People Vs. Paul Crump, The

Alternative title: People Versus Paul Crump, The
Synopsis: Before directing THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST, William Friedkin made this documentary. On March 20, 1953, five black men robbed a meatpacking plant in Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. Their getaway went awry, and a security guard was shot and killed. Within a week, all five men were arrested. Four received jail sentences and were eventually paroled. The fifth, Paul Crump, then 22, confessed under questionable interrogation tactics, then retracted, only to be convicted and sentenced to the electric chair. After 14 stays of execution, Crump met Friedkin, then a local TV director, in the Cook County Jail. Friedkin believed in Crump’s innocence and as a consequence, he and his cinematographer Bill Butler took to the streets with lightweight cameras to appeal for Crump’s return to society. The resulting film contributed to the commutation of Crump’s sentence and launched Friedkin’s Hollywood career.

The Facets DVD release comes with an essay on the film and the Paul Crump case by writer Susan Doll.
Language: English
Country: United States
Year of release: 1962
Subjects: Social Studies; Film studies
Keywords: campaigning films; documentary films; black Americans

Name: Facets Multi-media Inc.
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Notes: A pioneering US distributor of over 65,000 international, animated, independent, art, classic, documentary, silent, and experimental films on DVD, some of them exclusive to the Facets label.

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British Universities Film & Video Council