Lizzie Borden and TeeVee
The Lizzie Borden murder case has been examined in only one movie: the made for TeeVee film from 1975, The Legend of Lizzie Borden. It is the one we all remember. Elizabeth Montgomery played Lizzie to perfection, even if there were many anachronisms and mistakes in fact. Just watch the opening scene to observe the neighborhood surrounded by mountains (!) and the brick (!) house in which the Bordens reside. There is no John Morse in this film, and, like Oliver Stone’s JFK, the dialogue is mostly invented as we do not know what they said to one another in their private world.
However, it is a really wonderful movie. Scary and provocative in all the right places. Its ending is spooky and atmospheric and memorable.
BUT DID YOU KNOW . . . . that there were many other TeeVee Lizzie’s out there, just not in full-length form. TV.com has a nice list of titles that have been aired. Now to find them all and watch them! Please feel free to comment on any of the ones you remember.
1. Second Verdict (1976): Lizzie Borden.
Season 1, Episode 5, Aired 6/24/1976.
Episode Overview: Abby Durfee Borden was murdered with an axe on 4 August 1892. Ninety minutes later, her husband, Andrew Jackson Borden, was killed in the same way. Lizzie Andrew Borden was tried for the murder of her father and sepmother, but was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. Was she guilty? Barlow and Watt examine the evidence.
Writers: Elwyn Jones
Director: Michael Simpson
Stars:
Frank Windsor (Detective Chief Superintendent John Watt)
Stratford Johns (Detective Chief Superintendent Barlow)
Guest Star:
Tony Sibbald (Asst. Marshal Fleet)
Norwich Duff (Thomas Kieran)
Patti Love (Bridget Sullivan)
James Berwick (George Robinson)
Robert Henderson (Judge Blaisdell)
Rosemary Leach (Lizzie Borden)
David Healy (Hosea Knowlton)
Gordon Sterne (Dr. Dolan)
Christopher Malcolm (Mullaly)
2. GhostHunters: Shawshank Prison/Lizzie Borden
Season 2, Episode 12, First Aired 10/12/2005
Episode Overview: The TAPS gang tackle two famous locations in this hour. The Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio, the prison where Stephen King’s “Shawshank Redemption” was filmed, and the site of the infamous axe murder of Lizzie Borden’s parents.
3. Sightings: Lizzie Borden; demonic possession
Season 2, Episode 3, First Aired 10/21/1992
Host: Tim White
4. Actors Studio: Good Bye, Miss Lizzie Borden
Season 1, Episode 9, First Aired 11/21/1948
5. History’s Mysteries: The Strange Case of Lizzie Borden
Season 14, Episode 3, First Aired 1/1/2006
Host: Arthur Kent
6. The Armstrong Circle Theatre: Legend of Murder: The Untold Story of Lizzie Borden
Season 13, Episode 1, First Aired 10/11/1961
Stars: Ron Cochran (host narrator)
Guest Star:
Staats Cotsworth (Knowlton)
Ann Hegira (Emma)
Mary Doyle (Bridget)
Paul McGrath (Andrew)
Clarice Blackburn (Lizzie Borden)
7. Suspense: The Legend of Lizzie
Season 5, Episode 27, First Aired 3/10/1953
Episode Overview: This telling of the story of accused axe-murderer Lizzie Borden is based on the actual court transcripts. Flashbacks are used to jump from the courtroom to the day her parents were hacked to death in the family home.
Cast: Katharine Bard as Lizzie Borden
8. Unsolved Mysteries: Episode #462
Season 12, Episode 14, First Aired 7/23/2001
Host: Robert Stack
9. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Older Sister
Season 1, Episode 17, First Aired 1/22/1956
Writers:
Lillian de la Torre and Robert C. Daniels
Director:
Robert Stevens
Stars:
Alfred Hitchcock (Host)
Recurring Role:
Carmen Mathews (Lizzie Borden)
Pat Hitchcock (Margaret)
Guest Star:
Kay Stewart (Neighbor)
Polly Rowles (Nell Cutt)
Joan Lorring (Emma Borden)
Wendy Winkelman (Little Girl)
10. Scariest Places on Earth: Urban Legends 2
Season 4, Episode 4, First Aired 10/23/2005
11. Monsterquest: Ghosts
Season 2, Episode 3, First Aired 6/11/2008
12. Cher: Show 10
Season 1, Episode 10, First Aired 4/20/1975
“Cher and Nancy portray the principle and nutritionist of the Lizzie Borden High School.”
