Story of movie The Burning Bed : The Burning Bed is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, following her setting fire to the bed he was sleeping in at their Dansville, Michigan home on March 9, 1977, and thirteen years of physical domestic abuse at his hands.
| The Burning Bed | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime Drama |
| Based on | The Burning Bed by Faith McNulty |
| Written by | Rose Leiman Goldemberg |
| Directed by | Robert Greenwald |
| Starring | Farrah Fawcett Paul Le Mat Richard Masur |
| Theme music composer | Charles Gross |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jon Avnet Steve Tisch |
| Producer(s) | Carol Schreder Rose Leiman Goldemberg (co-producer) |
| Cinematography | Isidore Mankofsky |
| Editor(s) | Richard W. Fetterman Michael A. Stevenson |
| Running time | 95 mins |
| Production company(s) | Tisch/Avnet Productions Inc. |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 8, 1984 |
Screenplay
On March 9, 1977, Francine Hughes, following thirteen years of physical domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, tells their children to put their coats on and wait for her in their car. She then pours gasoline around the bed in which Mickey is sleeping in their home in Dansville, Michigan, and sets the bed afire. After the house catches fire, Hughes drives with her children to the local police station in order to confess to the act. Hughes is tried for first degree murder, and is found by a jury of her peers to be not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. It is widely believed that the judge and the jury largely sympathized with Francine's plight and felt that Mickey's murder was a justifiable action.
Having adapted the book into a made-for-television movie, Goldemberg's screenplay, The Burning Bed, premiered on NBC on October 8, 1984. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film starred Farrah Fawcett as Francine Hughes and Paul Le Mat as Mickey Hughes.
The movie was filmed in Rosharon, Texas. The house that served as the Hughes' home still stands today.
Ratings
The movie premiered with a household share of 36.2 ranking it the 17th highest rated movie to air on network television.
Critical response
Television critic Matt Zoller Seitz in his 2016 book co-written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV (The Book) named The Burning Bed as the 7th greatest American TV-movie of all time, writing that "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 Fawcett as "one of the finest in the history of TV-movies".
Cast
- Farrah Fawcett as Francine Hughes
- Paul Le Mat as James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes
- Richard Masur as Aryon (Arjen) Greydanus
- Grace Zabriskie as Flossie Hughes
- Penelope Milford as Gaby
- Christa Denton as Christy Hughes, age 12
- James T. Callahan as Berlin Hughes
- Gary Grubbs as District Attorney
- David Friedman as Jimmy Hughes, age 10
- David Andrews as Wimpy Hughes
- James Hampton as Police Witness
- Virgil Frye as Virg
- Dixie K. Wade as Hazel Moran
- Heather Rich as Christy age 6
- Justin Gocke as Jimmy age 4
- Elizabeth Lyn Fraser as Nicole Hughes
- Jeremy Ross as Judge Hotchkiss
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