''The Honeymoon Killers'' is a 1970 American

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

written and directed by

Leonard Kastle Leonard Gregory Kastle (February 11, 1929 – May 18, 2011)
from the University at AlbanyShirley Stoler Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in ''The Honeymoon Killers'' and Lina Wertmüller's ''Seven Beauties''. Early years The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish imm ...

and

Tony Lo Bianco Anthony LoBianco (October 19, 1936 – June 11, 2024) was an American actor. Born to first-generation Italian American parents in New York City, Lo Bianco began his career in theater, appearing in several Broadway productions throughout the 1 ...

. Its plot follows an overweight nurse who is seduced by a handsome con man, with whom she embarks on a murder spree of single women. The film was inspired by the true story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the notorious "lonely hearts killers" of the 1940s. Filmed primarily in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

, production of ''The Honeymoon Killers'' began with

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

as its appointed director. However, after Scorsese was fired early into the shoot, he was replaced by Donald Volkman, a maker of industrial films, who lasted only two weeks before Kastle, who had helped develop the film, took over directing. The film's score comprises the first movement of the 6th Symphony and a section of the 5th Symphony of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

. Released in early 1970, the film was met with critical praise for its performances as well as its

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

. ''The Honeymoon Killers'' went on to achieve cult status as well as critical recognition, and was named by

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

as his "favorite American film." A digital restoration of the film was released on DVD by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

in 2003, and again in 2015 with a new digital transfer.

Plot

Martha Beck is a sullen, overweight nursing administrator living in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, with her elderly mother. Martha's friend Bunny surreptitiously submits Martha's name to a "lonely hearts" club, which results in a letter from Raymond Fernandez of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Overcoming her initial reluctance, Martha corresponds with Ray and becomes attracted to him. He visits Martha in Alabama and seduces her. Thereafter, having secured a loan from her, Ray sends Martha a

Dear Jane letter A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over, usually because his partner has found another lover. The man is often a member of the military stationed overseas, alt ...

, and Martha enlists Bunny's aid to call him with the (false) news that she has attempted suicide. Ray allows Martha to visit him in New York, where he reveals he is a

con man A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

who makes his living by seducing and then swindling lonely women. Martha is unswayed by this revelation. At Ray's directive, and so she can live with him, Martha puts her mother in a nursing home. Martha's embittered mother disowns her for abandoning her. Martha insists on accompanying Ray at his "work." Woman after woman accepts the attentions of this suitor who goes courting while always within sight of his "sister". Ray promises Martha he will never sleep with any of the other women but complicates his promise by marrying pregnant Myrtle Young. After Young aggressively attempts to bed the bridegroom, Martha gives her a large dose of pills, and Ray puts the drugged woman on a bus. Her death thereafter escapes immediate suspicion. Mary Jane Higby in The Honeymoon Killers

Mary Jane Higby in The Honeymoon Killers

The swindlers move on to their next target, and after catching Ray becoming intimate with the woman, Martha attempts to drown herself. To placate her, Ray rents a house in

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of ...

, a suburb of New York City. He becomes engaged to the elderly Janet Fay of Albany, and takes her to the house he shares with Martha. Janet gives Ray checks for $10,000 but then becomes suspicious of the two. When Janet tries to contact her family, Martha bludgeons her with a hammer before she and Ray strangle her. They bury her body beneath their cellar floor in her trunk, tossing into the grave the two framed depictions of Jesus that, Martha notes sarcastically, she'd told them she took everywhere she went. Next, they spend several weeks living in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

with the widowed Delphine Downing and her young daughter. Delphine, younger and prettier than most of Ray's conquests, confides in Martha, hoping that she will help her persuade Ray to marry her as soon as possible because she is pregnant with Ray's child. Martha is in the midst of drugging and smothering Delphine when the woman's daughter enters the room with Ray. He shoots Delphine in the head, and Martha drowns the daughter in the cellar. Ray tells Martha that he has to move on to one more woman, this one in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and then he will marry Martha; he repeats his promise never to have sex with any of his marks. Realizing that Ray will never stop lying to her, Martha calls the police and waits calmly for them to arrive. The

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...

takes place four months later, with Martha and Ray in jail. As she leaves the cellblock for the first day of their trial, Martha receives a letter from Ray in which he tells her that, despite everything, she is the only woman he ever loved. On-screen titles state that Martha and Raymond were electrocuted at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...

on March 8, 1951.

Cast

Production

Development

The film was the first for producer

Warren Steibel Warren Steibel (1925–2002) was an American producer and director. He worked in the television and film industry throughout his career, and is perhaps best remembered for his long friendship with William F. Buckley Jr., both of whom collaborated ...

