This film is based on the true story of serial killer Carl
Panzram. Henry Lesser is a new
Prison guard at Leavenworth. He
meets Carl Panzram and Carl has been sent to Leavenworth for burglary. Upon his arrival, one of the guards brutally beats Carl. Henry feels Carl didn’t deserve this
treatment and he has sympathy for him.
Carl isn’t used to getting any kind of sympathy and he’s been in prison
before. Henry learns that Carl has
a very violent past but Henry believes Carl’s capable of turning that
around. The prisoners are not
supposed to have any writing instruments or any paper. Henry gives Carl paper and a small
pencil to write his crime history.
Henry takes the manuscript to a publisher but he’s never seen anything
like this before? He doesn’t know
if this can be published and if so, what category would it belong to?
There is a LOT going
on in this film. It’s not just
about a killer, his crimes or his time in prison but it’s also about the prison
system itself. There is a LOT of
brutality on both sides of the bars.
I wonder what Henry saw in Carl?
I’m sure it would be very interesting for a psychiatrist to exam the
manuscript of Carl’s life and determine exactly what made him the type of man
he was? He received brutal
treatment at the Minnesota State Training School in 1903 when he was 12 years
old until 1905. Carl is not a
normal man by any stretch of the imagination. He doesn’t seem to have any boundaries and he never has any
regret for his actions? 3* (This
movie was OK)
91
min, Bio directed by Tim Metcalfe with James Woods, Robert Sean Leonard, Ellen
Greene, Cara Buono, Robert John Burke, Richard Riehle, Harold Gould, John
Bedford Lloyd, Jeffrey DeMunn, Conrad McLaren, Steve Forrest, Richard Council.
Note: Imdb 6.4 out of 10, 47% audience on Rotten
Tomatoes, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 38 reviews, Roger Ebert 2*,
Special
Note: Filmed in Rhode Island,
Groton, New London and Norwich, Connecticut. This film is dedicated to Sam Peckinpah because the film The
Wild Bunch of 1969 inspired director Metcalfe to become a director.
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