Crime of the Century Reviews

CRIME OF THE CENTURY is a tense rendering of the Lindbergh-baby kidnapping told from the perspective of the man who was executed for the crime, perhaps wrongfully. The film was made for HBO, and was later released on home video. New Jersey, 1932. The two men snatching aviator Charles Lindbergh's baby drop the child while climbing from the house. One year later, with the child dead and the kidnappers having escaped with the $50,000 ransom, Col. Norman Schwarzkopf (J.T. Walsh) is pressured to find the culprits. Nearby, Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Stephen Rea), an illegal German immigrant, finds $14,000 left in his house by a German swindler (Brad Greenquist), whose death had seemingly left Bruno's family broke. The money, gold certificates used for the Lindbergh case, lead police to Bruno. He lies about the money, which is found during a search of the house, but later tells the truth to a skeptical Schwarzkopf. Despite unreliable witnesses and experts, Bruno is charged with murder. His wife Anna (Isabella Rossellini) is devastated. Witnesses, including Lindbergh (Scott N. Stevens) himself, are pressured to identify Bruno as the killer. Anna hires a drunken lawyer (John Harkins) to defend her husband. In the meantime, New Jersey governor Harold Hoffman (Michael Moriarty) is suspicious about the facts in the case, but with Schwarzkopf's help, Attorney General David Wilentz (David Paymer) wins the conviction and Bruno is sentenced to death. Hoffman grants a brief stay of execution to check into the case and determines that Bruno, who has just turned down $90,000 to confess, is probably innocent. Nervous that the case will be reopened, Wilentz and Schwarzkopf convince Hoffman that he would be making a political error. They offer Bruno a life sentence if he confesses. He refuses and is put to death. The Lindbergh kidnapping, the subject of the earlier TV movie THE LINDBERGH KIDNAPPING CASE (1976), remains one of the most infamous crimes in American history. Director Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND) fashions a riveting drama from the story, with help from a fine script by William Nicholson (derived from Ludovic Kennedy's book The Airman and the Carpenter) which boldly proclaims Bruno Hauptmann's innocence--it also makes no bones about fingering Col. Schwarzkopf (whose General son went on to fame in the Gulf War) as the real criminal in the case. The perfectly-cast J.T. Walsh flourishes as the Colonel, while David Paymer gives an electrifying performance as the Attorney General. For his part, Rea perfectly balances his interpretation of Bruno with "suspicious" characteristics that are tempered by the loving attitude the character maintains for his wife. Rossellini makes a perfect Anna, whose adoration for her husband is both commendable and heartwrenching. Rydell's strong direction is complemented by John Frizzell's moving low-key score, which is capped by the strains of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," previously used to perfection in PLATOON (1986). (Adult situations, violence.)