(known as the producer of television's '' Firing Line''), writer/director

Leonard Kastle Leonard Gregory Kastle (February 11, 1929 – May 18, 2011)
from the University at AlbanyOliver Wood. A wealthy friend of Steibel,

Leon Levy Leon Levy (September 13, 1925 – April 6, 2003)
April 8, 2003. was an American investor, After deciding the film would be about "The Lonely Hearts Killers", Steibel asked Kastle, his roommate, to do some research on the subject; financial limitations led Steibel to ask his friend to write the screenplay. Commenting on the aims of the film, Steibel said: "We wanted to do an honest movie about murders. These are not charming people. They are sleazy people—but fascinating. You won't come out of the theatre feeling sorry for the killers like in some movies. It is not romanticized."

Historical accuracy

Although the film is inspired by true events and uses the real names of "The Lonely Hearts Killers" and of those they murdered, as well as the true locations of the crimes, the film takes substantial liberties with the facts, contrary to the opening titles. Although the actual events unfolded in the late 1940s, the film is seemingly set during an undetermined period even though it was clearly filmed during the late 1960s despite an end credit appearing stating that the two were executed in 1951. The film presents the killings as commencing with Beck's entrance on the scene and as a consequence of her jealousy. In contrast, it is believed that Fernandez had murdered at least one of the victims of his swindling, Jane Wilson Thompson, before meeting Beck, in order to pose as Thompson's widower and claim title to her property, including the apartment in New York where Beck joined him. There is no acknowledgment that Beck was divorced with two children, whom she abandoned on Fernandez's orders (her abandonment of her mother is substituted); nor is there mention of Fernandez's legal wife and four children in Spain. The film depicts Beck's surrender of herself and Fernandez, but that implied demonstration of remorse is contrary to the historical record: neighbors noticed the Downings' disappearance, and Beck and Fernandez were apprehended at the Downing house after returning from an evening at the movies.

Casting

Shirley Stoler Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in ''The Honeymoon Killers'' and Lina Wertmüller's ''Seven Beauties''. Early years The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish imm ...

and

, both stage actors in New York, were cast in the leading roles. Stoler, also a singer, was referred by her friend,

Marilyn Chris Marilyn Chris (born Marilyn Miller,Hurst, Louise. (June 29, 1964)"How to Succeed in Acting and Making Home for Son" ''The Cincinnati Enquirer''. 1938 or 1939

, who had been cast in the role of Myrtle: "It was by accident that I got the role," Stoler stated. "I had just returned from Europe where I had been singing in cafes and had no job prospect." Stoler and Chris had worked together in stage productions at

The Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/p ...

in Manhattan, while Lo Bianco had performed on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

Filming

Principal photography of ''The Honeymoon Killers'' began in August 1968, concluding in October. During production, it had the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

''Dear Martha''. The majority of the film was shot in

and

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. Steibel initially hired

to direct, but Scorsese was fired for working too slowly, but a few scenes that he had shot were included in the final film. Scorsese conceded that he had "been fired with pretty good reason... It was a 200-page script and I was shooting everything in

master shot A master shot (or short master) is a film recording of an entire dramatized scene, start to finish, from a camera angle that keeps all the players in view. It is often a long shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an establishing sho ...

s with no coverage." He was replaced by Donald Volkman, a maker of industrial films, who lasted only two weeks before being replaced by Leonard Kastle. Budgetary constraints meant that the actors did their own hair and makeup, and special effects were not fancy. In the scene in which Martha bludgeons Janet Fay with a hammer, "condoms containing

glycerine Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in ...

and red dye were affixed to the head of the victim with

plaster of Paris Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

. The hammer, a balsa-wood prop, had a pin at the end. When the pin pricked the condoms, the blood began to flow."

Musical score

The film's score features portions of the 6th and 5th Symphonies of

. Scholar Martin Rubin asserts that the incorporation of Mahler's symphonies "catapults us outside the often unbearable events and at the same time plunges us inside the main characters' (especially Martha's) inflated and distorted interpretations of those events." Film historian Rob Craig notes that the dramatic score gives the film an "uncanny essence of a Greek tragedy."

Style

Scholars and critics have noted ''The Honeymoon Killers'' for its black-and-white photography and camerawork that evokes those of a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

. Critics also observed the film's streaks of

at the time of its release. Film scholar Martin Rubin notes that ''The Honeymoon Killers'' "contains strong undercurrents of documentary realism, but it pushes them to the point where they erode the balance of realism and

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

that provides a basic framework for the Hollywood style." Rubin likens the film to a "putrescent version of

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

's America." While its unglamorous depiction of violence has been noted by critics, Rubin contests that the film is not "completely heartless" due to the "discomfiting vulnerability of the victims and the undiluted horror of their deaths." Craig, however, describes the film as a "harrowing depiction of evil."

