Danger extrême

During my time working in Hollywood, this was the one made for television movie I worked on. I was the post-production supervisor. I had worked for Helios Productions with Brad Wigor and Joe Maurer several times on CBS Schoolbreak specials and they had asked me to take this job on, manning the office in Beverly Hills while they were on location in Atlanta where the film was shot.

The film was edited entirely on film, only going to tape later from the finished print. The old film editing style was quickly being replaced by tape and computers so this was a thrill to work one last time on film.

One of my memories from this film include being assigned to coordinate a meeting in New York between Howard Rollins and producer Brad Wigor. We really wanted Howard to take the part of the bad cop but he was not sure if he wanted to take it. I remember getting Howard on the phone on the day that he had learned of a close friends death. He was very upset. He talked and I listened for a good long while. I'll never forget his voice and the fear he had. In the end, the meeting was arranged and Howard took the part. He was an excellent actor and really turned in a fine performance in this film.

I also cherish meeting both Ronny Cox and Elizabeth Montgomery during the ADR sessions. Ronny had just made an album in Nashville of country music. As a fellow musician, we talked about music and my planned relocation to Nashville. Ms. Montgomery was a class act. She arrived early for her session and she and I had a nice chat in the studio while we waited for the session to begin. I was thrilled to meet her and will never forget her interest and kindness.

As a final footnote, this idea was brought to Helios by our production secretary Joannie Cuff. She had grown up in the Buffalo, NY area and knew of the story. Brad and Joe secured the rights and the movie was made. Joannie was given the well deserved title of Associate Producer for her efforts.

Michael Killen

Where may I find a DVD? I lo e Elizabeth Montgomery. She is one of my favorite actresses.

Before I give my comment on the TV-movie With Murder In Mind I would like to apologize if my English is not correct, for it is not my native language (I am Dutch).

I saw the movie on Friday the 30th of July on ARD (German television) at 12.30 A.M.. Although I expected that the movie would be nothing much, I watched it because I happen to like American TV-movies, especially when they are based on true facts, because the story is often easy to follow without really watching it all of the time. But this time I was really shocked, especially by the last act. As if it is not enough that she wins, the victim, a typical middle-class woman (the heroine), gets the good news (at least for her) on the television of the conviction of the alleged perpetrator (the villain) just at the same time (you won't believe it) as there is a family wedding going on at her house. What shocked me in this act was the complete lack of compassion towards the man who was eventually convicted. To me it felt like a justification, like some kind of statement of the director: 'that's what you're going to miss (very special important family occasions like a family wedding) for a long, long time and it serves you right, you dirty bastard!'

And what to think of the indifference of the announcement that the alleged perpetrator was sentenced to 29 up to 75 (!!!) years. With all due respect, but no suffering whatsoever of any victim justifies this kind of sentences. They are only for people who like to believe in simple black and white fairy-tales (and Americans love to do that!). They have absolutely nothing to do with reality. In Holland you can get 20 years of imprisonment at the most! And to me that is fair and realistic. I believe that everybody, and I mean everybody has a right to a certain minimum of compassion, because that is what human rights are all about. I can not help thinking that this is some kind of propaganda against any humane punishment and/or treatment of convicts. I know it is most likely that I am wrong, but if that is the case then I would like to hear that from director Michael Tuchner himself.

That last scene shocked me so much that I could not eat or sleep properly for several days. And even now as I am writing this I still get emotional about it. And I would not have been so upset if this movie had not been based on true facts. That is how I found this Website: I wanted to know the names of the characters involved, because I am very anxious to find out what happened to them after the movie and, if possible, to give Michael Tuchner a peace of my mind in person about this piece of crap.

All in all it turned out to be a very typical American TV-movie: Tuchner has succeeded in reducing a very complex reality into a simple black and white fairy-tale of the cheapest kind. To me that is totally irresponsible, especially in this delicate case (at least to me) where at the time that this movie was made the convict still claimed that he is innocent. And on top of that the story is told from the viewpoint of the winner. And especially in America the winner is always right. It is supposed to be a movie with a message, but I doubt if it was meant to be the message that I got: the only thing that matters is that you win, do not care about what happens to the loser. The winner takes all, be-cause (s)he is oh so righteous that only heaven is good enough and the loser gets nothing, because (s)he is always a devious crook who only deserves to live in hell.

This movie, though it looked a little boring, actually turned out to be really good. It's about a woman named Gayle Wolfer who sells houses. One day, when she is showing a man a house, the man makes Gayle and the people who live in the house get down on the floor. He ties them up, you know the deal. Then he shoots Gayle about three times. Luckily, she survives, and is determined to find out who the person who wanted to kill her is and where he is at. One day, when she and Bob Sprague are at the county fair, she sees someone and recognizes him as the man who tried to kill her, but hardly anyone believes her. So she goes to a trial in court. This movie may seem like just one of those normal good guy/bad guy movies but it's actually really good, especially the acting.

I am actually trying to get a copy of this TV Movie as it was about my Vietnam bunk buddy Edward Beaufort-Cutner who is no serving 25-50 years in Livingston Correctional Facility in NY. Oddly, he committed the crime in 1988, when I was a prison warden in Nebraska. I have been trying to find him for 40 years and just did so yesterday. I am calling the prison today to see if I can contact him. I am a writer and may want to do the rest of the story into a feature film. What is also odd is he was denied parole for his initial hearing May 12, 2014, which is my birthday. We both got out of the military and finished criminal justice studies and ended up running private security and investigation companies.

I finally found a copy of this movie available on-line for a mere $8.49 and will be able to watch it next week to start researching "the rest of this story."

After carefully watching this movie with my wife this week (2-10-16), I believe there is "the rest of the story" to be told here. I have been corresponding with the convicted perpetrator to this crime, along with his family, for the purpose of reconnecting 50+ years from Vietnam, and looking for ways he can get a fair parole hearing. I realize there was considerable circumstantial evidence that was pieced together to convict him, but the act is totally out of character for him. Although all his parole success prediction factors are good-excellent (age, prior criminal history,attitudes, prison conduct record and program participation, education, family support employ-ability, soundness of parole plan, etc.), his main obstacle of the court record and movie rendition of the execution-style intentional murder attempts and the vicious image those shootings represent in the jury's and parole board's mind. They may think he needs to serve 36 of the 50 years which would put him at 82 years old. While Sirhan-Sirhan and Charlie Manson should never be released, it is probably time for Eddie Beaufort.