Andrea Grosske
The main characters in this film are wives of rich men who have nothing to do because they have staff – like the cook, the maid, the hairdresser, the manicurist, the governess, the teacher, the tailor etc. – who work for them. Naturally, the wives themselves do not pursue careers, they depend on their husbands’ money. This is why most of their thoughts revolve around the husband. And because the husband only appears as “the” man, there is no man in this film. All women fight for the same man. Those who have one, want to keep him no matter what. And those who do not have one yet only have one goal: To take away somebody else’s husband.
A candidate in a game show is hunted by three men. He will get a Million DMark, if he survives for a week; the hunters will get the money, if they can kill the candidate. The audience of the show is watching the transmissions of twenty camera teams filming the hunt. The showmaster appeals to the TV-viewers to help either the candidate or the hunters, whomever they want.
The case of Timothy Evans was the first major post-war miscarriage of justice to capture public attention. Of low intelligence, Evans was damned by his own, false confession that he had murdered his wife and daughter. The trial and rightful conviction of John Christie for one of these murders three years later, did not, however, bring about a pardon for Evans. Despite having four alibi witnesses, the 28-year-sailor, who was described by his own defence lawyer as a "semi-civilised savage", was convicted and executed within six months of the murder. Three years after Mr Evans was hanged, John Christie, a neighbour in the house at 10 Rillington Place, confessed to strangling eight female victims - including Beryl and her baby daughter. He too was executed. It was to be many years before the judiciary and the government were to finally allow the late Timothy Evans a pardon.