Release

Box office

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

(AIP) acquired distribution rights to the film in September 1969, and went as far as producing key art, publicity stills, and promotional posters. Sources differ as to whether AIP actually released the film; some claim that AIP gave it a brief theatrical run before it was dropped from AIP's roster. Craig theorizes that the studio ultimately opted out of releasing the film because of its "extremely gruesome and misanthropic" content. ''The Honeymoon Killers'' was distributed by

Cinerama Releasing Corporation Cinerama Releasing Corporation (CRC) was a motion picture company established in 1967 that originally released films produced by its namesake parent company that was considered an "instant major".Page 10. History In 1963, the owner of the Pac ...

, premiering in New York City on February 4, 1970. Despite receiving some critical praise, the film "performed weakly" at the U.S. box office.

Jake Eberts Jake Eberts, OC (July 10, 1941 – September 6, 2012) was a Canadian film producer, executive and financier. He was known for his work on Academy Award-winning titles ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981, uncredited), ''Gandhi'' (1982), '' Dances with Wo ...

later wrote that the entire budget of $250,000 was provided by Leon Levy. The film ultimately earned $11 million internationally, but Levy recouped none of his investment. The film was a "modest financial success" in Britain and France.

Critical response

Prior to its release, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine said that ''The Honeymoon Killers'' was "made with care, authenticity and attention to detail." Later,

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised the film, writing: "Kastle's film succeeds as a kind of chamber drama of desperate attraction and violent death. Although it is profoundly involved with the quality of individual middle-class American lives, it completely subordinates anecdote to action and pathos, even the pathos of its central characters, to passion. The secondary performances range from acceptable to excellent." Harvey Taylor of the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' also championed the performances as "excellent," particularly those of Stoler and Lo Bianco, though he conceded that the film's grittiness left him "mildly nauseated." The ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

'' noted the film's realism: "Done with grainy black-and-white film, poor-to-sloppy editing, one-position camera, secondhand furniture sets—there's a tawdry truth to the bizarre story of an unreal, grotesque love affair between Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez." Stephen Allen of New Jersey's ''

Courier-Post The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscri ...

'' made similar observations that the photography has a "harsh documentary or

underground film An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing. Notable examples include John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'', David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'', Andy Warhol's ''Blue Movie'', Rosa von Praunheim's ''Tal ...

quality that lends an air of authenticity," and also praised the realistic casting. Upon a revival screening in 1992,

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised the film, writing: "This quality of being true to itself is ''The Honeymoon Killers''s greatest strength. Writer-director Kastle, who unaccountably never made another feature, is in perfect control of his material here, understanding it thoroughly and making sure that everything, from the harsh lighting to the flat staging to the snippets of Mahler on the soundtrack, unite to enhance the rawness and relentlessness of the film." A 2003 review by ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' concludes by noting that the film's "nauseous mixture of laughs and shocks, and the fact that real passion drives Kastle's characters even when they plot against each other, is what makes ''The Honeymoon Killers'' such an enduring one-off. It works, as

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins (born 1948) is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986, Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented conc ...

argues in the liner notes of the restored DVD edition, 'as the perfect product of the same anxious, permissive age that produced Waters, ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American Independent film, independent zombie horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John A. Russo, John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Har ...

'', and

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

. But it holds up just as well as a weirdly timeless love story with a

body count A body count is the total number of people killed in a particular event. In combat, a body count is often based on the number of confirmed kills, but occasionally only an estimate. Often used in reference to military combat, the term can also r ...

.'"The Honeymoon Killers (DVD)
a July 14, 2003 review by Keith Phipps for

. The film holds a 95% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with an average rating of 8/10, based on 19 reviews. The film was reportedly banned in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

upon its release in 1970 until the late 1980s after being deemed "violent, indecent and obscene" by the Australian censorship board.

Home media

The film was issued on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

(under license from MGM, the owner of the AIP library) in July 2003. A newly restored

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and DVD edition was released by the Criterion Collection in 2015.

Legacy

In the decades following its release, ''The Honeymoon Killers'' developed a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. French director

heralded it as his "favorite American film."

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

*
''The Honeymoon Killers'' at AllMovie
* * *
''The Honeymoon Killers: Broken Promises''
an essay by

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honeymoon Killers, The 1970 films 1970 crime drama films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American International Pictures films Crime films based on actual events American docudrama films 1970s English-language films Films set in Alabama Films set in Michigan Films set in New York (state) Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in New York (state) American serial killer films Biographical films about serial killers 1970s serial killer films Cinerama Releasing Corporation films 1970 directorial debut films 1970s American films English-language crime drama films