mbhenty wrote:Yes, twinsrwe:
Funny how they got the author's name wrong. Deborah Allard Dion was given a copy of The Girl with the Pansy Pin. She knows the author.
Once you unwrap your mind from around the facts Lizzie Borden took an Axe is not a bad "B" movie. And for someone who does not know the facts, it is that much better. My big complaint was the music. Not the music itself but the use of the music married to the timeline. It just does not work for me... perhaps if I was 18. Another is that.... and with all respect to Christina Ricci, she was the wrong person to play the part. Her face is to sweet, adorable, passive, her stature to small, not imposing enough. I did not believe her as Lizzie Borden. She just never commanded the stage. (screen)
Adding Bertha Manchester's murder to the story made things more confusing. They should have enhanced it or left it out altogether. And the scene with Lizzie making out with some boy.... well, that was just badly written. Either include him as a character or leave him out altogether. The movie appeared rushed. Lizzie burning the dress was a hoot. A scene right out of Macbeth. As fiction it worked well. As to the facts, total disaster. Most Borden Historians I know hated it. Again. You must be a reader of fiction and accept it as a work of fiction, or you will be very disappointed.
I think both movies, including the one with Elizabeth Montgomery, made a mistake of leaving out John Morse. Such an interesting, illusive character. John Morse is the essence and spirit of fiction. In the Girl with the Pansy Pin he was made out to be creepy, sinister, menacing even. Fun character to work with in the world of fiction, because we know so little about his private 'real' life.
I expect the series will be just as awful, if, and I repeat, if you watch it like a documentary. They are not making this series because they are in love with the Lizzie Borden saga,or the truth, but because they must have made lots of money on the original movie. As Devo would say, Whip it Whip it good. And I expect they will whip the heck out of the series.
I told Deborah that if The Girl with the Pansy Pin was ever made into a mini series I would like to see it done in Great Britain, by such directors as Phil Booth and Howard Arunrel, people who directed such series as Downton Abby, Cranford or Monarch of the Glen. Pompous? Perhaps. But the Brits are the kings of the Mini Series. No one does them better. …
I agree,
Lizzie Borden took an Ax, is not a horrible movie, as long as it is viewed as a fictional movie. I think the people who hated the movie were viewing it as a nonfiction film, which greatly disappointed them. I know that is what happened to me when I first saw it, but when I forced myself to watch it again, with the mindset of it being an factional account, and then I realized it wasn’t as bad as I had first thought.
The music was definitely undesirable for a story line that took place in 1892. I also agree that Christina Ricci, was the wrong person to play the part of Lizzie, for the same reasons that you stated. The real Lizzie Borden was an attractive woman, but she was not sexy by any stretch of the imagination.
Yes, Lizzie burning a dress in her petticoat/nightgown, out in the back yard, was hilarious! I think my favorite scene was when a friend asks Lizzie at a party, “Aren’t you a Sunday school teacher?” Lizzie impishly replies, “Only on Sundays.” That line probably made the real Lizzie Borden turn over in her grave!!!
Good gravy, what were the writers thinking when they left John Morse out of the storyline, in both this movie and the one starring Elizabeth Montgomery? He was in important character in the real Borden murder case. I agree, they should have left Bertha Manchester's murder out of it all together!!!
BTW. I was doing some research and ran across this little ditty, which I thought was pretty clever:
Lizzie Borden got an axe,
gave the writers forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
she gave lifetime forty one.
I also think the upcoming Lifetime TV Mini-Series, called.
Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles, is going to be just as bad as the
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax movie. However, I look forward to seeing it, keeping in mind that it is a fictional account of the real Lizbeth’s life after her acquittal.
I really like your idea of making
The Girl with the Pansy Pin, into a mini-series! I agree, the Brits are the best, when it comes to producing an excellent mini-series.
mbhenty wrote:… In any event, nice to see Michael Brimbau spelled correctly, and that someone made note of it. Thanks Twinsrwe.
You are very welcome, Michael.
I am so pleased that you reinstated your membership with this forum! Welcome back, I have missed your excellent posts!!