LONGFORD (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television film dramatizes the decades-long efforts of Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, to secure parole for jailed child murderess Myra Hindley. The program begins in 1987 as Lord Longford, a devout Catholic, appears on a radio show to discuss his recent book about the saints. Callers to the program, however, are more interested in criticizing his association with Hindley, the infamous "Moors murderer," and one woman asks if Longford now regrets his actions. Twenty years earlier, Hindley and lover Ian Brady are arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of three children, whose bodies are found on the Saddleworth Moor in northern England; the case is highly publicized and the killers widely vilified. Longford speaks at the House of Lords about his visits to and friendships with various paroled and rehabilitated prisoners, and he later receives a letter from Hindley, requesting a meeting. The Prime Minister is displeased with the idea, noting Longford's "childlike quality," and assigns him to instead focus on an investigation of young people and criminality. Nevertheless, Longford visits Hindley, who explains that she wants to see Brady, her common-law husband. Longford treats her with kindness and tries to persuade her against it, and she is shocked to find that he believes that she has a chance of parole. Later, Longford tells his family that Hindley is not what he expected and was "corrupted" by Brady. The two begin a long letter correspondence, in which she reveals that her relationship with Brady caused her to turn away from the church, and he urges her to find God again.
Longford spends eighteen months on his reports on youths, all the while writing to Hindley, who works towards her holy confession. The Prime Minister then essentially fires Longford as the leader of the House of Lords, however, saying that he has "reached an age," and Longford is crushed. He is then surprised to receive a letter from Brady, and when he visits him in prison, Brady mockingly tells Hindley's "new boyfriend" that she is merely manipulating him to secure her release, revealing letters that Hindley has written and hinting that she is in a relationship with a female guard. He informs Longford that Hindley will "destroy" him, and tells him to listen to an audio recording of one of the murders. Hindley, however, tells Longford about giving confession, and Governor Wing agrees that her conversion is sincere, saying that she never rises to provocation from other prisoners. Wing even takes Hindley out for an afternoon of fresh air in a park, but a news photographer catches sight of her and many are angered by the scandalous headline. Longford promises to help Hindley, though asks if there is anything important that she has not told him, and she says there is not. He launches into a campaign to secure her parole, giving interviews and speeches about her conversion and manipulation by Brady, though many oppose him and one victim's mother promises to kill Hindley if she is released. Longford receives the audio tape of the murder in the post, but does not listen to it.
Longford's daughter's book-signing is a disaster when reporters ask only about Hindley, and Elizabeth tells him to occupy his time with something else. Seeing the toll it is taking on his family, Longford turns his attention to an anti-pornography campaign instead, and Hindley wonders why he has stopped writing. However, when he learns that Hindley, in despair, has tried to escape from prisoner with her lover Patricia Cairns, he visits her again and urges her to pray. In court, he asserts that she is "a good Christian woman," but Hindley is given another twelve months' sentence and sent to Durham Prison, known for being extremely bleak and harsh. Brady, now on a hunger strike, summons Longford again and tells him to abandon Hindley, explaining that she is "a hysteric" who will change her demeanor entirely to win people over and accusing Longford of wanting to "save" her. Elizabeth finally reads Hindley's letters and decides that she wants to meet her, and when they reach Durham, they find that Hindley is heavily medicated and received a "rough welcome" and plenty of abuse. Elizabeth is appalled, and surprises her family at Christmas by announcing that she is joining Longford's efforts to secure Hindley's parole, saying that she has received harsher treatment as a female murderer, noting that the average "life sentence" is twelve years and Hindley has served fourteen.
Longford appeals to his friend the Home Secretary, and Hindley is moved from Durham and granted a meeting with a local parole board. Upon learning of this, Brady offers a reporter an exclusive story. Longford's happiness at their progress is destroyed when Hindley explains that Brady has revealed the names of two additional victims, and that she wants to beat him to it by leading the police to their bodies. Longford is staggered at her lies, and they decide not to meet again. Elizabeth comforts him, and Longford prays for forgiveness and the strength to forgive Hindley. He finally listens to the audio tape and is forced to confront Hindley's true monstrous actions. In 1987, Hindley listens to Longford's radio interview as he explains his connection with "outcasts," like the penitent thief crucified next to Jesus Christ, and he declares that he does not regret assisting Hindley, saying that she actually "enriched his life" by teaching him about forgiveness. Ten years later, a sickly Hindley writes to a very elderly Longford, and she apologizes to him for lying, swearing that she is truly trying to be close to God, but admitting that "evil can be a spiritual experience" as well. She muses that it might have been better if she and Brady were executed before the death penalty was outlawed, but Longford disagrees. The film concludes by revealing that Longford died in 2001 at age 95, visiting prisoners until the end, and that Hindley died of emphysema in 2002 after 36 years in jail. Brady remains in prison and has no desire for release.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: February 17, 2007 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:32:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:91296
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; Crime and criminals - Female offenders; England
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2007
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Andy Harries … Executive Producer
- Peter Morgan … Executive Producer, Writer
- Helen Flint … Producer
- Tom Hooper … Director
- Rob Lane … Music by
- Jim Broadbent … Cast, Lord Longford
- Samantha Hindley … Cast, Myra Hindley
- Lindsay Duncan … Cast, Lady Elizabeth Longford
- Andy Serkis … Cast, Ian Brady
- Lee Boardman … Cast, Talk Show Host
- Tam Dean Burn … Cast, Roy
- Kate Miles … Cast, Rachel Packenham
- Sarah Crowden … Cast, Lady Tree
- Robert Pugh … Cast, Harold Wilson
- Caroline Clegg … Cast, Longford's Secretary
- Alex Blake … Cast, Paddy Packenham
- Roy Barber … Cast, Father Kahle
- Ian Connaughton … Cast, Reporter
- Charlotte West Oram … Cast, Downing Street Secretary
- Roy Carruthers … Cast, Albany Prison Officer
- Karen Bayley … Cast, Holloway Prison Officer
- Karen Spragg … Cast, Patricia Cairns
- Kika Markham … Cast, Governor Wing
- John Paul Hurley … Cast, Photographer
- Richard Sinnott … Cast, Journalist 1
- David MacCreedy … Cast, Journalist 2
- Daniel Shaw … Cast, Schoolboy 1
- Ross Tomlinson … Cast, Schoolboy 2
- Gordon Landford Rowe … Cast, Judge
- Ron Meadows … Cast, Defence Barrister
- Tina Malone … Cast, Elsie
- Anton Rodgers … Cast, William Whitelaw
- Martina McClements … Cast, Home Office Secretary
- C.P. Hallam … Cast, Fred Harrison
- Pamela Cheshire … Cast, Cookham Wood Prisoner