I remember watching "Fourteen Days In May" when it originally aired on the BBC. Having a somewhat morbid fascination with the Death Penalty as practiced in the US states that had the gas chamber or electric chair as their method of getting rid of their worst, I was never likely to miss this documentary. Watching it again in more recent times (including today), I'm reminded that documentaries used to be worth watching, no unnecessary muzac, no unecessary docu-drama re-enactments performed by third rate, acting school failures.
Right through this documentary, it's obvious that the film crew are opposed to capital punishment and are wont to believe that the convicted murderer, Edward Earl Johnson, is an innocent man who was convicted, mainly through the racial issues involving the murder of a white law enforcement officer by a black man. It may well be that the film crew had their anti-capital punishment views cemented by events at home where supposed terrorist bombers were convicted and jailed, protesting their innocence (and would be eventually released as the cases against them fell apart under closer scrutiny) but would have surely hanged, soon after their conviction, if Britain hadn't abolished the death penalty, years before.
The guilt or innocence apart, the road to the gas chamber proves quite fascinating as the chief of the prison, Don Cabana makes sure that the execution should proceed smoothly and with as much dignity as possible, for both the executee and his family. Cabana mentions that prison wardens of the 1930s and 1940s carried out executions far more regularly than any warden of Cabana's time but he could understand how many of those 1930s wardens could do so whilst being opposed to the death penalty. It made me immediately think of Warden Clinton T Duffy who ran San Quentin and always tried to make those facing the gas chamber, as comfortable as possible. A humane man, against capital punishment, and a wrestling match between personal ethics and performing his official duties. Cabana became an active opponent of the death penalty. I wonder if he'd read Duffy's book?
This film is quite graphic (too graphic for animal lovers, in one scene) but a film following the last 14 days of a condemned man's life needs to be graphic, not watered down in the manner of modern day tv. The guy in question seems amazingly calm as the days run out (the basis of a desperate claim of "insanity" by his defence team) but he obviously believed he'd get a stay of execution, perhaps because he had a well spoken, well educated English man as his chief lawyer?
He has less than an hour to live when the film crew finally leave him, sure in their own minds that an innocent man is about to be executed. Johnson still remains calm, either expecting a miracle (even though all the legal avenues are finished) or finally resigned to his fate and possibly relieved to have the 7yrs of uncertainty/his life hanging by a thread come to an end. If you are sitting on the fence regarding the ultimate punishment, watching this film might decide you, one way or the other.
A solid 10/10.
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