I think Ebert needs to adapt this new rating system. “Fantastic, groundbreaking movie. I give it three free rapes.”
I just read this
WTF? Is this accurate? Polanski fled to avoid 48 days? This is the “out of control” judge? I had assumed that he was looking at real time, not just a month and a half.
No, that’s not accurate. Polanski had not been sentenced and was facing anything from probation (unlikely) to the maximum penalty allowed under the law.
"So what really went down in the chambers of publicity-hungry Judge Laurence Rittenband back in 1977? “All that happened was I brought the newspaper with the picture of Polanski at Oktoberfest [before his 42-day evaluation] into court and handed it to the bailiff,” Wells told me. “I told the bailiff, ‘Here, give this to the judge.’ Did I know it would tick him off? Yeah. It ticked me off. Polanski was thumbing his nose at everyone.”
“When [Judge] Rittenband saw the photograph of Polanski out on the town…he blew up. Said, ‘Screw the deal, he’s going to state prison.’ And he said it straight to a reporter from The Outlook. Polanski’s lawyer found out about it, of course. And that was that. He never showed up for sentencing.”
OK, not only did I cite “The Daily Beast,” I seem to have misread it.
This from Newsweek is more germaine (emphasis added): "Polanski pleaded guilty to “unlawful sexual intercourse”; probation was the recommendation. But the judge began to maneuver behind the scenes: he wanted to look tough for the press, though not necessarily send Polanski to prison. He asked a reporter for advice on what sentence he should give; he gave regular interviews to a Hollywood gossip columnist. The day before the sentencing—despite an agreement with Dalton and Gunson—Ritterband was overheard bragging at his country club that he was going to lock up Polanski for the rest of his life. The next day Polanski was gone, his Mercedes abandoned at the Los Angeles airport. Even the prosecutor now says, “I’m not surprised he left under those circumstances.”