is the crowd which is shown around the prison the night of the execution shouting for death only to go completely silent when it is announced Hauptman is dead. This was made about the time the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in the US, so perhaps that is the reason it is in there.
This is very well scripted and acted by not only the actors of the time, but some old Hollywood names - Joseph Cotten as Dr. Condon, Walter Pidgeon as the judge, Dean Jagger as one of the first expert witnesses, and Keenan Wynn as an aide to the governor.
The trial portion of the film shows, to me, irrefutable evidence - 14K of the 50K ransom at Hauptman's home, the balance of the amount invested with a broker. He quit his job the day the ransom was paid. The phone number and address of go between Dr. Condon scribbled on a wall in Hauptman's house, and an expert witness saying that the ladder used in the kidnapping was made from the same wood found in Hauptman's garage. Hauptman said the ransom money came from a business partner who went back to Germany and died of a lingering illness. But that business partner was indigent and lacked proper medical care precisely because of that. Why would he not have taken his money to Germany with him to get proper care?
I guess it is not that Hauptman does not look guilty, it is just the lingering doubts about everybody else - The Lindberghs suddenly decided to stay in their country home that night. Did Hauptman just get lucky or did he have inside information? Prior to Hauptman's arrest one of the servants in the Morrow household - Lindbergh's in-laws - killed herself rather than be questioned about the crime again. And then finally, decades later, Lindbergh himself turned out to have beliefs and actions - a belief in eugenics and a secret life with children by multiple women - that has tarnished his flying ace reputation.
It seems the producers are trying to get an anti death penalty message shoe horned in here, with dialogue from the New Jersey governor who delayed Hauptman's execution several times as well as a psychiatrist who wanted his sentence commuted to life so Hauptman could be studied. Then there is the crowd which is shown around the prison the night of the execution shouting for death only to go completely silent when it is announced Hauptman is dead. This was made about the time the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in the US, so perhaps that is the reason it is in there.
This is very well scripted and acted by not only the actors of the time, but some old Hollywood names - Joseph Cotten as Dr. Condon, Walter Pidgeon as the judge, Dean Jagger as one of the first expert witnesses, and Keenan Wynn as an aide to the governor.