May 8, 2024

Bewitched, Borden, and black widow: The Elizabeth Montgomery BET-CRP

the true crime that's worth your time

Welcome back to another edition of the BET-CRP – the Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage! We haven't done one in a minute, plus I finally got my act together and pulled the first one over here to the new place so I could link to the points rundown.

If you're new to the concept, that link should explain it; the short version is that it's a quantification of an actor's (or director's, or author's) true-crime c.v. 

the (surprising) rest of the rundown is here (or upgrade to paid to get the whole thing in your inbox, easy peasy lemon-squeezy)

I'd had Elizabeth Montgomery on my BET-CRP to-do list for aaaages, because of course Bewitched was the lede in the obit, but then it started to seem over the years like every single other reference to Montgomery that I came across involved a major-case TV movie in which she played a recognizable genre figure. 

That said, before I combed her IMDb page, I guessed her BET-CRP at around 17 percent, because the perception that she played, like, nothing but Old West dames and axe murderers couldn't be the reality, right? Even though her somewhat premature demise capped her list of eligible projects at 67? …Or 65? We'll get back to that. Right now let's run those numbers.

1. The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955). A huge case a hundred years ago; I'd never heard of it. It did get a screenplay nod at the Oscars, but nothing for Montgomery, whose role is apparently not a "name" one: 1

2. Kraft Theatre S10.E25, "The Duel" (1957). Montgomery's career began in the fifties, so there's a good deal of [Corporation] Playhouse Presents-type stuff in the early going, and in a handful of them, she appeared in like 30 episodes – but usually, they're original stories or adaptations of Fitzgerald stories, etc. etc. I spot-checked a handful to make sure, which is how this one popped up; the duel in question is the one between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The IMDb doesn't specify who plays what, although unless Montgomery played the gun, it wouldn't really matter: 1

3. Bitter Heritage (1958). A TV movie about Jesse James; Montgomery is the love interest: 1

4. The Third Man (1959). TIL The Third Man became a television show starring Michael Rennie (The Day The Earth Stood Still) as Harry Lime, and it ran for five seasons. It doesn't net Montgomery any points – she was in a single ep, and even the movie version is a stretch as far as an IRL basis. I just wanted to share this intel with you guys!

5. The Untouchables (1960). As far as I can discern, Rusty Heller isn't a historical person – but you've got a couple of criminal-justice major-casers in not just the show (Eliot Ness, played by Robert Stack no less) but the episode (Rusty is hoping her gangster BF steps into the recently arrested Al Capone's power vacuum). This is apparently a well-regarded turn for Montgomery that got her an Emmy nom, so I'm comfortable with a: 2

6. Mrs. Sundance (1974). After a few lesser-Rat-Pack joints like Johnny Cool and the better part of a decade on Bewitched, Montgomery went back to TV movies and horror – and this one, in which she plays a real person, Etta Place, so that's: 3

7. A Case Of Rape (1974). This isn't a true story – although they did novelize it, back in the day, likely to capitalize on the telefilm's watershed success (and influence on IRL legislation around sexual assault). But I'm going to count it as one, because people do assume it's a real case, it did have a huge cultural influence, it did reflect a revolting truth about victim-blaming in assault cases at the time, and it got awards attention for Montgomery (and an Edgar nom, not for nothing). So, although it's not real and she can't pick up the "name figure" points, it's a hall-of-famer she got an Emmy nomination for, so: 2

8. The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975). Or, "Why We're Here Today." It's a major case, Montgomery plays the titular Lizzie (TIAL Katherine Helmond plays Emma Borden! Love this job sometimes), it got several Emmy and Globes nods, and while I've never seen it, boomers for sure think it's on TV-movie Rushmore. Comfortable serving the whole rack here: 5

9. A Killing Affair (1977). Not 100 on what to do with this, because it's not a true story, but anyone who's watched OJ: Made In America knows why it's under consideration. I'll understand if you don't agree, but because of that connection and its attempt to Do Something With race and relationships, what the hell: 1

10. Belle Starr (1980). A distaff cattle-rustler who may have in fact had some connection with Etta Place, this scores Montgomery: 3

11. Sins of the Mother (1991). Based on a Jack Olsen book – one of the more popular of his at Exhibit B., for what it's worth – called Son: A Psychopath and His Victims. The case has fallen below the horizon somewhat in this century, but I still think Montgomery's role qualifies as a "name figure": 3

12. With Murder In Mind (1992). A lesser-known true story, but Montgomery portrays the victim, Gayle Wolfer: 3

13. Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story (1993). Dang, she really reeled off a string of these at the end! Jim Schutze (Bully) wrote the book version of this IRL black-widow tale, so that's another: 3

14. The Corpse Had A Familiar Face (1994). Based on the book by the (rightly or not) legendary Edna Buchanan, whom Montgomery plays here; co-stars procedural legends Dennis Farina and Yaphet Kotto! True story, name figure, you know the drill: 3

15. Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan (1995). Second verse, slightly different from the first – this one's probably based on Never Let Them See You Cry or on Buchanan's columns – but it gets her the same pointage: 3

And that's it; Montgomery died not two weeks after Deadline for Murder aired, but had she lived longer, I have zero doubt that she'd have turned up in more true-crime projects/Lifetime movies as victims' mothers, lady chiefs of police, Ann Rule…

As it is, with 34 points divided by 67 eligible projects, Montgomery's BET-CRP is a startling 50.7 percent. Now, a couple of the 67 should get folded into each other, because the IMDb lists them twice even though one title is actually an episode of another, and shouldn't have its own line item, but: only a couple. But if you put her list at 65 projects but also knock out the points I gave her for A Case of Rape and the OJ thing, it comes out at around the same number. Fact is, with one voice-over exception, she did nothing but genre adaptations in the '90s.

Wilder yet, I haven't seen any of them, so if you have and you know where I should start (or not bother), hit me up in the comments! - SDB