MRS. HARRIS (TV)
Summary
This made-for-TV movie is based on the book “Very Much a Lady” by Shana Alexander, which in turn was based on the true story of Jean Harris, a school headmistress who was accused of murdering her lover, the famed cardiologist Dr. Herman “Hy” Tarnower. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping back and forth between the years of their relationship and her murder trial. The program begins on March 10, 1980, when Jean arrives at Tarnower’s home at 10:00 P.M., saying she drove five hours in the rain to see him, but he is disinterested in talking to her. She becomes enraged upon finding another woman’s belongings in his home and threatens to kill herself with a gun, and in the struggle she ends up shooting him in the hand and then a few times through the chest. When she attempts to call for help, the phones are dead thanks to a storm. Tarnower’s sister, Billie, then makes her “opening statements” and says her brother “aired his flaws,” and states that Jean murdered him purposefully. Jean’s best friend Marge talks about Jean’s first “dull” marriage and her two sons, and calls her “gutsy” for choosing to leave her husband. Jean and Tarnower meet at a party given by Marge in 1966, and almost immediately he sweeps her off her feet with his lavish lifestyle, although he claims to be just a “country doctor.” His other paramours give evidence as to why they were attracted to him despite his philandering ways, and Jean ends up introducing him to her children, Jimmy and David, who are impressed by his gun collection and hunting “trophies.” Jean seems uncomfortable with the idea of his other women, but he charms her forcefully and they soon consummate the relationship. Soon, Tarnower proposes to Jean, proffering an enormous diamond ring, and she accepts. On trial, the prosecutor questions her about the details of the night Tarnower died and about her suspicious behavior regarding his injuries. When the cops arrive, she claims there was a struggle over the gun and becomes upset when she sees him taken out on a stretcher, but in the courtroom, a doctor states that his injuries are not consistent with her statement. After his proposal, Jean voices her doubts to Marge and wonders if she made a mistake, especially considering his dislike of children and his many “grateful patients” who give him gifts and attention. She soon meets his family and handles his disapproving mother with ease, but cannot help noticing that he still has his eye on other women. When she finally asks him to set a date, he apologizes, saying he cannot go through with the wedding. She becomes angry and tries to return the ring, but he presses it on her. She accuses him of humiliating her in front of her friends and family, but they stay in a relationship despite her anger about his other girlfriends, as he is the only person who makes her feel “safe.” He suggests that they go on a trip without her children, and begins prescribing her many different medicines for her various ailments. He soon begins another affair with his young secretary, Lynne, who also enjoys hunting, and Jean is angry at her constant presence at Tarnower’s home, particularly while she herself is also there. The bitterness and tension between them grows, especially when Jean is passed over for the position of headmistress. On March 10, Jean is fingerprinted at the police station and learns that Tarnower has died at the hospital. When Marge and her husband arrive, Jean requests a lawyer, but says that nothing bad must be said about Tarnower during the trial. Jean is then examined by psychologists, who conclude that she has been suicidally depressed for years, thanks in large part to the dangerous combination of “uppers and downers” prescribed by Tarnower. One doctor argues that she never intended to kill him, but her friends disagree over the logistics of their relationship. Jean reflects on the “clues” of her budding emotional turmoil and soon attempts to purchase a gun. A Christmas message in the newspaper from Lynne to Tarnower increases her rage, and though Tarnower says he does not want the responsibilities of marriage and loves no one, she still asks to be his one and only girlfriend. Tarnower soon achieves fame with his best-selling book, “The Complete Scardale Medical Diet,” with which Jean helps, to an extent. At the same time, she attempts to continue in her duties at school, and her students explain