{"id":4673,"date":"2014-02-01T11:13:48","date_gmt":"2014-02-01T16:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/MondoLizzie\/?p=4673"},"modified":"2024-07-16T13:25:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:25:33","slug":"lizzie-borden-took-an-axe-in-fall-river-event-reviewed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/lizzie-borden-took-an-axe-in-fall-river-event-reviewed\/","title":{"rendered":"Lizzie Borden Took an Axe in Fall River Event Reviewed"},"content":{"rendered":"

My good friend Phil Devitt, editor of the Fall River Spirit<\/em>, wrote a charming piece<\/a> about the TapHouse Grille’s Lizzie Borden Took an Axe party that was held on January 25. We had a grand time, even though we couldn’t hear most of the dialogue. We were joined by Lizzie Borden historians Bill Pavao (former curator of the Lizzie Borden B&B) and Len Rebello (author of Lizzie Borden: Past & Present<\/em>).<\/p>\n

I am quoted quite a bit and am honored to have been a part of this pretty amazing evening.<\/p>\n

For one night, Lizzie returns to the old neighborhood. by Phil Devitt. January 30, 2014.<\/p>\n

Only in Fall River.<\/p>\n

That was my prevailing thought as I sat at Taphouse Grille Jan. 25, awaiting the premiere of Lizzie Borden Took an Ax.<\/p>\n

The South Main Street restaurant and bar, steps away from the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, was hosting a viewing party for the made-for-TV movie and a spirited bunch turned out to celebrate.<\/p>\n

I had set my DVR and planned to watch some night before bed, as is my custom with all movies about 19th-century hatchet-wielding women. But if you live in Fall River, a Lizzie Borden movie is the kind of thing you want to watch around like-minded people. So I put on my Saturday best and headed out.<\/p>\n

Here’s how I know I ended up in the right place:<\/p>\n

Lizzie Borden martinis were on the menu \u2014 blood red and served with a little blood-spattered hatchet wedged onto the glass like a piece of fruit. The drink seemed to be a popular seller. I saw one on almost every table.<\/p>\n

Lizzie Borden was on almost everyone’s lips. The woman at the next table had fun polling me and other neighbors about Lizzie’s involvement in the brutal murders of her father and stepmother. More than a century after her acquittal, 86 years after her death, the Fall River spinster is still on trial.<\/p>\n

Stefani Koorey, the brilliant Borden scholar who graciously invited me to join her at the viewing, brought along a fake, blood-covered hatchet. She waved it around a few times and nobody batted an eye. Only in Fall River. Only on this night.<\/p>\n

By show time, the place was packed and all 12 televisions were tuned to Lifetime. There’s something you don’t see at every bar. I could sense the buzz in the air. Then, there she was. Lizzie. Well, Christina Ricci as Lizzie. Lifetime’s version of history had hit the airwaves and, across the country, 4.4 million people were watching.<\/p>\n

The movie held the attention of many diners at Taphouse, but after a few minutes, conversation and the clanking of silverware picked up, and I found myself relying on closed captioning to understand the dialogue.<\/p>\n

This gem of a line, delivered by a stern Andrew Borden to his daughter Lizzie, made me chuckle: “I won’t have you traipsing around Fall River, all alone, at night.”<\/p>\n

I laughed more heartily when Lizzie, asked at a party if she was a Sunday school teacher, responds charmingly with, “Only on Sundays.”<\/p>\n

Eyes rolled when some scenes of Victorian Fall River (played handsomely by Nova Scotia) were paired with modern music, but I didn’t mind.<\/p>\n

I know some things about the Borden murders but I am by no means an expert. That’s why it was so interesting to watch the film with Koorey and her friends, historians Bill Pavao and Leonard Rebello. They are the experts of experts.<\/p>\n

Koorey publishes The Hatchet: A Journal of Lizzie Borden and Victorian Studies. Pavao lived for a while, alone, in the 92 Second St. home where the 1892 hatchet murders happened. Rebello wrote Lizzie Borden: Past and Present, which serious students of the case consider a must-read text.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed watching their reactions as much as, if not more than, I enjoyed the movie.<\/p>\n

After two hours (including commercial breaks), reviews were mixed.<\/p>\n

“You can’t improve upon the true story,” Pavao said as the credits rolled.<\/p>\n

Rebello’s first words after the film: “It’s not historically accurate, for one. It was very difficult to watch from an historical point of view.”<\/p>\n

Koorey, who has worked as a theater and film professor, liked what she saw, even if the film wasn’t 100 percent factual. The ending, in particular, won her over. (Spoiler alert for rock dwellers: Lizzie was acquitted.) After the trial, at her new home in the Highlands, Lizzie confesses her guilt to her sister Emma as flashbacks show her committing the gruesome crimes. A horrified Emma moves out and the story ends. Emma moved out in real life, but for reasons unknown.<\/p>\n

“I think it will stay with people,” Koorey said of the ending. “She whispers the whole horrible truth in her sister’s ear and of course her sister has to get up and move away because Lizzie is evil.”<\/p>\n

Pavao said that, on the bright side, the movie could inspire a new generation to study the case and learn the facts. That way, the truth will be everywhere. And not only in Fall River.<\/p>\n

If you missed Lizzie Borden Took an Ax\u009d the first time, it re-airs Jan. 30 at 10 p.m. and Jan. 31 at 2 a.m. on Lifetime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My good friend Phil Devitt, editor of the Fall River Spirit, wrote a charming piece about the TapHouse Grille’s Lizzie Borden Took an Axe party that was held on January 25. We had a grand time, even though we couldn’t hear most of the dialogue. We were joined by Lizzie Borden historians Bill Pavao (former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[91,28,92,93,87,29,94,95,90],"class_list":["post-4673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-and-media-reviews","tag-bill-pavao","tag-fall-river","tag-fall-river-spirit","tag-len-rebello","tag-lifetime","tag-lizzie-borden","tag-lizzie-borden-took-an-axe","tag-phil-devitt","tag-stefani-koorey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4673"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7169,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4673\/revisions\/7169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/mondolizzie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}