Kill Me If You Can

This film is just as bad as "The Birdman of Alcatraz". I do not refer to the acting but rather the premise of both films, which try to portray psychopathic criminals as heroic figures. Moreover it disturbs me when well respected, revered actors like Alan Alda (and Burt Lancaster) play such roles, because their status tends to lend credibility to the director's intent to elevate the film's subject, a societal outcast.

I was in junior high school during the last years of Caryl Chessman's life and his death penalty appeals and books were very much in the news. I remember the groundswell of opinion that the death penalty was wrong and Chessman was the victim.

Get a grip people. Read the history. Chessman was a criminal and sexual predator. He drove around the LA streets at night with a stolen police light in his vehicle. He stopped cars with attractive women inside under the ruse of making a traffic arrest; then abducted and raped the women. Rape is the worst trauma a woman can experience and many victims say they would prefer death to its horror and humiliation.

Chessman got exactly what he deserved, it just took a decade too long. No sympathy for the devil here.

****SPOILERS**** I as well as many other people feel that Caryl Chessman, Alan Alda, would not have received the death penalty and then later be executed if it wasn't for his brazen and obnoxious actions during and after his trial for the Red Light Bandit crimes that shocked the city of L.A back in the winter of 1948.

Chessman had a genius IQ of over 150 and self-taught himself law behind bars so well that he used the same law that put him on death row to hold off his pending execution for 12 years. That resulted in 8 stays of execution that ended on Chessman's last stay where he proved that like a cat he only had nine lives to use up.

While behind bars Chessman was also able to write smuggle out with the help of his lawyer Rosalie Asher, Talia Shier, and have published his autobiography "Cell 2455 Death Row" in 1954 which later became a major motion picture the next year. It was a shame that Caryl Chessman couldn't use his above average intelligence to be a law abiding and productive citizen but used it to become a criminal in which he proved to be a total failure. One major, and indisputable, fact that came out of Caryl Chessman's execution was that it destroyed in the mind of the public the notion that justice is truly blind. With Chessman being executed more for his arrogance and abrasive attitude then for the crimes that he was convicted of which really weren't capital crimes.

It was by the presiding judge using the little known section 209 of the California Penal Code that had to do with kidnapping and injuring a person kidnapped but not murdered, which Chessman wasn't convicted or even accused of, that ended up putting Chessman on death row. There's also the fact that the two women whom Chessman was convicted of kidnapping were not physically injured even though they were raped and sodomized. Gov. Brown who was a staunch opponent of the death penalty and who was governor when Chessman was executed once was reported saying "I'm all for eliminating the death penalty only after Caryl Chessman is executed". That's just how turn offish Chessman was to everyone who dealt with him during his trial and later 12 year stay on San Quentin's death row.

Alan Alda is eerily convincing in his appearance as well as in his actions as the infamous Caryl Chessman. Talia Shier is also very good as Chessman's long suffering lawyer Rosalie Asher in this made for TV movie about Crime & Punishment. You can't help but notice how the wheels of justice were greased against Chessman in order to strap him into the San Quentin gas chamber and at the same time how Chessman did everything possible, consciously or sub-consciously, to put himself there. From his conviction on June 25, 1948 to his execution on May 2, 1960 Chessman became a Cause Celebre all over the world against the death penalty. He also had people from all walks of life from world leaders and movie stars to the average man or woman on the street protesting to save his life.

"Kill Me If You Can" is a lot like the previous movie "Cell 2455 Death Row" about the violent life and later-eight years after the book was published-highly publicized execution and death of Caryl Chessman. The movie does bring out the feelings of that time of the controversy that swirled around Chessman in the USA as well as all over the world. I always felt that Caryl Chessman was a super ego-maniac who lapped up all the attention and publicity that he got in regard to the fight for his life against the death penalty. He really didn't seem to care for or want a pardon from his trip to the San Quentin gas chamber. Chessman just loved the publicity too much to permanently cancel his appointment with death.

The movie also brings out this one important fact about Caryl Chessman: The story of Chessman's crimes would have never gotten past the front pages of the L.A newspapers in January 1948 and would have long been forgotten by everyone, with the exception of his victims. What really made Chessman famous was his both brazen and skillful way of first getting himself convicted of kidnapping and then skillfully fighting off the eight execution dates for twelve years. By doing that Chessman made a name for himself that has people talking writing and producing books and movies about him during his life as well as over forty years after his death. In this one single effort Caryl Chessman was indeed a success, in spite of his long string of failures, in life.

I saw this movie many years ago and have been trying to find it in video form ever since. Caryl Chessman was an amazing man. He did everything he could to proclaim his was innocent, and finally got what he wanted, but too late! I found it heartwarming in that the truth will prevail even though it may come late as in the instance of Caryl, and tragic because he was an innocent man who wrongly faced the death penalty and was sent to the electric chair. It actually had me on the edge of my seat so many times as I was convinced of his innocence.Alan Alda has played some great roles in the past and after this movie and in my opinion he did the character of Caryl Chessman justice. The most memorable movie I have ever seen. I will continue to find a copy of this movie and I also want his book.

I have read some drivel in my time but the comment of this movie and the header page is full of absolute crap! Obviously this person has no idea about this story at all! HE WAS INNOCENT! Yes this is a true story and the reason its great, apart from the acting, is because of the complete unjustness of the whole "Capital Punishment System" IT DOESN'T WORK! How the hell are you going to pay restitution to someone who is dead.....god you make me bloody angry. Get a grip, get your facts right, and let this be a lesson, 12 years on death row...????? if your innocent is ridiculous, you want to know what else is ridiculous. Your suppose to proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If there is no reasonable doubt then he should have been there one day whilst they set the damn electric chair up then did the deed....SEEMS TO ME 12 YEARS MEANS THERE IS A HELL OF A lot OF REASONABLE DOUBT. He should never have been given the death penalty at all.....No one should you bloody red neck!

I saw this film many years ago and still remember it vividly, but like others have been unable to purchase the film!! I found the story so interesting that I later read the three books Caryl Chessman wrote while on death row as well as the transcript of his trial and all were fascinating. Alan Alda's performance was superb and the entire film was gripping. I have no doubt from my reading he was not a nice man and surely guilty of many things, but i do not believe kidnapping was one of them, it did nit fit the profile and certainly the trial had so many errors it was a disgrace. That's justice for you. I hope one day NBC releases this film on DVD, I know there are many out there that share my passion for this enthralling story.