Mrs. Harris (2005)

Based on the sensational 1980s media event, famed cardiologist Herman Tarnower meets a particularly brutal end at the hands of his jilted lover, Jean Harris.

Director:

Phyllis Nagy

Writers:

Shana Alexander (book), Phyllis Nagy (screenplay)

Stars:

Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, Cloris Leachman

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 6 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annette Bening	...	Jean Harris
Ben Kingsley	...	Herman Tarnower
Cloris Leachman	...	Pearl 'Billie' Schwartz - Tarnower's Sister
Lawrence O'Donnell	...	Judge Leggett (as Lawrence O'Donnell Jr.)
Frank Whaley	...	George Bolen
Bill Smitrovich	...	Joel Arnou
Frances Fisher	...	Marge Richey Jacobson
Michael Gross	...	Leslie Jacobson
Ronald Guttman	...	Henri
John Patrick Amedori	...	Young David Harris
Brad McCoy	...	Young Jimmy Harris
John Rubinstein	...	Tarnower's Best Friend
Brett Butler	...	Tarnower Ex #1
Lee Garlington	...	Tarnower's Ex #2
Ellen Burstyn	...	Former Tarnower Steady

Storyline

Fact-based story about Jean Harris (Annette Bening), a woman who was accused of murdering famed Scarsdale Diet Dr. Herman (Hi) Tarnower (Ben Kingsley) after being in a relationship with him for 14 years. Depicted as a womanizer, Dr. Tarnower had earlier asked Mrs. Harris, a divorced school teacher, to marry him. But when faced with upcoming nuptials, he backed out. The story depicts Mrs. Harris as a distraught and obsessive woman who may have been suffering from some mental illness and based on a note sent to the doctor, may have been suicidal at the time of the murder. She contended that Dr. Tarnower was shot while the two wrestled with a gun she was going to use to kill herself. Contains profanity and sexual situations, including implied masturbation.

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Plot Keywords:

cardiologist | teacher | school | murder | diet | 

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Taglines:

She Loved Him, So She Shot Him.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

HBO [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doamna Harris

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Center Studios - 450 S. Bixel Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films, Killer Films, Number 9 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jean Harris served her prison term at the Bedford Hills Correctional Institute. It still functions as a women's prison. In a strange coincidence, the name of the road that leads to the main gate is Harris Road.

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Quotes

Jean Harris: I realize that you are just a secretary and weren't as fortunate as I in graduating magna cum laude from Smith, but surely any well-read 10-year-old knows the meaning of the word "bizarre".

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Connections

Featured in The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2006)

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Soundtracks

It Must Be Him

User Reviews

The diet doctor

The incident in which this HBO film is based upon, was fodder for the sensational press during the time it was front page news. Phyllis Nagy adapted the material for the screen, as well as directed. Ms. Nagy makes a point for not taking sides in the way this tale is presented. Jean Harris plays the most important part since, after all, she was the only one that lived to tell her story. How much of it is fiction, and how much it is true?, let the viewer arrive at his own conclusion.

The basic problem with this ambitious production is the casting of the two principal characters. Annette Benning, obviously acting on the text Ms. Nagy wrote, comes across as a silly woman. We don't get to see a dignified Jean Harris, or at least the woman one saw in pictures, and on the television news. Ms. Benning is a good actress, as she has proved herself in other films. Jean Harris, alas, is not one of the best roles she has played.

Ben Kingsley, the wonderful English actor, plays Dr. Herman Tarnower, the victim of Jean Harris' jealousy. Mr. Kingsley's take on this doctor is not convincing. His Dr. Tarnower comes across as a man who had a roving eye for attractive women of a certain class, which is what made him fall for Mrs. Harris, to begin with. According to Ms. Nagy, this doctor had an indecisive nature paying more attention to his mother when she bluntly questions why is he marrying the poor Mrs. Harris.

The opening credits show us how other women, at least in film noir, have dealt with men their own way. What Ms. Nagy's screen play does is to take the viewpoint that maybe Mrs. Harris didn't intend to kill Dr. Tarnower, at all, when the facts of the case tell us she fired a few shots during that fatal encounter.