Main Cast: Tim Roth, Fairuza Balk, Brian Dennehy, Randy Quaid, Milo O'Shea
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 200 minutes
Plot
The miserable life and long-overdue death of thrill killer Charles Starkweather is the basis of the two-part TV movie Murder in the Heartland. Over a bloody few months in 1958, Starkweather (Tim Roth), a 19-year-old high school dropout, embarked on a killing spree, snuffing out 11 victims. Along for the ride was Charlie's 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate (Fairuza Balk). The debate still goes on as to whether Caril Ann was a willing accomplice or a reluctant prisoner; as played by Ms. Balk, she comes off as dumb as mud. A shorter, fictionalized account of the Starkweather killings was offered in the critically acclaimed 1973 theatrical feature Badlands, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Murder in the Heartland originally aired May 3 and 4, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Kate Reid - Pansy Street; Gerry Bamman - Judge Brooks; Don Bloomfield - Bobby Colvert; Roberts Blossom - Gus Meyer; Angie Bolling - Clara Ward; Tom Bower - Marion Bartlett; Connie Cooper - Hazel Heflin; Ryan Cutrona - C. Lauer Ward; John Hussey - Mr. Jensen; Jeff Perry - Earl Heflin; James Prince - Deputy Sheriff Bill Romer; Rondi Reed - Jonette Fox; Mark Walters - Chief Robert Ainslie; Jennifer Griffin - Velda Bartlett; Bob Gunton; John S. Davies - Merle Karnopp
Credit
Judy B. Swartz - Costume Designer, Robert Markowitz - Director, David Beatty - Editor, Michael O'Hara - Executive Producer, Lawrence Horowitz - Executive Producer, Patrick Williams - Composer (Music Score), Christian Wagener - Production Designer, Ronald V. Garcia - Cinematographer, S. Bryan Hickox - Producer, Michael O'Hara - Screenwriter
Murder in the Heartland is a television miniseries aired on ABC in 1993. It was based on the 1957 murder spree carried out by 19 year-old Charles Starkweather throughout Nebraska and Wyoming. The first half of the miniseries covers the murders, and the second half covers the trial and the separate accounts given by Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, his 14 year-old girlfriend.
The film received strong praise from critics and multiple Emmy nominations.
The entire film was shot on location in, and around, McKinney, Texas.
Brian Dennehy was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special. Ronald Victor Garcia was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography.