that she is likable but given to “tantrums” over minor issues such as litter, and she finally admits that she is “not strong enough” to handle the job. In court, she talks about feeling depressed and like “a person sitting in an empty chair.” She discusses her feelings about death and suicide with Tarnower, who is dismissive, and in return she mocks Lynne’s low class and poor education, which angers him. She then details her actions on the day of his death, saying that she called him because she needed a refill and was upset about recent changes to his will and because he had spent the recent weekend with Lynne, whom she felt “denigrated” him. She asks to see him that night, explaining that she wanted to talk to him one final time before killing herself. Her case is further hurt when the prosecutor reads “the Scarsdale letter,” which she sent on the day he died and which reveals her jealousy of Lynne and makes her killing of him look premeditated. Another version of the opening scene is depicted in which Jean deliberately shoots Tarnower several times, and their friends recount their reactions to hearing the news. At the end of the trial, Jean speaks up and repeats that she is innocent and that she loved him, and her sons reflect on their memories of their mother as she and Tarnower are seen together in happier times. The epilogue explains that Tarnower’s book reached number one again after his death, and that Lynne has never commented publicly on the case. Jean was convicted of second-degree murder, but was pardoned and released in 1992.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: February 25, 2006 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:14
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:87735
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; TV Movie; Murder
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2006
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Elizabeth Karlsen … Executive Producer
- Pamela Koffler … Executive Producer
- Christine Vachon … Executive Producer
- John Wells … Executive Producer
- Chrisann Verges … Producer
- Timothy Bird … Associate Producer
- Juanita Diana Feeney … Associate Producer
- Phyllis Nagy … Writer, Director
- Shana Alexander … Inspired by the book "Very Much A Lady" by
- Alex Wurman … Music by
- Annette Bening … Cast, Jean Harris
- Ben Kingsley … Cast, Herman Tarnower
- Ellen Burstyn … Cast, Former Tarnower Steady
- Frances Fisher … Cast, Marge Richey Jacobson
- Philip Baker Hall … Cast, Arthur Schulte
- Cloris Leachman … Cast, Pearl 'Billie' Schwartz - Tarnower's Sister
- Mary McDonnell … Cast, Vivian Schulte
- Chloe Sevigny … Cast, Lynne Tryforos
- Frank Whaley … Cast, George Bolen
- Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr. … Cast, Judge Leggett
- Bill Smitrovich … Cast, Joel Arnou
- Michael Gross … Cast, Leslie Jacobson
- Ronald Guttman … Cast, Henri
- John Patrick Amedori … Cast, Young David Harris
- Brad McCoy … Cast, Young Jimmy Harris
- John Rubenstein … Cast, Tarnower's Best Friend
- Brett Butler … Cast, Tarnower "Ex" #1
- Lee Garlington … Cast, Tarnower "Ex" #2
- Cristine Rose … Cast, Suzanne
- Jessica Tuck … Cast, Wife #1
- Robert Cicchini … Cast, Detective Siciliano
- Michael Paul Chan … Cast, Dr. Louis Roh
- Nan Martin … Cast, Mama Tarnower
- Jessica Kate Meyer … Cast, Debbie
- Larry Drake … Cast, Harris Defense-Team Psychologist
- Lisa Edelstein … Cast, Forensic Psychologist
- Dean Norris … Cast, Sporting Goods Clerk
- Lauren Storm … Cast, Favorite Madeira Student
- Kirsten Nelson … Cast, TV Interviewer
- Caroline Lagerfelt … Cast, Madeira School Administrator
- Jessica Johnson … Cast, Madeira Alumna
- Vicki Davis … Cast, Madeira Senior
- Margaret Easley … Cast, Carol Potts
- Tim Rettley … Cast, David Harris
- Michael Moore … Cast, Jimmy Harris
- Douglas Caldwell … Cast, Dancer
- J.C. Crimp … Cast, Dancer
- Michael Grier … Cast, Dancer
- Michael Higgins … Cast, Dancer
- Birl Jonns … Cast, Dancer
- Jack Mattis … Cast, Dancer
- Stan Mazin … Cast, Dancer
- Douglas B. Meyers … Cast, Dancer
- Regan Patno … Cast, Dancer
- George Ratliff … Cast, Dancer
- Roger Ritenour … Cast, Dancer
- Dom Salinaro … Cast, Dancer
- Darin Poulson Sanone … Cast, Dancer
- Blaine Savage … Cast, Dancer
- Wiley Hicks Simpson … Cast, Dancer
- Ted Sprague … Cast, Dancer
- Larry Strauss … Cast, Dancer
- Mic Thompson … Cast, Dancer
- Jerry Trent … Cast, Dancer
- Carey Ysais … Cast, Dancer