PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN (2005)

[The Burgomaster]

Here's a nice surprise I found on Netflix streaming video last night.  It's the story of Albert Pierrepoint, an English hangman who executed more than 600 people (including Nazi war criminals) between 1933 and 1955.  The movie goes into a lot of detail about hangings, including how they take into account the height and weight of the body and the strength of the prisoner's neck to calculate the proper rope length.  Pierrepoint takes pride in his quick, efficient, methodical executions.  His father was also a hangman who took an average of 13 seconds to bring the prisoner from his cell to the gallows and execute him.  In one scene, Pierrepoint does this in 7.5 seconds.  His goal is to make the deaths as quick and painless as possible.

The running time is perfect at a tight 90 minutes and all the performances are good.  Highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTtnjxLmbXM

[Trevor]

Here's a nice surprise I found on Netflix streaming video last night.  It's the story of Albert Pierrepoint, an English hangman who executed more than 600 people (including Nazi war criminals) between 1933 and 1955.  The movie goes into a lot of detail about hangings, including how they take into account the height and weight of the body and the strength of the prisoner's neck to calculate the proper rope length.  Pierrepoint takes pride in his quick, efficient, methodical executions.  His father was also a hangman who took an average of 13 seconds to bring the prisoner from his cell to the gallows and execute him.  In one scene, Pierrepoint does this in 7.5 seconds.  His goal is to make the deaths as quick and painless as possible.

The running time is perfect at a tight 90 minutes and all the performances are good.  Highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTtnjxLmbXM

He was also a good friend of Sir Christopher Lee who wrote in his autobiography that after Pierrepoint retired, he became a bar owner. The first bar he managed was called "Help The Poor Struggler". 

[The Burgomaster]

He was also a good friend of Sir Christopher Lee who wrote in his autobiography that after Pierrepoint retired, he became a bar owner. The first bar he managed was called "Help The Poor Struggler". 

They actually show him as a bar owner towards the end of the movie.