WHEN WOMEN KILL (TV)
Summary
This documentary film, narrated by Lee Grant, focuses on seven women sentenced to prison for having killed. The program opens in Bedford Hills Prison in New York state as Grant speaks with Virginia, a nurse that shot her airline husband pilot. She discusses being high school sweethearts with her husband and the reasons he gave for wanting a divorce. She further details the murder, claiming that her husband attacked her with an ice pick and that she shot him in self-defense. James T. Gorman, Catholic chaplain at Bedford Hills, discusses the "mistake" made by women that kill. Next, the program looks at Violet, woman who shot and killed her second husband in their trailer near Niagara Falls. Her children travel from Appalachia to visit her for a thirty-six hour period. Violet and her children discuss her violent husband. Her daughter Debbie details her own life with an abusive husband. Violet talks about how she used to think that husbands that beat their women were simply showing love. She talks about the incident that led to shooting her husband. Linda E. Cherry, Bedford Hill steward, details why society reacts so negatively toward female criminals.
Then, the program looks at Frannie, a suburbanite and clarinet student who killed a fellow musician at age nineteen over a drug deal. Grant notes that most murders involve drugs or alcohol. Frannie's mother discusses her daughter's drug problem, after which Frannie additionally details how her cocaine addiction led to gun violence. Patricia Nelson, a Los Angeles attorney, details how women's prisoners get far fewer visitors than male prisoners. Relocating to the California Institution for Women, the program then focuses on Judy, who aided her burglar boyfriend in the murder of a jewelry dealer. Judy talks about becoming seduced by her boyfriend's criminal ways. Judy and her mother talk about her long-time issues with men.
Next, the program looks at Leslie Van Houten, a runaway who became part of Charles Manson's "Family." Van Houten is shown taking college philosophy classes as part of a prison program. She talks about her life under the manipulative Manson, as well as the difference between her life at age thirty-three and age nineteen, when she killed Rosemary LaBianca during the Manson "Family" massacre. She details how she still feels responsible for LaBianca's death. Then, the program looks at Marie, a "stereotypically" hard-core criminal. Marie discusses the murder that got her sent to jail, how she would rather commit suicide than die via the death penalty, and a fistfight she once had with her stepfather. Finally, the program looks at Luz, a woman convicted of killing her stepfather, an act which she still denies. Luz talks about her feelings upon first being thrown into jail and how she attempts to make the most of her time behind bars through education and changing prison policy. Some of the women offer parting thoughts, with one noting that the line between those inside and outside prison is a thin one.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: September 7, 1983 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:10
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:04676
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Lee Grant); Public affairs/Documentaries; Women's Collection - Drama; Murder
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 1983
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Joseph Feury … Producer
- Mary Beth Yarrow … Producer
- Milton Justice … Producer
- Truusje Kushner … Associate Producer
- Prudence Glass Greenblatt … Associate Producer
- Lee Grant … Director
- Janet Roach … Writer
- Lee Grant … Narrator
- Linda E. Cherry
- James T. Gorman
- Rosemary LaBianca
- Charles Manson
- Patricia Nelson
- Van Houten, Leslie