Scheidungsgrund - Mord

I actually only got to see part of this movie, as it was taped and accidentally erased before I finished the entire movie. I'm now reading Thompson's "Blood and Money," which is highly engrossing and I can't stop reading it--I suspect I'll finish it this weekend. The book goes into great detail about the characters' histories, not just presenting facts, as so many "true crime" books do. It reads like a novel, and the part of the movie I saw was well matched and well acted to what I've read in the book, understanding that a movie can't possibly include all the details of a well researched book.

Does anyone know if this movie is in DVD or at least VHS format and available to rent or buy? The reviews I've read here at this site as well as the cast, especially Farrah Fawcett, Sam Elliott and Andy Griffith prompt me to want to see it!

This was a fabulous movie - Farrah Fawcett was superb as the spoiled, tormented Joan, Andy Griffith personified the character of a rich oil-man who always got his way, and Sam Elliott is simply so sinister it's gives you goosebumps!! I've seen the movie a few times, but as with any movie taken from a book (be it Ann Kurth's or otherwise) it can never capture all the details that the real story possesses. I have read "Blood and Money" by Tommy Thompson, and it is a captivating read - you seriously can't put it down! If you have seen the movie, you MUST read the book - it will give you so much more insight into the characters. I do not recommend reading the book before watching the movie, as it (the movie) will appear as a let down, and yet it really is a great movie. Watch it first, then read Tommy Thompson's book - in that order - and it will fill in all the blanks.

In the spring of 1972 I, at age 24, had just moved to Houston, Texas, and soon the city was absorbed by the mystery of Dr. John Hill's death. Two of my friends were patients of the physician in partnership with Doctor Hill, so they felt they knew Dr. Hill personally and that he never could harm anyone. I too worked in the medical field, and on my Wednesday afternoons off I would drive north on Kirby Drive and through the scenic River Oaks Neighborhood, all the while thinking the neighborhood must be like heaven on earth. I do recall the two-story white mansion with the black horse head hitching post out front, and I soon learned it had been the home of Dr. John and Joan Robinson Hill, the supposed victims in two separate murders. The hitching post remained as Joan's personal touch on the property since she had loved horses all her life.

From the beginning the story of Joan Robinson had been shrouded in mystery. Her adopted mother, Mrs. Robinson, told the story of how the Robinsons had adopted Joan from the Edna Gladney Home, an orphanage shown in the Greer Garson film, "Blossoms in the Dust." Other people circulated the rumor that Joan was the result of an affair Ash Robinson had had with his secretary and that Mrs. Robinson was agreeable to covering her husband's indiscretions and bringing up Joan as their "adopted" child. The Robinsons worshiped Joan, an accomplished equestrienne who appeared with her horse, Beloved Belinda, in the annual Pin Oak Stables Horse Show in Houston.

Dr. Hill supposedly was from a strict Baptist family of modest means in McAllen in South Texas, and he was impressed with the opportunity to study and practice medicine in Houston. The Robinsons, glad to have a promising young medical student marry Joan, agreed to put Hill through medical school. Eventually Dr. Hill founded the Sharpstown Hospital in a Houston suburb, and it was to this hospital that Joan Robinson Hill finally was taken. Such was the quaint, fairy-tale world of 1950s-1970s Houston, and the stage was set for the drama and mystery about to unfold.

I read Thompson's Book, "Blood and Money," and I believe the film was true to the book. Thompson's account left everyone speculating about what really had happened and what everyone's motives were. I personally believe the portrayals by Sam Elliott, Farrah Fawcett, Andy Griffith, and Katherine Ross were excellent. I would recommend the Kurth and Thompson books on the subject, and I would love to find a DVD version of "Murder in Texas" so that I could share this great film with my friends.

I mean seriously, Dr. John Robert Hill seemed addicted to marriage didn't he? I am not going to dispute whether this account is true in all of its points, or that some points are a matter of record, some points are conjecture, and some points are complete hooey. However, let me just state that this film is based entirely on the book of Ann Kurth, second wife of Dr. John Robert Hill, and that it does not line up with everything that was known by 1981, when this film was made. But it makes a better film than the other more objective book on the subject, "Blood and Money".

As for the film: Joan Robinson Hill (Farrah Fawcett) is a socialite and skilled equestrian, unhappily married to plastic surgeon Dr. John Robert Hill (Sam Elliott). She seems to love him, but his love has grown cold. Maybe it is because he seems as married to Joan's dad Ash Robinson (Andy Griffith) as Joan, as Ash is always inserting himself into every situation, and John did not sign up for a trio. Ash is a self made oil man and a man with a straightforward rough manner.

Dr. Hill falls in love with divorcee Ann Kurth (Katherine Ross), has an affair with her, and wants to marry her. But Ash says there will be a nasty court battle if that happens, that the doctor will wind up with none of the Robinson money, and that Ash will involve Kurth in the case and have Hill ostracized from Houston society meaning his practice will dry up too. So Doctor John stays with Joan, and tells Ann to wait.

But then Joan falls suddenly ill with a stomach flu after practically being hand fed French pastry by her husband, and over a period of a few days grows gravely ill and dies in a hospital that was not the closest, plus it did not have an ICU - a hospital to which her husband decided to take her knowing of the better option. After the shortest possible respectable waiting period, Doctor John marries Ann and moves her into his big mansion, the former home of the doc and Joan. How convenient for the doctor, the sudden death of the unwanted wife.

Ash is sure that his ex son in law killed his daughter, and goes about trying to get the law to investigate. But meanwhile weird things are happening inside the Hill mansion and inside the new Hill marriage. What weird things? Watch and find out.

Everybody played their parts with excellence. Farrah Fawcett finally got some credit for some range as the spoiled daddy's girl who is used to him getting her all that she wants, but dad can't get her husband to love her. If you only thought of Andy Griffith as affable sheriff Andy Taylor in 1981, he shows a meaner more determined side here. Special honors have to go to Sam Elliott here. This is maybe the best role of his career. In spite of that genuine Texas sounding twang, he is just a creepy scary guy throughout the film, always playing his cards close to his vest.

Part of my love for this film is for how genuinely Texan it is. For example, an old fashioned evangelical Hell and Brimstone preaching church sits in the shadows of the glass and steel high rises of Houston, people can eat outside in cafes at Christmastime because it is 70 degrees, and a man can name his son "Boot" and yet hold his head up.

It has taken me years to get a good copy of this film. Bring made for TV doesn't help.

Try to find it if you can. It's an extremely well acted film with some stellar cast members who do a great job.

San Elliott, Kathleen Ross, Farah Fawcett, and Andy Griffith, to name a few. This is a role for Andy Griffith that really shows his flexibility as an actor. It's so far from the comic personality most people remember him for.

Watch it. Enjoy it. And be impressed.

(If you can find it)