It aired on NBC on October 8, 1984. The film premiered with a household share of 36.2, ranking it the seventeenth highest rated movie to air on network television and NBC's highest rated television movie.[1]
On March 9, 1977, Francine Hughes and her three children arrive at the Dansville, Michigan, police station, where she turns herself in, after setting her husband, James Berlin “Mickey” Hughes, on fire in their home. Public defender Aryon Greydanus is appointed as Francine’s attorney and tries to gain insight into her motive. Initially reluctant, Francine recounts her life and the events leading up to the murder.
In 1963, sixteen-year-old Francine meets Mickey Hughes, and the two marry shortly after. Mickey begins displaying signs of jealousy and anger and physically abuses Francine, often in the presence of his parents. The abuse escalates over the years, and circumstances worsen with Mickey’s alcoholism. Francine divorces Mickey and takes their three young children. Mickey tries to convince Francine to get back together with him, promising he has changed his ways, but Francine refuses. After learning Mickey has been involved in a serious car crash, Francine agrees to care for him temporarily in his parents’ home; however, the situation eventually traps Francine into a domestic partnership with him. As the children get older, Francine takes business courses at a community college, much to Mickey’s disapproval. Mickey’s abuse becomes relentless, and Francine tries to leave numerous times, only for Mickey to follow her and threaten her into returning. She also seeks help from the police, family courts, and Mickey’s family, but to no avail.
As the case goes to trial, Francine testifies about the horrifying instances of abuse she suffered from Mickey over the years and what happened the day of the murder:
Francine returns home late from school after giving a classmate a ride home, enraging a drunken Mickey. He refuses to allow her to cook TV dinners for the family and beats her. He then orders her to quit school and when Francine refuses, he destroys her school books and forces her to burn them. Later that night at dinner, Mickey beats her again and knocks the food onto the floor. He rubs Francine’s face in the mess and orders her to quit school again. A defeated Francine agrees. Afterwards, Mickey rapes her and falls asleep in a drunken stupor. Francine goes to the garage and obtains a can of gasoline, which she pours over Mickey’s body. She takes her children to the car and drives away as the house becomes engulfed in flames. As the jury returns from deliberation, Francine is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, and she is embraced by her children as a free woman.
After purchasing the rights to the book by Faith McNulty, executive producer commented on Farrah Fawcett's casting: "When we bought the book, we knew that Farrah was interested in playing the part, and we talked to her about it. We told her it would mean working with no makeup, going completely against her image, and she was willing."[3] During production, director Robert Greenwald stated that Fawcett "pushed herself to the limits. She's wanted to make this as gritty as possible."[3]
Prior to beginning the shoot, Greenwald held two weeks of rehearsals with Fawcett and her co-star, Paul Le Mat.[3]
Filming
Filming partly took place inside a private residence in Pacoima, California.[3] During a scene in which Francine's husband locks her in a closet, Greenwald directed Fawcett to be locked in the closet for thirty minutes before beginning filming, and during the courtroom scenes, Fawcett sat in the same hard-backed chair for up to four hours at a time.[3] Greenwald stated that he felt the physical strain contributed to the actress's performance.[3]
Release
The Burning Bed first aired on NBC on October 8, 1984.[4] It premiered with a household share of 36.2, ranking it the seventeenth highest rated movie to air on network television and NBC's highest rated television film at that time.[1]
Copycat crimes
Within the first week following the film's television premiere, two crimes occurred in which the accused perpetrators claimed to have been inspired after watching it.[2] Within less than an hour of viewing the film, Joseph Brandt doused his estranged wife with gasoline inside their Milwaukee home and set her on fire.[2] Brandt was later charged with second-degree murder.[5] Shortly after, Alondra Thompson, a woman recently released from a psychiatric hospital, critically wounded her boyfriend after shooting him while he was sleeping, claiming to police that the film had inspired her act.[2]
In response to the crimes, UCLA psychiatrist Louis J. West argued that Brandt and Thompson would likely have committed the crimes regardless of viewing the film, stating: "Millions of people saw it, and they didn’t burn their spouses."[2]
John J. O'Connor of The New York Times praised Fawcett's performance as "admirably strong," also praising the performances by Paul Le Mat, Grace Zabriskie, and James Callahan, concluding that the film "adds up to riveting, sometimes memorable drama."[4] David Wecker of The Cincinnati Post awarded the film a favorable review, describing it as "a quality movie, totally devoid of Hollywood hokum," and praised Fawcett's performance as groundbreaking.[9] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ron Weiskind also praised Fawcett's lead performance, adding that "she is not the only reason The Burning Bed grabs the viewer's attention and rivets it to the screen. Every aspect of this film has been handled with care."[10] Alan Pergmaent, writing for The Buffalo News, noted that despite some "haphazard" editing, declared it "one of the most powerful and unpleasant films ever put on the small screen."[11]
Marvin Kitman of Newsday noted the film's realism but felt it was too extreme, writing: "After awhile, The Burning Bed plays almost like a videotape of real life. It's raw and depressing...In the end, The Burning Bed is depressing, not exhilarating, more a videotape of one woman's terrible life experience and newsreel footage of a trial. It is not great art."[12] The Detroit Free Press's Mike Duffy similarly noted the film's raw presentation of events, but felt it served the subject matter: "It is not a pretty picture. But then, wife-beating is not a pretty subject. The Burning Bed, however, is a compelling picture. It addresses a serious national misery without resorting to simplistic melodrama or sentimental handwringing."[13] Peter Farrell of The Sunday Oregonian was unimpressed by the film, describing Rose Leiman Goldember's teleplay as "flat" and describing it as "merely another message movie—timed to coincide with National Domestic Violence Week."[14]
In his 2016 book co-written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV (The Book), television critic Matt Zoller Seitz named The Burning Bed as the 7th greatest American TV movie of all time, writing, "The film was a landmark in terms of content, depicting domestic violence as an unambiguous horror and a human rights violation". Seitz also praised the performance of Farrah Fawcett as "one of the finest in the history of TV-movies".[15]
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