Dance

"This thing haunts and, so far as I may say it, disgusts me as something
obscene," Raymond Chandler wrote. "I am not referring to thetrial, of
course, but to the medieval savagery of the law . . . Ihave been tormented
for a week at theidea that a highlycivilized people shouldput arope
round theneck of Ruth Ellis and drop her through atrap andbreak her
neck. This was acrime ofpassion under considerableprovocation. No other
country inthe world wouldhang this woman."Chandler wrote thiswhile
working in London in 1955, just before thehanging of Ruth Ellis. The
nightclub hostess Ellis shot herlover David Blakely outside the Magdala
pub in South Hill Park, Hampstead on Easter Sunday 1955. Withshocking
speed,she was executed at Holloway only three months later, aged 28. Ellis
became thelast woman in Britainto behanged. The storyleading up to the
murder was documented in a film, Dance with a Stranger in 1985. The film is
partnoir,part docudrama. It's a star-making turn for theleads Miranda
Richardson andRupert Everett. It's one of Mike Newell'sfirst film, and
it's a knock out. Not anoir instructure, butinstead it borrows filmnoir
visuals. Characters can be seen walking out of theshadows. Moody and
atmosphericimages --subduedlighting and almost surrealcolors-- helps
tell thegrim tale. The maincharacter Ellis is often shownviamirror
reflections. Whenever Richardson is on thescreen it's hard not to stare at
her. Herpresence, beauty and physicalacting as the obsessiveb-girl is
somethingto behold. The filmdoesn't get intothe most controversialpart
ofthe whole story-- thespeedytrial and executionbrought about possibly
because of the unforgiving socialclass system. Instead, you might want to
see the Diana Dors starrerYield to the Night released right aroundthe time
of thehanging. The film ismore sanitized thanDance with a Stranger but
quite good in it's own way. Dors, surprisingly, gives astrongperformance
playing a woman clearlybased on Ellis. (The filmmakers atthe timedenied
the movie is anywayconnected with the true story in theheadlinesevery
day-which I don'tbelieve for asecond. It waspenned bydirector J. Lee
Thompson's then wife Joan Henrywhospenttime inprison forreceiving bad
checks.) Yield to the Night (renamed -- and totallymissing thepoint -- in
the US as Blonde Sinner) tells the story of a young woman ondeath row
after shooting herlovers wife on thestreet.