The Execution of Wanda Jean
by Liz Garbus
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Presson, Jesse Jackson, Wanda Jean AllenDirector: Liz Garbus
Brand: New Video
Cinematographer: Tony Hardmon
Producer: Liz Garbus
Editor: Mary Manhardt
Producer: Chandra Simon
Producer: Julie Gaither
Producer: Nancy Abraham
Producer: Rory Kennedy
Producer: Sheila Nevins
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Video Group
Product features:
- The Execution of Wanda Jean chronicles the life-and-death battle of Wanda Jean Allen, the first black woman to be put to death in the United States in the modern era. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES Rating: NR Age: 767685975336 UPC: 767685975336 Manufacturer No: NVG9753
Movie Reviews of The Execution of Wanda Jean
Movie Review: Extremely Real
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good case study of one woman's life, crimes, redemption, and execution. Wanda Jean Allen killed 2 women, and I believe the death penalty was justified in her case. Had she received an adequate amount of jail time and rehabilitation for the first murder, the second murder may have been preventable.
Wanda Jean Allen was not only a double murderer, she was a disgrace to the system and prosecutors who gave her a plea bargain in the first case. I believe to an extent that she was executed to appease the public, many of whom had a hard time with the fact that she only served two years for her first murder. The system was just as reposnsible for Gloria's death as Wanda Jean was. But, someone had to pay, and that someone was Wanda Jean.
Her upbringing was poor to say the least. Viewers have no problem believing she had a terribly low IQ. Personally, I feel that from watching this documentary, the whole family had low IQs and mental problems. However, this does not justify murder. I felt no sorrow for her when she was executed. Perhaps that's because this documentary never succeeded in making me totally sympathetic to her plight. I felt more sorrow for her first victim, but not her second. The second victim got involved with her knowing what she had done to be incarcerated. Did Gloria think this violent woman would not kill her some day? I did feel intense sorrow for Gloria's mother. No parent should have to see their child gunned down in cold blood right in front of their very eyes.
So many questions remain: Did she really deserve to die? Was she truly sorry before her death? Had she truly found Christ? Would she have killed again if spared the death penalty and granted parole at 65 years old? We will never know.
But, one thing is for sure...her debt to society is now paid in full.
Summary of The Execution of Wanda Jean
In 2001 Wanda Jean Allen was given a lethal injection by the state of Oklahoma, making her the first black woman to be executed in America in fifty years. In THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN, award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA; Girlhood) continues her investigations into the American criminal justice system with the compelling story of convicted murderess Wanda Jean Allen. Allen was sentenced to death in 1989 after shooting her lover, Gloria Leathers, whom she met in prison while serving time for another killing. This quietly powerful film chronicles the tragically methodical way the state of Oklahoma proceeds to execute Wanda, a woman with a low IQ bordering on retardation, despite the deperate efforts of her family, legal team, and mental health and anti-capital punishment advocates. As pleas for clemency and legal maneuvers are gradually exhausted, there?s a chilling inevitability to Wanda?s plight, which she bears with a rare strength and introspection. THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN is an intimate account of a uniquely American story. Its power lies in its portrait of simple human dignity in the face of inevitable death. DVD Features: Filmmaker Biography; Interactive Menus; Scene SelectionSimilar DVD Movies
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