''The Burning Bed'' is both a 1980

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

book by Faith McNulty about battered

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

Francine Hughes Francine Moran Hughes (later Wilson; August 17, 1947 – March 22, 2017) was an American woman who, after thirteen years of domestic abuse, set fire to the bed in which her live-in ex-husband Mickey Hughes was sleeping, on March 9, 1977, in Dansv ...

, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes, following her setting fire to the bed he was sleeping in at their

Dansville, Michigan Dansville is a village in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is centered along M-36 within Ingham Township about southeast of downtown Lansing. The population was 563 at the 2010 census. History As far as European settlement is ...

home on March 9, 1977, and thirteen years of physical

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

at his hands.

Plot

On March 9, 1977,

and her three children arrive at the Dansville, MI, police station, where she turns herself in, after setting her husband, James Berlin “Mickey” Hughes, on fire in their home. Public defender Aryon Greydanus is appointed as Francine’s attorney and tries to gain insight into her motive. Initially reluctant, Francine recounts her life and the events leading up to the murder. In 1964, sixteen-year-old Francine meets Mickey Hughes, and the two marry shortly. Mickey begins displaying signs of jealousy and anger and physically abuses Francine, often in the presence of his parents. The abuse escalates over the years, and circumstances worsen with Mickey’s alcoholism. Francine divorces Mickey and takes their three young children. Mickey tries to convince Francine to get back together with him, promising he has changed his ways, but Francine refuses. After learning Mickey has been involved in a serious car accident, rendering him severely injured, Francine agrees to care for him temporarily in his parent’s home; however, the situation eventually traps Francine into a

domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee ...

with him. As the children get older, Francine takes business courses at a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior s ...

, much to Mickey’s disapproval. Mickey’s abuse becomes relentless, and Francine tries to leave numerous times, only for Mickey to follow her and threaten her into returning. She also seeks help from the police, family courts, and Mickey’s family, but to not avail. As the case goes to trial, Francine testifies about the horrifying instances of abuse she suffered from Mickey over the years and what happened the day of the murder: Francine returns home late from school, after giving a classmate a ride home, enraging a drunken Mickey. He refuses to allow her to cook TV dinners for the family and beats her. He then orders her to quit school, and when Francine refuses, he destroys her school books and forces her to burn them. Later that night, at dinner, Mickey beats her again and knocks the food on the floor. He rubs Francine’s face in the mess and orders her to quit school again. A defeated Francine agrees. Afterward, Mickey

rapes Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

her and falls asleep in a drunken stupor. Francine goes to the garage and obtains a can of gasoline, which she pours over Mickey’s body. She takes her children to the car and drives away as the house becomes engulfed in flames. As the jury returns from deliberation, Francine is found not guilty by reason of

temporary insanity The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the ...

, and Francine is embraced by her children.

Film adaptation

Having adapted the book into a made-for-television movie, Goldemberg's screenplay, ''The Burning Bed'', premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on October 8, 1984. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film starred

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played ...

and

Paul Le Mat Paul Le Mat (born September 22, 1945) is an American actor. He first came to prominence with his role in ''American Graffiti'' (1973); his performance was met with critical acclaim and earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - ...

as Mickey Hughes. The house was in Rosharon, Texas. The movie was filmed in El Monte, California.

Cast

as James Berlin "Mickey" Hughes *

Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for Nick Lobo on ''Rhoda'' (1974-1977), Stanley Uris in th ...

as Aryon (Arjen) Greydanus * Grace Zabriskie as Flossie Hughes *

Penelope Milford Penelope Dale Milford (born March 23, 1948) is an American stage and screen actress. She is best known for her role as Vi Munson in '' Coming Home'' (1978) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also or ...

as Gaby * Christa Denton as Christy Hughes, age 12 * James T. Callahan as Berlin Hughes *

Gary Grubbs Gary Grubbs (born November 14, 1949) is an American character actor who has appeared in 178 credited shows and films since the 1970s and is still working steadily. He is best known as Captain Steven Wiecek in '' For Love and Honor'' (1983-1984) ...

as District Attorney * David Friedman as Jimmy Hughes, age 10 * David Andrews as Wimpy Hughes * James Hampton as Police Witness *

Virgil Frye Virgil Charles Frye (August 21, 1930 – May 7, 2012) was an American actor and former Golden Gloves boxing champion. He grew up in Estherville, Iowa. He had two children, Sean Frye ('' E.T. The Extra Terrestrial'') and Soleil Moon Frye (''Punky ...

as Virg * Dixie K. Wade as Hazel Moran * Heather Rich as Christy age 6 *

Justin Gocke Justin Gocke (January 31, 1978 – September 8, 2014) was an American actor. Justin Gocke was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Steve and Loren Gocke. As a former child actor, he is known for his role as Brandon Capwell (1987–1993) on ...

as Jimmy age 4 * Elizabeth Lyn Fraser as Nicole Hughes * Jeremy Ross as Judge Hotchkiss

Ratings

The movie premiered with a household share of 36.2 ranking it the 17th highest rated movie to air on network television and NBC's highest rated television movie.

Critical response

Television critic

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as w ...

in his 2016 book co-written with

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

titled ''

TV (The Book) ''TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time'' is a collection of essays written by television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz. It was published in 2016. The main purpose of the book was to provide a can ...

'' named ''The Burning Bed'' as the 7th greatest American TV-movie of all time, writing that "The film was a landmark in terms of content, depicting domestic violence as an unambiguous horror and a human rights violation". Seitz also praised the performance of Fawcett as "one of the finest in the history of TV-movies".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burning Bed, The 1984 crime drama films 1984 television films 1984 films American crime drama films American courtroom films American docudrama films 1980s feminist films Films about alcoholism Films about arson Films about domestic violence Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Robert Greenwald Films set in Michigan Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films shot in Texas NBC network original films Crime films based on actual events Violence against women in the United States 1980s legal films American feminist films 1980s American films