The Preppie Murder | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime Drama |
Written by | John Herzfeld Irv Roud |
Story by | Irv Roud |
Directed by | John Herzfeld |
Starring | Danny Aiello William Baldwin Lara Flynn Boyle |
Theme music composer | Chris Isaak Simon Rogers |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jack Grossbart |
Producers | Sydell Albert Paul Pompian |
Production locations | Los Angeles New York City |
Cinematography | Steven Shaw |
Editor | Janet Bartels-Vandagriff |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company | Jack Grossbart Productions |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 24, 1989 |
The Preppie Murder is an American television film directed by John Herzfeld, written by Herzfeld and Irv Roud, and starring William Baldwin as Robert Chambers and Lara Flynn Boyle as Jennifer Levin. The film aired on ABC in 1989. It was based on the events of a murder committed by Robert Chambers, nicknamed the "Preppie Killer". The film co-stars Danny Aiello, Joanna Kerns, and William Devane.
The film reenacts Robert Chambers' murder of Jennifer Levin. Robert Chambers, a man who attended prep schools on a scholarship, kills Jennifer Levin, who herself was of a privileged background after they leave a trendy Manhattan bar together. When Detective Mike Sheehan arrests him, Chambers claims that he killed her in self-defense after rough sex got out of hand. In the ensuing trial, Chambers' attorney, Jack Litman, attacks Levin's personal history. Chambers eventually pleads guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
The film was shot mostly in Los Angeles, but some exterior shots took place in New York City. Mike Sheehan, who investigated the case, served as a consultant. Jennifer Levin's parents declined involvement; her father called it "exploitative". Linda Fairstein and Jack Litman also declined involvement. [1] Director John Herzfeld wanted to tell Jennifer Levin's story and "clear a little of the mud off her". [2]
The Preppie Murder aired September 24, 1989, on ABC. [2] It was released on home video in November 1993. [3]
Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times called it "vexing, powerful and heartbreaking—yet strangely enigmatic". [2] John Leonard of New York called it "pointless" and compared it negatively to Linda Wolfe's book, Wasted: The Preppie Murder . [4] John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote that the film's denunciation of the press as exploitative was ironic, as it "merely warms up the old headlines it pretends to abhor." [5]
William Joseph Baldwin is an American actor and the second-youngest of the four Baldwin brothers. He has starred in the films Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991), Sliver (1993), Virus (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he portrayed himself, and the Netflix show Northern Rescue (2019). Baldwin is married to singer Chynna Phillips.
Lara Flynn Boyle is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy Wayne's World (1992), Boyle had a lead role in John Dahl's neo-noir film Red Rock West (1993), followed by roles in Threesome (1994), Cafe Society (1995), Happiness (1998), and the villainous Serleena in Men in Black II (2002). From 1997 to 2003, she starred in the ABC series The Practice, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
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Robert Emmet Chambers Jr. is an American criminal. Dubbed the Preppy Killer and the Central Park Strangler, Chambers gained notoriety for the August 26, 1986, strangulation death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's Central Park, for which he was originally charged with second degree murder. Chambers changed his story several times during the course of the ensuing investigation, ultimately claiming that Levin's death was the accidental result of him pushing her off of him as she purportedly sexually assaulted him, an account that was characterized by media accounts as one of "rough sex". Chambers later pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a jury failed to reach a verdict after nine days of deliberation.
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Linda Wolfe was an American journalist, essayist, and fiction writer., best known for her award-winning work, Wasted: The Preppie Murder, an investigation of the so-called "rough sex" killer, Robert Chambers. Critic John Leonard called Wolfe a writer of "fierce intelligence." Wolfe was also a distinguished book critic and a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle.
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