User reviews

When "Murder in Texas" premiered on network television in two parts, it was a big deal. It's a very intriguing, true story of a Texan plastic surgeon (Sam Eilliott) suspected of causing the death of his very wealthy wife, portrayed by Farrah Fawcett. For years, Ash Robinson, the victim's father, was convinced of Dr. Hill's guilt. Andy Griffith is a great Ash.

The story is based on Ann Kurth's book - Ann Kurth was Dr. Hill's second wife, who in the film is played by Katherine Ross. I could never find a copy of Kurth's book, so I read another book on the subject. The actual events are much, much more complicated than could ever have been shown on screen. In fact, the end of this movie is pure fiction, as are scenes that support the ending. The reason for this, I believe, was a legal one, as some participants were still living at the time of the filming.

Today it is believed that Joan Robinson Hill died of toxic shock syndrome before it became a known entity. What her husband had to do with it - by direct act or simple neglect - I don't believe has ever been decided other than in the mind of Ash Robinson.

While the movie made fascinating watching, particularly Part I, if this case interests you, I suggest you read a book on the subject for the true story. The acting is marvelous, particularly from Elliott, Fawcett, and Griffith, and the movie will hold your interest.

I mean seriously, Dr. John Robert Hill seemed addicted to marriage didn't he? I am not going to dispute whether this account is true in all of its points, or that some points are a matter of record, some points are conjecture, and some points are complete hooey. However, let me just state that this film is based entirely on the book of Ann Kurth, second wife of Dr. John Robert Hill, and that it does not line up with everything that was known by 1981, when this film was made. But it makes a better film than the other more objective book on the subject, "Blood and Money".

As for the film: Joan Robinson Hill (Farrah Fawcett) is a socialite and skilled equestrian, unhappily married to plastic surgeon Dr. John Robert Hill (Sam Elliott). She seems to love him, but his love has grown cold. Maybe it is because he seems as married to Joan's dad Ash Robinson (Andy Griffith) as Joan, as Ash is always inserting himself into every situation, and John did not sign up for a trio. Ash is a self made oil man and a man with a straightforward rough manner.

Dr. Hill falls in love with divorcee Ann Kurth (Katherine Ross), has an affair with her, and wants to marry her. But Ash says there will be a nasty court battle if that happens, that the doctor will wind up with none of the Robinson money, and that Ash will involve Kurth in the case and have Hill ostracized from Houston society meaning his practice will dry up too. So Doctor John stays with Joan, and tells Ann to wait.

But then Joan falls suddenly ill with a stomach flu after practically being hand fed French pastry by her husband, and over a period of a few days grows gravely ill and dies in a hospital that was not the closest, plus it did not have an ICU - a hospital to which her husband decided to take her knowing of the better option. After the shortest possible respectable waiting period, Doctor John marries Ann and moves her into his big mansion, the former home of the doc and Joan. How convenient for the doctor, the sudden death of the unwanted wife.

Ash is sure that his ex son in law killed his daughter, and goes about trying to get the law to investigate. But meanwhile weird things are happening inside the Hill mansion and inside the new Hill marriage. What weird things? Watch and find out.

Everybody played their parts with excellence. Farrah Fawcett finally got some credit for some range as the spoiled daddy's girl who is used to him getting her all that she wants, but dad can't get her husband to love her. If you only thought of Andy Griffith as affable sheriff Andy Taylor in 1981, he shows a meaner more determined side here. Special honors have to go to Sam Elliott here. This is maybe the best role of his career. In spite of that genuine Texas sounding twang, he is just a creepy scary guy throughout the film, always playing his cards close to his vest.

Part of my love for this film is for how genuinely Texan it is. For example, an old fashioned evangelical Hell and Brimstone preaching church sits in the shadows of the glass and steel high rises of Houston, people can eat outside in cafes at Christmastime because it is 70 degrees, and a man can name his son "Boot" and yet hold his head up.

I actually only got to see part of this movie, as it was taped and accidentally erased before I finished the entire movie. I'm now reading Thompson's "Blood and Money," which is highly engrossing and I can't stop reading it--I suspect I'll finish it this weekend. The book goes into great detail about the characters' histories, not just presenting facts, as so many "true crime" books do. It reads like a novel, and the part of the movie I saw was well matched and well acted to what I've read in the book, understanding that a movie can't possibly include all the details of a well researched book.

Does anyone know if this movie is in DVD or at least VHS format and available to rent or buy? The reviews I've read here at this site as well as the cast, especially Farrah Fawcett, Sam Elliott and Andy Griffith prompt me to want to see it!

It has taken me years to get a good copy of this film. Bring made for TV doesn't help.

Try to find it if you can. It's an extremely well acted film with some stellar cast members who do a great job.

San Elliott, Kathleen Ross, Farah Fawcett, and Andy Griffith, to name a few. This is a role for Andy Griffith that really shows his flexibility as an actor. It's so far from the comic personality most people remember him for.

Watch it. Enjoy it. And be impressed.

(If you can find it)

This was a fabulous movie - Farrah Fawcett was superb as the spoiled, tormented Joan, Andy Griffith personified the character of a rich oil-man who always got his way, and Sam Elliott is simply so sinister it's gives you goosebumps!! I've seen the movie a few times, but as with any movie taken from a book (be it Ann Kurth's or otherwise) it can never capture all the details that the real story possesses. I have read "Blood and Money" by Tommy Thompson, and it is a captivating read - you seriously can't put it down! If you have seen the movie, you MUST read the book - it will give you so much more insight into the characters. I do not recommend reading the book before watching the movie, as it (the movie) will appear as a let down, and yet it really is a great movie. Watch it first, then read Tommy Thompson's book - in that order - and it will fill in all the blanks.

