The Burning Bed

The Burning Bed
Genre Crime
Drama
Written by Faith McNulty (book)
Rose Leiman Goldemberg
Directed by Robert Greenwald
Starring Farrah Fawcett
Paul Le Mat
Richard Masur
Theme music composer Charles Gross
Country of origin US
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) Jon Avnet
Steve Tisch
Producer(s) Carol Schreder
Rose Leiman Goldemberg (co-producer)
Cinematography Isidore Mankofsky
Editor(s) Richard Fetterman (as Richard W. Fetterman)
Michael A. Stevenson
Running time 95 mins
Production company(s) Tisch/Avnet Productions Inc.
Distributor NBC
Release
Original network NBC
Original release October 8, 1984

The Burning Bed is both a non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and the TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, following her setting fire to the bed he was sleeping in at their Dansville, Michigan home on March 9, 1977, and thirteen years of physical domestic abuse at his hands.

Plot

On March 9, 1977, Francine Hughes, following thirteen years of physical domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, tells their children to put their coats on and wait for her in their car. She then pours gasoline around the bed in which Mickey is sleeping in their home in Dansville, Michigan, and sets the bed afire. After the house catches fire, Hughes drives with her children to the local police station in order to confess to the act. Hughes is tried for first degree murder, and is found by a jury of her peers to be not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

Film adaptation

Having adapted the book into a made-for-television movie, Goldemberg's screenplay, The Burning Bed, premiered on NBC on October 8, 1984. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film starred Farrah Fawcett as Francine Hughes and Paul LeMat as Mickey Hughes.

The movie was filmed in Rosharon, Texas. The house that served as the Hughes' home still stands today.

Ratings

The movie premiered with a household share of 36.2 ranking it the 17th highest rated movie to air on network television.[1]

Cast

References

  1. ↑ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 805. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.

External links

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