Murder in the First
Short description
Based on a true story, Murder in the First follows Henri Young, a small-time offender sent to the federal prison on Alcatraz in the 1930s. Caught during an escape attempt, he is punished with long-term isolation in the island's dark solitary cells; the isolation far exceeds its permitted limit and leaves him deeply damaged. Released from confinement, Young kills a fellow inmate he believes informed on him, and is put on trial for murder with a possible death sentence hanging over him. His case falls to James Stamphill, a young and inexperienced public defender, who builds a defence arguing that the prison's brutal conditions, rather than the man himself, produced the killing.
Marc Rocco directed the 1995 film from a screenplay by Dan Gordon, with Christian Slater as Stamphill, Kevin Bacon as Young and Gary Oldman as Associate Warden Milton Glenn. Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy and Stephen Tobolowsky round out the principal cast, which numbers 25 credited performers. The production, a United States and France co-production mounted by Warner Bros. and Le Studio Canal+, cost about 20 million dollars and returned roughly 30 million worldwide.
On IMDb and TMDB, audience scores sit around 7.1 out of 10 from 632 votes, noticeably warmer than the film critics' rating of 5.5 out of 10 from 39 reviews. The film runs 122 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- While filming the courtroom scenes, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurred. At that moment, Kevin Bacon was handcuffed to a massive table, under which he hid as a huge chandelier swayed from the tremors.
- Before filming began, Kevin Bacon lost 9 kg.
- During filming, actors Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman were locked in cells for a period of time to help them better immerse themselves in their roles.
- Kevin Bacon, who played the role of Henry Young, wore a wig and a fake beard to show how his character's hair had grown during solitary confinement. According to the actor, all scenes set in the solitary confinement cell were filmed over approximately three weeks. Half of the courtroom and prison scenes were filmed before the solitary confinement sequences, and the other half were filmed after.
- Based on true events.
- In reality, Henry Young remained imprisoned at Alcatraz until 1948, after which he was transferred to Springfield, Missouri, for health reasons. In 1954, his federal sentence expired, and Young was transferred to a Washington state prison to serve a life sentence for murder. In 1972, at the age of 61, he was released on parole, went into hiding, and his whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
- In reality, Henry Young was defended by Saul Abrams and James Martin McInnes, well-known San Francisco lawyers. They proposed focusing on temporary insanity—claiming that the abuse Young suffered in prison led him to kill his cellmate, Rufus McCain. This line of defense was chosen, and the jury ruled it an unintentional killing, primarily because the prosecution refused a request to provide evidence to the contrary. The fact was that Alcatraz prison staff and guards were prohibited from disclosing any details of their service on the island while outside the correctional facility.
- According to Stephen Tobolowsky, Oliver Stone was originally cast in the role he played in this film, but Stone never showed up on set on the day of filming. Director Marc Rocco cast Tobolowsky in the role just a few hours before filming began.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
