Fatal Vision | |
---|---|
Based on | Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss |
Screenplay by | John Gay |
Directed by | David Greene |
Starring | |
Composer | Gil Mellé |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 2 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Richard L. O'Connor |
Cinematography | Stevan Larner |
Editors |
|
Running time | 181 minutes |
Production company | NBC Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | November 18 – November 19, 1984 |
Fatal Vision is a 1984 American true crime drama television miniseries directed by David Greene from a teleplay by John Gay, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Joe McGinniss. The miniseries stars Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Barry Newman, Gary Cole, and Andy Griffith. It recounts the celebrated case of Jeffrey R. MacDonald, the former Green Beret physician who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their two small children. [1]
The miniseries received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special, with Malden winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for his performance as MacDonald's father-in-law, Freddy Kassab. [2]
NBC paid $130,000 for the rights to the book, according to McGinniss, a transaction that was complicated by a prior contractual claim by Dell publishers. [3] The miniseries was filmed in Santa Clarita and Pasadena, California, as well as at NBC Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
John J. O'Connor of The New York Times called the story "chilling" and the miniseries "certainly compelling", but stated it was not "as overwhelming as Mr. McGinniss's book." O'Connor also praised the cast, writing that Cole, Malden, and Saint "contribute outstanding performances." [4] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times lauded Fatal Vision for its "superb, meticulous storytelling that will have you on the edge of your seat, with Greene managing to convey the brutality of the crime in a surreal way without showing actual violence." Rosenberg also named it "the highest-rated miniseries of the 1984-85 season." [5]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | 35th ACE Eddie Awards | Best Edited Episode for a Television Mini-Series | "Part II" Parkie L. Singh, William B. Stich | Won |
39th Edgar Awards | Best Television Feature or Miniseries | John Gay | Nominated | |
1st TCA Awards | Program of the Year | Fatal Vision | Nominated | |
Outstanding Achievement in Drama | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Specials | Nominated | |||
37th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special | Mike Rosenfeld, Dan Wigutow, Richard L. O'Connor | Nominated | |
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special | Karl Malden | Won | ||
Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special | David Greene | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special | John Gay | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Achievement in Makeup | Stephen Abrums | Nominated | ||
1st Artios Awards | Mini-Series or Movie of the Week Casting | Karen Hendel | Won | |
"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a 1966 patriotic song in the ballad style about the United States Army Special Forces. Written and performed by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, it was one of the few popular songs of the Vietnam War years to cast the military in a positive light. Sadler's version became a major hit in January 1966, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. It was also a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on Billboard's Country survey.
Karl Malden was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's All My Sons and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in 1946 and 1947. Recreating the role of Mitch in the 1951 film of Streetcar, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. His breakout role was playing Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian in the NBC series Midnight Caller (1988–1991). Further prominent television roles include American Gothic (1995–1996), The West Wing (2003–2006), The Good Wife (2010–2016), Veep (2013–2019), and NCIS (2021–present). Cole's voice roles include Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Family Guy (2000–present), Kim Possible (2002–2007), Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–2013), and Bob's Burgers (2012–present). His most notable film roles are The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and Office Space (1999).
The controversy over Fatal Vision, journalist and author Joe McGinniss's best-selling 1983 true crime book, is a decades-long dispute spanning several court cases and discussed in several other published works.
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves Somebody".
Jeffrey Robert MacDonald is an American former medical doctor and United States Army captain who was convicted in August 1979 of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters in February 1970 while serving as an Army Special Forces physician.
Christopher McDonald is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor.
Barry Foster Newman was an American actor of stage, screen, and television known for his portrayal of Kowalski in Vanishing Point, and for his title role in the 1970s television series Petrocelli. He was nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy awards.
Joseph Ralph McGinniss Sr. was an American non-fiction writer and novelist. He was the author of twelve books.
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story is a 1990 American crime drama television miniseries based on the life of Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, an undercover DEA who was abducted and killed by the Guadalajara Cartel in 1985. The series is directed by Brian Gibson and stars Steven Bauer in the titular role and Benicio del Toro as cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero, alongside Elizabeth Peña, Miguel Ferrer, Treat Williams and Craig T. Nelson. The teleplay is based on Elaine Shannon’s non-fiction book Desperados and the Time magazine article of the same name. Filmmaker Michael Mann served as an executive producer, as well as co-writing one of the episodes.
Blind Faith is a 1989 true crime book by Joe McGinniss, based on the 1984 case in which American businessman Robert O. Marshall was charged with the contract killing of his wife, Maria. The book was adapted into a television miniseries of the same name in 1990.
The Journalist and the Murderer is a study by Janet Malcolm about the ethics of journalism, published by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House in 1990. It is an examination of the professional choices that shape a work of non-fiction, as well as a rumination on the morality that underpins the journalistic enterprise. The journalist in question is Joe McGinniss; the murderer is the former Special Forces captain Dr. Jeffrey R. MacDonald, who became the subject of McGinniss's 1983 book Fatal Vision.
John Gay was an American screenwriter, born in Whittier, California.
Blind Faith is a 1990 NBC miniseries based on the 1989 true crime book of the same name by Joe McGinniss. It follows the 1984 case in which American businessman Robert O. Marshall was charged with the contract killing of his wife, Maria. Adapted by John Gay and directed by Paul Wendkos, the miniseries was originally broadcast in two parts with a total runtime of 190 minutes.
Son of the Morning Star is a 1991 American two-part Western television miniseries released by Chrysalis based on Evan S. Connell's best-selling 1984 book of the same name. It starred Gary Cole and featured Dean Stockwell, Rosanna Arquette, Rodney A. Grant, Nick Ramus, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Floyd Red Crow Westerman.
A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald is a book by Errol Morris, published in September 2012. It reexamines the case of Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret physician accused of killing his wife and two daughters in their home in Fort Bragg on February 17, 1970, and convicted of the crime on August 29, 1979. MacDonald has been in federal prison since 1982.
Fatal Vision is the 1983 true crime book by Joe McGinniss which lies at the center of the Fatal Vision controversy.
Washington: Behind Closed Doors is a 1977 American television miniseries produced by Paramount Television, that was broadcast in six parts, airing across six consecutive nights on ABC, between September 6 to September 11, 1977.
The 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2018, were presented on January 27, 2019 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was broadcast live on both TNT and TBS 8:00 p.m. EST / 5:00 p.m. PST. The nominees were announced December 12, 2018 alongside the announcement of Megan Mullally as the ceremony's host.
A Wilderness of Error is an FX documentary true crime five-part series premiered on September 25, 2020, directed by Marc Smerling. It is based on the book A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald by Errol Morris.