I wasn't expecting much the first time I saw this made for TV film. Most were, and still are, unfortunately, pretty substandard in cinematic terms. Even in this one, the budget must have been very small, and it has low-budget, "make do" feel to it.
However, the performances are so first-rate that you quickly forget that this is a TV movie. The actors get so deeply into their characters that you can almost believe that you are watching a newsreel, rather than a fictionalized version of the Lizzie Borden story. Actually, the first time I saw this movie was on Spanish-language television,dubbed into Spanish, and although my Spanish language skills are far from perfect, the story and the performances transcended any language barriers, even those of having different actors provide the voices. I couldn't wait to see it in the original, and I wasn't disappointed. Elizabeth Montgomery is a pretty scary Lizzie Borden, and even though the evidence in the film points to her being guilty, you are still never sure that what you see in flashbacks is what really happened, or simply Lizzie's distorted fantasy of the events. This is a literate, well-executed and haunting film, one that I always mention as one of my favorites, and one I urge my friends to look for in re-broadcasts. It will have you discussing the case for weeks after you see it.
However, the performances are so first-rate that you quickly forget that this is a TV movie. The actors get so deeply into their characters that you can almost believe that you are watching a newsreel, rather than a fictionalized version of the Lizzie Borden story. Actually, the first time I saw this movie was on Spanish-language television,dubbed into Spanish, and although my Spanish language skills are far from perfect, the story and the performances transcended any language barriers, even those of having different actors provide the voices. I couldn't wait to see it in the original, and I wasn't disappointed. Elizabeth Montgomery is a pretty scary Lizzie Borden, and even though the evidence in the film points to her being guilty, you are still never sure that what you see in flashbacks is what really happened, or simply Lizzie's distorted fantasy of the events. This is a literate, well-executed and haunting film, one that I always mention as one of my favorites, and one I urge my friends to look for in re-broadcasts. It will have you discussing the case for weeks after you see it.