Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8304 in VHS
• Released on: 1992-03-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 2
• Running time: 222 minutes

Customer Reviews

History-making 1913 trial
THE MURDER OF MARY PHAGAN is based on a true story. It premiered on 1/24/88 as an NBC-TV mini-series and runs a little over 4 hours, minus commercials.

Along with the many established actors here are some then up-and comers: Kevin Spacey ("Prot" in K-PAX) (VHS) (DVD), Dylan Baker (Robert McNamara in THIRTEEN DAYS) (VHS) (DVD), and William H. Macy (Jerry Lundegaard in FARGO) (VHS) (DVD). Spacey is a newsman covering the murder trial who has a change of heart, Baker portrays the governor's assistant/adviser, and Macy in a nearly non-speaking role is a vengeance-intent citizen of Atlanta.

SYNOPSIS--
After 13-year-old Mary is discovered strangled and molested at the pencil factory where she worked, the plant manager, Leo Frank (Gallagher) is arrested and charged with murder. Frank, a Jew from Brooklyn is tried under highly prejudicial circumstances. Prosecutor Hugh Dorsey (Jordan) allows condemning perjury by Jim Conley (Dutton), a black janitor who was one of the few at the factory that Saturday afternoon. Another influence is an enormous crowd outside the courthouse shouting threats against the accused through the courtroom's open windows.

Frank, always insistent in his innocence and that every word of Conley's testimony against him is false, gets convicted and sentenced to hang. Appeals right up to the U.S. Supreme Court fail and Frank's hanging is scheduled for a few days before Gov. John Slaton (Lemmon) is due to leave office. Slaton's lifelong dream of running for the U.S. Senate is in peril if he commutes the death sentence to life, but as Slaton is Frank's last resort he feels an investigation into the trial's transcripts must be conducted.

The more Gov. Slaton researches, the more uncertain he is that Leo Frank is guilty, yet by overturning the court's ruling, perhaps he and/or Frank may end up lynched. At bare minimum, Slaton's political ambitions will be dashed forever.


As of 7/09, "Mary Phagan" was not available on DVD.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(7.3) The Murder of Mary Phagan (TV-1988) - Jack Lemmon/Richard Jordan/Robert Prosky/Peter Gallagher/Kathryn Walker/Rebecca Miller/Paul Dooley/Charles S. Dutton/Kevin Spacey/Dylan Baker/William H. Macy

EXCELLENT!
An excellently produced film with a clear and unmistakable message on the subject of discrimination against jews in the context of a murder mystery. Fine productional values, especially the setting and costumes.

The acting, writing, directing were fine--with one exception: The person who played the Jewish Manager--his interpretation and performance were far too tepid and unemotional. He was falsely accused of killing a twelve year old girl, and he hardly bats and eyelash. He made me feel as if the problem had perhaps happened to someone else rather than himself. He needed to feel more disturbed about his unbfortunate situation. Sometimes his passive performance was welcome, but at other times not, because it made him seem uncaring about the accusations made about him. This distanced my sympathy for him--"why should I care about his plight if he doesn't?"

"What Was the Music?"
I saw this mini series on T.V. years ago. I loved the movie, but there has been a question in my mind ever since that I have longed to have answered. At one point in the movie, Frank's wife was playing some hauntingly beautiful music. It was definitely classical and maybe even opera. It sounded slightly familiar, but I could not identify it. I would like to purchase this music if I can find it available ANYWHERE! Can anyone help me out here?