# Capital Punishment in Cinema **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035 "2010-10-22T19:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/1 "2010-10-22T19:29:48Z")
The most memorable deptiction is from a movie I otherwise can’t remember, one of what seems like a fad in the early 1960’s for movies set in the first quarter of that century (_Elmer Gantry, Splendor in the Grass, Pollyanna_, etc.), about a tyro newpaper reporter, IIRC, covering his first hanging. The condemned was dragged out kicking and screaming into the courtyard of the prison. (and that’s all I remember). The end of _In Cold Blood_ was good, as was Susan Hayward getting hers in \*I Want to Live. \*But grimmness isn’t a requirement: two parts in _Villa Rides_ was cinematically worthwhile: when Charles Bronson shoots the Federales one by one as a sporting event, and Yul Brynner fiddling with the protocol during his own firing squad until a reprieve can arrive. “Message” movies usually botch things up: at the end of _Dead Man Walking,_ Sean Penn’s character tells the vicitms families (paraphrasing) “I hope this brings you some comfort,” with heartfelt contrition, wheras IRL the killer had spat it at them sarcastically. The _Green Mile’s_ electrocutions were too much “Hallmark Moment” executions for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/2 "2010-10-22T19:36:17Z")
Very early in “The Dirty Dozen,” Lee Marvin watches the hanging of a hapless G.I. convict, who keeps saying “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry” over and over, like a little kid who knows he’s about to get spanked. One of the few genuinely moving moments in an otherwise silly, ultra-macho movie. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/3 "2010-10-22T19:48:24Z")
The harshly lit, voyeuristically filmed hanging of an innocent person at the end of Dancer in the Dark was utterly sickening. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/4 "2010-10-22T19:58:32Z")
James Cagney being dragged to the electric chair in **Angels with Dirty Faces.** The actual electrocution wasn’t shown, of course (the Hayes Code), but Cagney portrayed his terror so well that it raises the issue of whether he was faking it (as he was asked to) or not. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/5 "2010-10-22T20:17:56Z")
The execution scene in “Breaker Morant” is very, very good. They’re being escorted out, Harry reaches out to Hancock and they walk to the chairs hand in hand. The sergeant walks down the firing line putting one round in each rifle, and each shooter snaps the bolt shut. Then the classic “Shoot straight you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it!” just before the “Fire!” command. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/6 "2010-10-22T20:55:53Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The execution scene in “Breaker Morant” is very, very good. They’re being escorted out, Harry reaches out to Hancock and they walk to the chairs hand in hand. The sergeant walks down the firing line putting one round in each rifle, and each shooter snaps the bolt shut. Then the classic “Shoot straight you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it!” just before the “Fire!” command. Which itself was a loose remake of _Paths of Glory_, which also had a firing squad climax. The sneaky Fritz Lang thriller _Beyond a Reasonable Doubt_ used capital punishment quite well in its plotting ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capital-punishment-in-cinema/558035/7 "2010-10-22T22:56:28Z")
I recall there was a prequel to Lonesome Dove where a number of Texas Rangers were executed by a Mexican firing squad. The commander of the Rangers, played, I think, by Keith Carradine, refused the blindfold, walked to his place, faced the gunmen - and subsequently fell in a heap, no slo-mo, no cliched agonized crumpling to the ground, just fell like a marionette with the strings cut. Pretty striking.