Lizzie Borden feature film

[BrianKLoftin]

This has been discussed before at various times amongst members of this forum, but again I have to ask: When will the story of Lizzie Borden be brought to the big screen? One would assume Hollywood has considered the potential audience of such a legendary, macabre tale-- surely the box office numbers would be staggering.

I imagine a well-written, well thought-out screenplay that is meticulous in its faithful detail to the court transcripts and the facts as they have been presented. If Hollywood were to take liberties and present scenes that were completely fictional (not counting the necessary made-up dialogue and such, which is needed to piece the scenes together) and characters or action that is found nowhere in the evidence on the case... well, that would be a shame. What we need is a straightforward, yet haunting motion picture which will tell the true story of Lizzie Borden, in terms of what we already have to go on, which is quite a bit as it is (though certainly not enough). Letters, statements, inquest and court testimony, etc.

A set could be constructed that bore the identical layout of the original Borden home, if the real one couldn't be used itself. The house in the film would have been painstakingly made to appear as it does in photos, the dialogue would be as close to what has been printed as possible. And the actors would actually LOOK like their real-life counterparts. Seeing all this come together (as it appears in my own head, anyway) would be fantastic, especially since the story of the Borden murders itself would play out well on screen, and school the oblivious public to the intriguing and bizzare details of the crime, as well as its trial.

I suppose if I could make a film that is as fascinating as the Borden case is in my mind, I would do it in a heartbeat (and enjoy the box office receipts to boot)

My choice for Lizzie: An unknown?
I've heard Patricia Arquette mentioned, but that was when she was a bit younger.

Montgomery was good, and I love the made-for-tv movie to death (hee hee) but another presentation would be appreciated. Maybe there's some kind of petition I could take, and send it to someone like P.T. Anderson to direct. LOL

[spidis]

I've always thought Sissy Spacek would make a good Lizzie. There's just something about the eyes...

[xyjw]

I think the members of the Borden Society Forum should either make the film independantly or at least collaborate on a screenplay. The Legend Of Lizzie Borden was fine for the 1970's TV Movie Of The Week but there is better attention to historical detail in many movies today. I like the look and feel of Jane Campions films. You feel like you are there. I would hate to see such a captivating victorian era mystery be done again in Hollywood. This film should be done in New England and it can be done without having to change or embelish facts. The dialogue would have to be created but I would hope that the speaking style could be captured somehow without it having that phony sounding "Maine" accent that was in Dolores Claiborne. I think the short movies at Mondo lizzie also have a nice feel that take you into the time and place of the events. Someone needs to start writing this screenplay so the Borden Society can rescue Maplecroft!

[augusta]

There have been screenplays on a new Lizzie movie done and, for whatever reason, none to date have been produced.

YES - xyjw, I agree completely with you on the actors having the Fall Rivah accent. Gee, that'd be easy for them to pick up hanging around there! It is so charming, and of course it's how they talked.

Isn't the Fall River accent a little different from the Cape Cod accent (JFK's "Cuber")? Isn't it more the Boston accent that Fall River has? I read the differences of them somewhere. OMG - that fake Maine accent in 'Delores Claiborne' is a fantastic example.

Once in a while in the trial testimony, you'll come across a strange phrase that was peculiar to that era, or to that era and place. One thing I've seen ovah and ovah is "I don't know but she did." The "but" in there, instead of "that" or "if". Lizzie's inquest testimony has a few of those, and I think others do too. And sometimes it appears as if one of the lawyers is using really lousy English, but it was probably acceptable back then. (I might just have them use correct English if I were writing the script - which I'm not.)

The accent has crept into the trial testimony and caused some double-takes around the Forum. I remember that it was down in a - or more than one - transcription that called the undertaker "Winwood". His name was really "Winward", but the stenographer had typed it as it was said. I thought that was so neat. Kinda one of those "feeling like you were there" things.

I thought the script for the 1975 movie was pretty historically accurate. I was very surprised the first time I read a Lizzie book after I saw the movie and whole hunks were taken from testimony.

I think their biggest mistake was leaving out Uncle John. I also would not put in a theory of what happened - like they did of showing Lizzie doing it. Isn't the the crux of the appeal of the story - the mystery?

[xyjw]

Another victorian era story that is waiting to be told is Lewis Carrolls. I never really accepted the pedophile accusation. The book In The Shadow of the Dreamchild by Karoline Leach gives a lot of evidence to the contrary. Her extensive research into his social life finally presents him as more than an antisocial little-girl-obsessed math genius with a speech impediment. The book gives evidence from diary entries, letters and interviews with people who knew him that indicate he was involved and maybe in love with Alice's mother Lorina Liddell. This would also be a terrific movie, so get some notes together for a screenplay Brian.

[Bob Gutowski]

I have heard that a lack of interest in a Borden film is due to the absence of sex/a love story in the tale. I think, Brian, your description of how the movie would have to hew to only known facts would also make it very difficult to make it work as a movie and not a documentary. Given the age of the crime, many of what we balance here in discussion on a daily basis is subect to question.

Yes, I have a screenplay idea, too!

[augusta]

What lack of sex? They could have Abby and Andrew in an intimate scene. And it'd be comic relief at the same time.

[Bob Gutowski]

You slay me! :)

This is a better time for studios to do period dramas though, using CGI to create long-lost views at a savings.

[stargazer]

I would absolutely throw in some romance. I would go so far to have Lizzie murder her parents because they messed up one of her key relationships, or humiliated the hell out of her in that department somehow. Just a twist. And as for Nance....sure, why not ? Nance may have opened a whole new world for Lizzie. I would also go with a relative unknown to play her. Already with an accent.

Imagine Abby calling Lizzie a wanton woman for reading romance novels. Lizzie recalling her father killing the pigeons. Add the threat of Abby's relatives, and Uncle John possibly taking the real estate, senile dementia setting in having to pay people to care for the old folks..etc...A virtual can of worms !

[Constantine]

I think the facts (so far as they are known) are sufficiently fascinating without throwing in misleading fictions.

My recommendation for an actress to play Lizzie is Melanie Lynskey, who played Pauline Parker, the teenage girl who, with the aid of her friend Juliet Hulme (now author Anne Perry), murdered her mother. She is about the right age and can do accents. (She is from New Zealand, but manages a convincing American accent as Rose on Two and a Half Men.)

[augusta]

I wish someone would make a long, totally accurate documentary on the Borden case. That alone would be fabulous. The documentaries that have been done so far have held fragments of truth, with chunks of fiction thrown in, and re-enactments that may not have gone that way at all. Maybe the story needs to be given in its entirety and accuracy in a documentary first, before another movie is done.

I'd love to see a new movie on Lizzie. But if it's not true to the facts, I'm afraid nobody's going to sit still and watch a possible later one even if it is accurate.

I hope that if there is another Lizzie movie, that it doesn't contain a possible answer to the crime filmed - like the 1975 "Legend..." movie. It doesn't need that. The case is plenty exciting as it is, and I think it should have somebody talking about the possibilities, but not show them acted out. A person seeing the movie should be left just as the case really is - knowing all the strange things about it, but to be left baffled.

As far as Nance goes, I would wait until "Parallel Lives" comes out first. It'd look pretty foolish if she were portrayed as Lizzie's lover, then come to find out it wasn't so - and other things the book might uncover.

(Bob G - It'd be so cool to know your ideas for a Lizzie movie. It'd probably be really good.)

[Angel]

I agree with Constantine. I've always thought that Melanie Lynsky would be perfect to play Lizzie.