The Executioner's Song (1982) (TV)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Lawrence Schiller

Writers:

Norman Mailer (book)
Norman Mailer (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 November 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Plot:

The story of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who lobbied for his own execution.

Plot Keywords:

Execution | Pulitzer Prize Source | Murder | Capital Punishment | Suicide

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Gary Mark Gilmore
Christine Lahti	...	Brenda Nicol
Rosanna Arquette	...	Nicole Baker
Eli Wallach	...	Uncle Vern Damico
Steven Keats	...	Larry Samuels
Jordan Clarke	...	Johnny Nicol
Richard Venture	...	Earl Dorius
Jenny Wright	...	April Baker
Walter Olkewicz	...	Pete Galovan
Michael LeClair	...	Rikki Wood
Pat Corley	...	Val Conlan
Mary Ethel Gregory	...	Ida Damico
John Dennis Johnston	...	Jimmy Poker-Game
Norris Mailer	...	Lu-Ann (as Norris Church)
Kenneth O'Brien	...	Spencer McGrath

Runtime:

Sweden:136 min | USA:157 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Orem, Utah, USA

Company:

Film Communications Inc.

Trivia:

According to director Lawrence Schiller, Debra Winger was strongly favored for Nicole Baker but was turned down after being considered "too urban" for the role. Tatum O'Neal also read for the role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right after the execution, when the crew is checking the body to make sure he is dead you see Tommy lee's hand move his fingers tap his leg.

Movie Connections:

Version of Shot in the Heart (2001) (TV)

Unmissable.

Norman Mailer's book about Gary Gilmore was compelling in the first half, but the second half was a limp, uphill struggle. There's no such problem in the TV adaptation, which is tighter and absorbing all the way through, with both Tommy Lee Jones and Rosanna Arquette giving two of the best performances of their careers... you now know why it's easy for us to forgive him for "Batman Forever" and her for "Off The Wall" (which she made the following year, and oh dear me that was BAD).

This is available in both miniseries form and a shortened cable/theatrical version (to quote Buffy Summers, "We're talking violence, strong language, adult themes..."), but I actually prefer the TV version because while you get more nudity - female AND male - and more graphic scenes in the cable cut (not to mention lines like Rosanna's "Yeah, you and seven other motherf***ers"), it's at the expense of a little story coherence; you lose some seaminess in the miniseries version, but the tale is ultimately stronger, clearer and not so rushed. But either version is a must.