The Executioner's Song (film)
Encyclopedia
The Executioner's Song was a 1982 made-for-television film adaptation of the book published in 1980, entitled The Executioner's Song
. The film is directed by Lawrence Schiller
.
's life. In April 1976, Gilmore, 35, was released from prison after serving 12 years for robbery in Indiana
. He was flown to Utah
to live with Brenda Nicol, a distant cousin of his who tries to help him find work. Gilmore soon meets and becomes romantically involved with Nicole Baker, a 19-year-old widow with two young children. Despite his efforts to reform himself, Gilmore's self-destructive behavior leads to him getting into fights, stealing items from stores and abusing drugs. After Nicole breaks up with him, he murders two men in two separate robberies. Gilmore is turned in by his cousin and is sentenced to death
. Gilmore becomes a national media sensation after he fights to have his execution performed as soon as possible. On January 17, 1977, Gilmore is executed by the method he chose, firing squad, making him the first person to be judicially executed in the United States
since Luis Monge
died in the Colorado
gas chamber
June 2, 1967.
The Executioner's Song
The Executioner's Song is a 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah for murder. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord High Executioner's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado...
. The film is directed by Lawrence Schiller
Lawrence Schiller
Lawrence Julian Schiller is a noted American film producer, director and screenwriter.-Career:Schiller was born in 1936 in Brooklyn, and grew up outside of San Diego, California...
.
Plot
The movie is about the final nine months of Gary GilmoreGary Gilmore
Gary Mark Gilmore was an American criminal, and murderer, who gained international notoriety for demanding that his own death sentence be fulfilled following two murders he committed in Utah. He became the first person executed in the United States after the U.S...
's life. In April 1976, Gilmore, 35, was released from prison after serving 12 years for robbery in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. He was flown to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
to live with Brenda Nicol, a distant cousin of his who tries to help him find work. Gilmore soon meets and becomes romantically involved with Nicole Baker, a 19-year-old widow with two young children. Despite his efforts to reform himself, Gilmore's self-destructive behavior leads to him getting into fights, stealing items from stores and abusing drugs. After Nicole breaks up with him, he murders two men in two separate robberies. Gilmore is turned in by his cousin and is sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. Gilmore becomes a national media sensation after he fights to have his execution performed as soon as possible. On January 17, 1977, Gilmore is executed by the method he chose, firing squad, making him the first person to be judicially executed in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
since Luis Monge
Luis Monge
Luis José Monge was a convicted murderer who was executed in the gas chamber at Colorado State Penitentiary in 1967. Monge was the last inmate to be executed before an unofficial moratorium on executions began in the United States in 1972.- Murders :Monge, a Denver salesman, was a native of...
died in the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
June 2, 1967.
Cast
- Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
.... Gary Mark Gilmore - Christine LahtiChristine LahtiChristine Lahti is an American actress and film director. Lahti has had a successful career in television and film. Throughout her career she has garnered 2 Golden Globe Awards from 8 Nominations, An Emmy Award from 6 Nominations and 2 Academy Award nominations...
.... Brenda Nicol - Rosanna ArquetteRosanna ArquetteRosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and producer.-Early life:Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" , an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal...
.... Nicole Baker - Eli WallachEli WallachEli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
.... Uncle Vern Damico - Steven KeatsSteven KeatsSteven Keats was an American actor who appeared in such films as Silent Rage, Death Wish, Black Sunday, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and the TV-movie version of the Norman Mailer book The Executioner's Song starring Tommy Lee Jones.-Biography:The son of Jewish emigrants from Denmark, Keats was a...
.... Larry Samuels - Jordan Clarke.... Johnny Nicol
- Richard Venture.... Earl Dorius
- Jenny Wright.... April Baker
- Walter OlkewiczWalter OlkewiczWalter Olkewicz is an actor who played Marko in Wizards and Warriors and Coach Wordman in Making the Grade. He also guest starred in many TV shows including Night Court, Seinfeld, ER, and Who's The Boss...
.... Pete Galovan - Michael LeClair.... Rikki Wood
- Pat CorleyPat CorleyPat Corley was an American actor. He was known for his role as bar owner Phil on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown from 1988–1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the television drama Hill Street Blues...
.... 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
- Rance Howard.... Lt. Johnson