Sacco-Vanzetti Story
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| "Sacco-Vanzetti Story" | |
|---|---|
| NBC Sunday Showcase episode | |
| Directed by | Sidney Lumet |
| Written by | Reginald Rose |
| Original air date | June 3, 1960 |
"Sacco-Vanzetti Story" is a two-part American television play that was broadcast on June 3, 1960, and June 10, 1960, as part of the NBC Sunday Showcase series.
The play tells the story of the arrest, trial, conviction, and execution of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in the famed criminal case of the 1920s. It was written by Reginald Rose, directed by Sidney Lumet, and starred Martin Balsam as Sacco and Steven Hill as Vanzetti. The production received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, including "Program of the Year" and for best writing and directorial achievement in a drama.
The play tells the story, in semi-documentary form, of the Italian-born anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti, who were arrested, tried, and executed for the murder of a guard and the paymaster during the robbery of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts.
The first hour was aired on June 3, 1960, covering the events occurring between the arrest and conviction. The production opens with the two men in their jail cells and uses flashbacks depicting the police investigation. It then reenacts portions of the trial, focusing on abuses by the presiding judge and prosecutor, and suggests that the men were convicted because of their radical political beliefs and due to prejudice against foreigners.
The second hour was aired on June 10, 1960, covering the six years following the convictions, including appeals, the confession of Celestino Medeiros that he was the actual killer, public protests, the commission established by Gov. Alvan T. Fuller to assess the fairness of the trial, and the execution in 1927.
Cast
The cast included over 150 performers,[1] including the following principal roles: [2]
- Martin Balsam as Nicola Sacco
- Steven Hill as Bartolomeo Vanzetti
- Frank Campanella as prison guard
- Dana Elcar as newspaperman
- Stuart Germain as Judge Webster Thayer
- Carroll O'Connor as Frederick G. Katzmann, the prosecutor
- E. G. Marshall as William Thompson, attorney
- Robert Emhart as Gov. Alvan T. Fuller
- Ben Grauer, narrator