When this film was first promoted back in 2005, I went and read Pierrepoint's autobiography. This was riveting, so I was looking forward to the film. There was no sign of it. Despite being a TV sponsored production it was hidden away after a limited release and three years went by before it appeared on ITV last week. Having finally gotten to see it I can only come to the conclusion it was because it was an embarrassment. The poor production values pointed to a limited budget. i.e. all the prisons were generic like the basic sets in a minimalist stage production; the military uniforms were either too big or too large,or had wonky hats;the hopeless miscasting of Ruth Ellis and Monty. Who had the bizarre idea of turning the medieval Hamlen prison into a ( presumably ) London derelict warehouse? The diabolical liberties with the timeline for artistic license. The elevation of Tosh from a casual acquaintance to his best mate was ridiculous and offensive. All this without the deliberate misreading, or was it sloppiness, about the execution process and post mortem cleaning. Had they read his book? Elementary research I would have thought. Then we have Spall portraying Pierrepoint as a simpleton and a misery guts. Also not apparent in his autobiography. Very disappointing.
Review of Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
