Jack Lemmon stars in this TV telling of a true incident in our history. When a young lady is killed, her employer (Peter Gallagher) is accused, because of circumstantial evidence, supposedly true testimony of others implicating him, his ladies man reputation, but mostly because he is a Yankee and a Jew in the South. He is given a trial, which isn't quite a fair one. When the sentence is hanging until death and a pardon from the Governor is possible, Governor Jack Lemmon feels the prisoner was given a bum deal, considering the community's prejudice and has qualms about letting the man hang. He goes on his own crusade and investigation to delve deeper into the story. Jack Lemmon has never given a bad performance, and in fact, everyone was very good in their role, especially Dutton in his memorable role. This was a very educational, involved and thoughtful film. "They Won't Forget" with Claude Rains and Lana Turner was another film about this, but that was a loose telling of the story, as it took place in a school setting instead a workplace. I've seen it, and it stands on its own as a good example of hard-hitting drama and movie-making if not totally accurate to the basic facts. After seeing this version though, you may not want to see the older version, as this puts the characters and their feelings first rather than serving their problems up for your entertainment.

I cannot better the review of this TV film given earlier by 'Michael Elliott' but I want to add my thoughts on how this film left me feeling. It is sad that there are so many persons in the 'Deep South' who seem to be so full of hate that their sense of decency is so completely destroyed. The man was found guilty for many reasons but evidence was certainly not one of them. Racial prejudice, Social prejudice ( he was rich and from the north ), Desire for Political advancement, Desire for fame ( name in the paper etc ) or just plain hatred for no other reason than you are thick as two planks were among the reasons this man was murdered and the real murderer allowed to get away. OK he was found guilty by a jury but they were not shown all the evidence and they had listened to a convincing ambitious prosecutor who seems to have coached many of his so called witnesses and even made up evidence and ignored any that proved 'Franks' innocence. But what is more disturbing is the lynching of this man after it had started to become clear that someone else had done this. In a court today ( we hope ) this would never have happened. The guy who wrote the note and changed his story many times would be a prime suspect but in this case it appeared not to be so? I cannot understand why the hatred for 'Frank' was more than the south's usual hatred for blacks? Or was it just that having made a massive mistake their pride wouldn't allow them to back down? One thing that this film does omit is the fact that many of those baying for Franks blood were Ku Klux Klan members or sympathisers. This film left me feeling angry and bewildered at the ignorance and lack of intelligence, morals and decency of so many people and not that many years ago.

This mini-series captures Jack Lemmon in a strong role as a real historical figure. Governor Slaton of Georgia risked (and ultimately lost) a promising political career in his search for the truth as to what really happened to Mary Phagan. Lemmon is heroic in an understated way----very different than many of the manic-like comedy performances that conspicuously dotted his long career.The story was filmed before in 1937 by Warner Brothers with Mervyn LeRoy directing as "They Won't Forget." This is the film that launched the career of Lana Turner as a major sex symbol. She played the very small Mary Phagan-like role when just a young teenager---and who could forget her famous stroll through town as she strutted her sexy stuff just before her murder? In "They Won't Forget," the story was changed significantly to eliminate any reference to the Leo Frank-like character as a Jew. Instead, he was depicted as a teacher (not a pencil factory manager) with apparently a Christian background."They Won't Forget" was a typical Warner Brothers social drama of the 1930s. It fudged on the facts but was quite gripping and engrossing. Claude Rains may have been somewhat over-the-top as the prosecuting attorney---but he commanded your attention.On the other hand, "The Murder of Mary Phagan" stays much closer to the true story. It's interesting to compare the two films to see just how much easier it was in 1988 to tell the whole narrative of the Leo Frank case than it was in 1937.For another source of information on this remarkable historical event, seek out Harry Golden's fine book of many years ago---"A Little Girl is Dead."

This is one of the best mini-series I've seen in a long time. They get the story right and is acted out very well, esp. by Lemmon and Gallagher. It was also nice to see Kevin Spacey in one of his first roles. If you get a chance, watch this one. It will be worth it.