19th century Massachusetts. Browbeaten spinster Lizzie Borden (superbly played with tremendous nuance and conviction by Elizabeth Montgomery) is accused of murdering both her strict mortician father Andrew (a fine portrayal by Fritz Weaver) and her mean stepmother Abby (a memorably snippy turn by Helen Craig) in cold blood. The resultant trial whips the whole town up into a tizzy, with people evenly split down the middle pertaining to the big issue of whether or not Borden actually did it.
Director Paul Wendkos relates the gripping story at a steady pace, offers a vivid and meticulous evocation of the era, and astutely captures the repressive mores of a period in which women had extremely limited options that played a key role in women rallying to Borden's side. Moreover, Wendkos and writer William Bast warrant praise for handling the more lurid aspects of the case with admirable taste and restraint while still pushing the television envelope with a good deal of fairly gruesome violence and a bold suggestion of nudity when Border strips naked to commit the infamous killings.
Montgomery makes Borden a fascinatingly complex character who elicits a complicated mixture of sympathy and revulsion: A toxic product of an abusive and miserly father and uncaring stepmother as well as a stern society that at the time kept all women on a short and tight leash, one can't help but feel more than a bit sorry for Borden. In addition, there are top-notch contributions from Ed Flanders as hard-nosed lawyer Hosea Knowlton, Katherine Helmond as Borden's concerned sister Emma, Fionnula Flannagan as put-upon servant Bridget Sullivan, and Don Porter as crafty defense attorney George Robinson. Kudos are also in order for Robert B. Hauser's handsome cinematography and Billy Goldenberg's spare eerie score. A first-rate film.
Director Paul Wendkos relates the gripping story at a steady pace, offers a vivid and meticulous evocation of the era, and astutely captures the repressive mores of a period in which women had extremely limited options that played a key role in women rallying to Borden's side. Moreover, Wendkos and writer William Bast warrant praise for handling the more lurid aspects of the case with admirable taste and restraint while still pushing the television envelope with a good deal of fairly gruesome violence and a bold suggestion of nudity when Border strips naked to commit the infamous killings.
Montgomery makes Borden a fascinatingly complex character who elicits a complicated mixture of sympathy and revulsion: A toxic product of an abusive and miserly father and uncaring stepmother as well as a stern society that at the time kept all women on a short and tight leash, one can't help but feel more than a bit sorry for Borden. In addition, there are top-notch contributions from Ed Flanders as hard-nosed lawyer Hosea Knowlton, Katherine Helmond as Borden's concerned sister Emma, Fionnula Flannagan as put-upon servant Bridget Sullivan, and Don Porter as crafty defense attorney George Robinson. Kudos are also in order for Robert B. Hauser's handsome cinematography and Billy Goldenberg's spare eerie score. A first-rate film.