''Crime of the Century'' is a 1996

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973), ...

. It presents a dramatization of the

Lindbergh kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields (Amwell and Ho ...

of 1932. The film stars

Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', ''Michael Collins'', ''Interview with the Vampire'' and ''Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Award ...

Bruno Hauptmann Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnap ...

and

Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...

as his wife Anna.

Plot

The film, like

Ludovic Kennedy Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy (3 November 191918 October 2009) was a Scottish journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and ...

's 1985 book ''The Airman and the Carpenter'' upon which it is based, presents

Bruno Richard Hauptmann Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidna ...

as not guilty of the Lindbergh abduction and murder for which he was tried and executed. It suggests at least one of the perpetrators was Isidor Fisch, an associate of Hauptmann's who had conned several of the local German community out of money and who returned to Germany after the Lindbergh baby was found.

Cast

as Bruno Hauptman *

as Anna Hauptman * J.T. Walsh as Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. *

Michael Moriarty Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is an American-Canadian actor and jazz musician. He received an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for his first acting role on American television as a Nazi SS officer in the 1978 mini-series ''Holocaust'' ...

as New Jersey Governor

Harold Hoffman Harold Giles Hoffman (February 7, 1896 – June 4, 1954) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 41st governor of New Jersey from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing in the United States House of Re ...

Allen Garfield Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz; November 22, 1939 – April 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Early life Garfield was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family, the son of Alice ( née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz. He ...

as Lieutenant James Finn * John Harkins as Edward Reilly *

Barry Primus Barry Primus (born February 16, 1938) is an American television and film actor, director, and writer. Career While Primus is primarily an actor, he has also worked as a writer and director in films in which he has acted. For the first decade ...

as Ellis Parker *

David Paymer David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, and television director. He has been in films such as ''Mr. Saturday Night'', ''Quiz Show'', ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', ''City Slickers'', ''Crazy People'', ''St ...

as David Wilentz *

Bert Remsen Herbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen (February 25, 1925 – April 22, 1999) was an American actor and casting director. He appeared in numerous films and television series. Biography Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son o ...

as Dr. John Condon * Scott N. Stevens as Colonel

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

Awards

The film earned five

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nominations in the "Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for TV" categories. The film was nominated for the Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Special at the

49th Primetime Emmy Awards The 49th Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California in 1997. They were presented in two ceremonies hosted by Bryant Gumbel, one on Saturday, September 13 and another on Sunday, September 14. The Septe ...

References

* 1996 television films 1996 films HBO Films films 1990s English-language films Crime films based on actual events Cultural depictions of Charles Lindbergh Lindbergh kidnapping Films directed by Mark Rydell Films scored by John Frizzell (composer) {{US-tv-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References