The Independent Film Channel (IFC) is actually going to broadcast the ground-breaking, controversial 1970 film "The Honeymoon Killers" about a real-life couple who went on a spree-killing rampage in the 1950s (didn't have time to Wiki that, so I could be off on the decade!) at 10:05 a.m. on Valentine's Day.
The documentary-style black and white film is also available on dvd through the Criterion Collection.
"The Honeymoon Killers" was initially supposed to be directed by a young Martin Scorsese but creative differences with the producer lead to Leonard Kastle directing the film which is his best known film.
The story involves Martha Beck and Ray Fernandez, both of whom were executed by an electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York (I have publicly disclosed that I am opposed to capital punishment, but this is not a political entry, but there might very well be one on this subject here soon!).
It has actually been re-filmed twice since 1970, including an odd Mexican remake entitled "Deep Crimson" (1996) which is the most graphic of the three films as it features an on-screen murder of a child- something that is considered to be a virtual taboo in American cinema.
There is also the more widely-known, fairly recent American film "Lonely Hearts" (2006) with Jared Leto and Salma Hayek playing the killers. The lead actor though is John Travolta who plays a detective in the case, which makes the film considerably different in pov than "The Honeymoon Killers."
In the original film, Beck is played Shirley Stoler who resembles the actual killer who weighed over 200 pounds at the time of her execution. Due to her excessive weight, Beck could not fit into the electric chair so she was secured on the arm rests when the fatal shock was delivered.
The story unfolds as Beck takes care of her invalid mother in Mobile, Ala. As she craves affection, Beck decides to place an ad in a lonely hearts column which is responded to by Fernandez (Tony LoBianco).
They become a couple and run off to New York, leaving Beck's mom to be tended to in a nursing home. Gradually, they begin to fleece vulnerable women. This causes Beck to become jealous, so she starts killing each of the women and in one instance she murders a victim's child by drowning him in a washing machine.
"The Honeymoon Killers" was actually released almost exactly 40 years as it premiered on American screens on Feb. 4, 1970- a full month before I was born!
The film will re-air on IFC (their web site is ifc.com) on Friday, Feb. 26 at 9:05 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.
I consider the film to be a vintage classic and it would probably be on my Top Ten list for the best films of 1970- a year which also saw the release of the film version of "MASH," "Five Easy Pieces" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
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