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Kill Me If You Can

Kill Me If You Can (1977)

September. 25,1977
|
7.4
| Drama TV Movie

The story of Caryl Chessman, a convicted California rapist who spent 12 years on death row before finally being executed.

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Reviews

Scanialara
1977/09/25

You won't be disappointed!

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Sexyloutak
1977/09/26

Absolutely the worst movie.

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Arianna Moses
1977/09/27

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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Mandeep Tyson
1977/09/28

The acting in this movie is really good.

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Dave from Ottawa
1977/09/29

Caryl Chessman, in 1960, was one of the last Americans executed for crimes other than murder. While on death row, he wrote a celebrated book and became the face of the anti-death penalty movement.Alan Alda strikes a convincing note as the cocky Caryl Chessman, convicted and sentenced to death in a string of crimes known as the Red Light Bandit attacks. The movie's creators, however, cheat a bit by making Chessman a little too sympathetic. Alda throws a chair across a room to show his frustration in one scene, but the film stops short of showing just how confrontational and difficult to like Chessman was in real life. Chessman was a brilliant writer, but anyone carefully reading his books sees a fundamentally dishonest and manipulative sociopath behind the clever prose. He proclaims his innocence of the crimes, yet never bothers to account for why their pattern so closely matches his own descriptions of his earlier exploits that landed him in Folsom Penitentiary. Had the film gone in for more of a warts and all approach to the character, it would have succeeded at being at least less dishonest than its subject.That said, the film accurately captures its period and brings out the many details in Chessman's trial that seemed to indicate that it was something less than fair. The film tiptoes around the central issue of Chessman's guilt, portraying the Red Light Bandit crimes in flashback without showing the identity of the perpetrator. But his fight for fair treatment by the justice system, guilty or not, makes for strong cinema. This movie is definitely worth a watch, however one might view its protagonist's guilt.

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glen-187
1977/09/30

I saw this film many years ago and still remember it vividly, but like others have been unable to purchase the film!! I found the story so interesting that I later read the three books Caryl Chessman wrote while on death row as well as the transcript of his trial and all were fascinating. Alan Alda's performance was superb and the entire film was gripping. I have no doubt from my reading he was not a nice man and surely guilty of many things, but i do not believe kidnapping was one of them, it did nit fit the profile and certainly the trial had so many errors it was a disgrace. That's justice for you. I hope one day NBC releases this film on DVD, I know there are many out there that share my passion for this enthralling story.

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lisajayne_1999
1977/10/01

I have read some drivel in my time but the comment of this movie and the header page is full of absolute crap! Obviously this person has no idea about this story at all! HE WAS INNOCENT! Yes this is a true story and the reason its great, apart from the acting, is because of the complete unjustness of the whole "Capital Punishment System" IT DOESN'T WORK! How the hell are you going to pay restitution to someone who is dead.....god you make me bloody angry. Get a grip, get your facts right, and let this be a lesson, 12 years on death row...????? if your innocent is ridiculous, you want to know what else is ridiculous. Your suppose to proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If there is no reasonable doubt then he should have been there one day whilst they set the damn electric chair up then did the deed....SEEMS TO ME 12 YEARS MEANS THERE IS A HELL OF A lot OF REASONABLE DOUBT. He should never have been given the death penalty at all.....No one should you bloody red neck!

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JimHammond
1977/10/02

I arrived at my destination (a commune) and was told to wait in a sitting room for them to process my application. The sitting room had a TV, and it was showing this movie. This movie was as awful as a movie can be, and by the time it was over I again truly understood how much it is a shame to waste precious time. For any reader of this post, do not see this piece of junk.Sometimes I have got to tell it like it is!

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