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Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8

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Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8
Promotional poster
GenreDrama
Written byJeremy Kagan
Directed byJeremy Kagan
Starring
Music byArthur B. Rubinstein
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerRon Sossi
ProducersJeremy Kagan
Max A. Keller
Micheline Keller
CinematographyFrederick Elmes
EditorMichael Jablow
Running time118 minutes
Production companyHBO Showcase
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMay 16, 1987 (1987-05-16)

Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 is a 1987 HBO original courtroom drama made for television and directed, written and produced by Jeremy Kagan.[1] The film tells the story of the 1969-70 trial of the Chicago Eight (later known as the Chicago Seven), and is adapted from the trial transcripts and a play The Chicago Conspiracy Trial by Ron Sossi and Frank Condon.[2][3]

Jason Bailey wrote for The New York Times that "the attorneys, defendants and judge address the camera as if it were the jury; all of the dialogue is drawn from the original transcripts and, aside from superimposed flashes of archival footage and brief interview snippets from the real participants, all of the action is confined to the courtroom."[3]

Cast

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Production

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The docudrama was written, produced and directed by Jeremy Kagan for Inter Planetary Productions.[4] Kagan wrote the script in 1979,[4] and hoped to make the film in 1979; CBS commissioned a script but ultimately declined to make the film - the language of the defendants in court was unacceptable to the network, and Kagan said he believed the political issues also made the CBS executives nervous.[5] The Los Angeles Times reports that Kagan, "his voice etched with emotion," recalled "[i]n 1976 I had Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, George C. Scott and Dustin Hoffman committed to working on the project for scale and CBS turned it down. They thought the material was too controversial and nobody cared about the ‘60s."[6] Bridget Potter, senior vice president for original programming at HBO, persuaded Kagan to revive the film, and said she was excited by Kagan's idea of integrating interviews and documentary footage into the dramatization of the trial.[5]

All eight of the original defendants, along with defense attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, were interviewed for the film[5] and the defendants were also on the set for part of the filming.[5] "The film brought back very clear, vivid memories," Bobby Seale told The New York Times. "It reminded me that we captured the imagination of America. The 60's protest movement established a lot of constitutional rights."[5]

Critical response

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In a review for Chicago Tribune, Clifford Terry wrote, "director-writer-producer Jeremy Kagan does a commendable job capturing in capsule form the feel of the trial of the eight men," and "[a]long with the skillful cast that includes Peter Boyle as David Dellinger, Robert Carradine as Rennie Davis and Barry Miller as Jerry Rubin (only Elliott Gould as attorney Leonard Weinglass seems jarringly miscast), the two-hour production also blends in contemporary interviews with the real-life participants and film footage taken during that summer storm in Grant and Lincoln parks: the tear-gassing and head-bashing, the excrement-throwing and Ginsberg-chanting, the undercover "pigs" and underground reporters. Right on."[7] Lewis Beale wrote in The Chicago Tribune that "[t]he current show is more like a theatrical film than a televised courtroom drama. Although taped with as many as four cameras, it has been lighted in rich, dark tones like a motion picture. And its cast, including Elliott Gould, Peter Boyle, Robert Carradine, Robert Loggia, Carl Lumbly and Martin Sheen, is worthy of a feature production."[2]

Jason Bailey, writing for the Critic's Notebook of The New York Times, observed "[t]he transcript's best moments feature the kind of dialogue most dramatists would die for, from the Marx Brothers-esque act of Abbie Hoffman and Rubin arriving in court in fake judge's robes to the righteous anger of Bobby Seale, furiously demanding his constitutional rights in an encounter that escalates to his stranger-than-fiction binding and gagging by U.S. marshals. Most of all, focusing on the courtroom allows “Conspiracy” to let this trial function as a miniature version of the riot itself — featuring, as it did, hidebound authority figures, youthful rabble-rousers, demands for social justice and out-of-control cops. Microcosms abound, in other words; in that trial, just as in the riot that precipitated it, the participants were acting out the entire cultural conflict of the moment."[3]

Accolades

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The film was the winner of the 1988 CableACE Award for Dramatic Special.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago Eight". Keller Entertainment Group. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Beale, Lewis (February 15, 1987). "Disorder in the Court: HBO Movie Re-Creates Raucous Chicago 7 Trial". The Chicago Tribune.
  3. ^ a b c Bailey, Jason (October 20, 2020). "The Chicago 7 Trial Onscreen: An Interpretation for Every Era". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b O'Connor, John. J. (May 19, 1987). "A Recreation of the Chicago 8 Trial". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e Farber, Stephen (May 14, 1987). "Film on the Chicago 8 Includes Originals". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Modderno, Craig (May 16, 1987). "HBO Banks On Its Own 'Conspiracy'". The Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Terry, Clifford (May 15, 1987). "HBO's 'Trial of Chicago 8' Acquits Itself Well". The Chicago Tribune.
  8. ^ Weinstein, Steve (January 25, 1988). "HBO Takes Lion's Share of Honors at ACE Awards". Los Angeles Times.
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