This movie was well-acted, notably Farrah Fawcett finally getting a positive review. She has been a highly underrated actress. I live five minutes from River Oaks, so I know the houses (Ash Robinson's renovated house is my favorite in River Oaks).

The downside. I've read both Ann Kurth's and Thomas Thompson's books. Ann Kurth's deserves a huge eyeroll. In her mind she was this clueless, naive, divorcée who suffered because she loved too much. Uh, in Houston, we call women like her homewreckers and a few other choice words. The ending as said above is just preposterous, and I can't believe she put that in her book. It loses all credibility. First of all, the autopsy on John Hill is indisputable that it is him. Secondly, let's defy logic and reality and suppose that John Hill did make it to Mexico, WHY would he call his ex-wife and play his piano concertos? He's trying to start over again unnoticed and incognito. So after Ann's ending, you just have to wonder how much other BS she's written in her novella.

Thompson's book is engrossing, in depth, and the movie should have been based on this.

I believe that John Hill was involved in his wife's death. Anyone in Houston would wonder why would he take his wife to Sharpstown Hospital when they live in River Oaks, where the med center is only ten minutes away? That to me was extremely suspicious. And really, why would he wait so long to finally get her to the hospital?

This is an intriguing note in Houston's history.

I lived in Lago Vista, TX for ten years and knew the son of the writer of the book since they lived there.

During the movie there is a church scene where the camera pans on people sitting. A number of the extras in front of the camera are Glen Kurth the writer's son and other people who lived in Lago Vista.

Lago Vista is a small community in the Austin area.

Lago Vista is also known for being a getaway for some famous musicians like the Doobie Brothers.

It also has hosted pro golf tournaments and has known pros that have lived there as well.

In the spring of 1972 I, at age 24, had just moved to Houston, Texas, and soon the city was absorbed by the mystery of Dr. John Hill's death. Two of my friends were patients of the physician in partnership with Doctor Hill, so they felt they knew Dr. Hill personally and that he never could harm anyone. I too worked in the medical field, and on my Wednesday afternoons off I would drive north on Kirby Drive and through the scenic River Oaks Neighborhood, all the while thinking the neighborhood must be like heaven on earth. I do recall the two-story white mansion with the black horse head hitching post out front, and I soon learned it had been the home of Dr. John and Joan Robinson Hill, the supposed victims in two separate murders. The hitching post remained as Joan's personal touch on the property since she had loved horses all her life.

From the beginning the story of Joan Robinson had been shrouded in mystery. Her adopted mother, Mrs. Robinson, told the story of how the Robinsons had adopted Joan from the Edna Gladney Home, an orphanage shown in the Greer Garson film, "Blossoms in the Dust." Other people circulated the rumor that Joan was the result of an affair Ash Robinson had had with his secretary and that Mrs. Robinson was agreeable to covering her husband's indiscretions and bringing up Joan as their "adopted" child. The Robinsons worshiped Joan, an accomplished equestrienne who appeared with her horse, Beloved Belinda, in the annual Pin Oak Stables Horse Show in Houston.

Dr. Hill supposedly was from a strict Baptist family of modest means in McAllen in South Texas, and he was impressed with the opportunity to study and practice medicine in Houston. The Robinsons, glad to have a promising young medical student marry Joan, agreed to put Hill through medical school. Eventually Dr. Hill founded the Sharpstown Hospital in a Houston suburb, and it was to this hospital that Joan Robinson Hill finally was taken. Such was the quaint, fairy-tale world of 1950s-1970s Houston, and the stage was set for the drama and mystery about to unfold.

I read Thompson's Book, "Blood and Money," and I believe the film was true to the book. Thompson's account left everyone speculating about what really had happened and what everyone's motives were. I personally believe the portrayals by Sam Elliott, Farrah Fawcett, Andy Griffith, and Katherine Ross were excellent. I would recommend the Kurth and Thompson books on the subject, and I would love to find a DVD version of "Murder in Texas" so that I could share this great film with my friends.

I haven't seen this film in its entirety and don't intend to comment on it as entertainment -- but as "docudrama," it comes from a highly biased source. The book "Prescription: Murder" was written by Ann Kurth, a major "character" in the story. Her account is, not surprisingly, rather subjective. It's unlikely that the "whole truth" about the murders depicted in this movie will ever be known, but I would strongly recommend Thomas Thompson's "Blood and Money" as a more objective account of these events (and as a very good "read" on its own merits). BTW, Kurth sued Thompson for defamation regarding his portrayal of her in "Blood and Money"; she lost.

Based on true events, Sam Elliott is a doctor married into a rich prominent Texas family, wife Farrah Fawcett and her father Andy Griffith. He meets Katherine Ross, whose character in real life wrote the book this TV-movie is based. He falls hard for Katharine and tries to have his cake and eat it too. It began too slow for me, as the first hour was about Sam wooing Katherine and as I knew Farrah's demise would be imminent. But when things did happen, they happened. What develops is too disturbing. Father Andy is determined to get justice for his daughter's death, and Andy Griffith gives a truly memorable role as a "Big Daddy" type. He and Sam Elliott's character's vanity and superiority are the whole show. And, the scenes when Katharine is alone in the house were truly scary. You know what I mean, if you've see it. And, the ending will blow you away, if you haven't. A superlative television movie, but is this really how it played out in real life! Are things embellished! This is more than "Murder in Texas;" this will haunt you even months after you see it.

This is one of my favorite movies. Sam Elliott played such a wonderful part in it. He looks so sinister, secretive and pensive all the time. He was perfect for the part. I moved here from Houston. I used to drive past the house that this all took place in (San Felipe and Westheimer). Every time I drove by it, I would think of the movie. Anyone know where I could buy it?