''Mrs. Harris'' is a 2005

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

written and directed by

Phyllis Nagy Phyllis Nagy ( ; born November 7, 1962) is an American theatre and film director, screenwriter and playwright. In 2006, Nagy was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for writing and directing '' Mrs. Harris'' (2005), her screen debut. In 20 ...

. Based on the 1983 non-fiction book ''Very Much a Lady'' by Shana Alexander, the film explores the complex and volatile relationship between

Herman Tarnower Herman Tarnower (March 18, 1910 – March 10, 1980) was an American cardiologist and co-author (with Samm Sinclair Baker) of the bestselling diet book ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet'' (1978), which promoted a high-protein low-carboh ...

, a prominent

cardiologist Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

and author of ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet'', and

Jean Harris Jean Struven Harris (April 27, 1923 – December 23, 2012) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia, who made national news in the early 1980s when she was tried and convicted of the murder of her ex-lover, Herm ...

, the headmistress of an elite girls' school. The film is a co-production of the United States and the United Kingdom, and was produced by

Killer Films Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded in 1995 by film producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. The company has produced many acclaimed independent films over the past two decades including ''Fa ...

Number 9 Films Number 9 Films is a British independent film production company co-founded in 2002 by producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, after a long collaboration at both Palace Pictures and Scala Productions. Between them the principles' movi ...

, and John Wells Productions for

HBO Films HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non-f ...

. It stars

Annette Bening Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for List of Annette Bening performances, her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received List of awards an ...

as Harris and

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

as Tarnower, with supporting performances by

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny ( ; born November 18, 1974) is an American actress. Known for her work in independent films with controversial or experimental themes, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Acade ...

, and a cameo appearance by

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy A ...

—who had previously portrayed Harris in the 1981 television film ''The People vs. Jean Harris''. ''Mrs. Harris'' premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 16, 2005, and was later broadcast on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on February 25, 2006. ''Mrs. Harris'' received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Bening and Kingsley's performances, particularly for their emotional depth and nuance. It earned multiple award nominations, including a leading seven at the

58th Primetime Emmy Awards The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 27, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC) with Conan O'Brien hosting the show. The ceremony attracted 16.2 million viewers, 2.5 ...

, including Outstanding Television Movie, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (for Kingsley), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Bening), and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (for both Burstyn and Leachman).

Plot

On a stormy March night in 1980,

, the headmistress of a Virginia girls' school, arrives at the home of her former lover, renowned

, in

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...

, after a long drive. Intending to confront him and end her life on his estate following his growing attachment to his younger secretary, Lynne Tryforos, Jean instead becomes involved in a physical struggle during which Tarnower is shot. She initially leaves to seek help but returns when she sees police arriving at the house. Told through a

nonlinear narrative Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the ...

structure, the film interweaves flashbacks and

flashforward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

s to depict the history of Jean and Herman's turbulent relationship. Their romance, which began with promise, gradually deteriorates as Herman's domineering personality and serial

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

take a psychological toll on Jean. Despite his engagement gesture—a flashy ring she deems inappropriate for her professional image—Herman refuses to marry her, citing his unwillingness to take on a paternal role for her two sons. As their relationship sours, Herman continues to manipulate Jean, maintaining emotional control and prescribing her a regimen of medications that lead to dependency. As the story progresses to Jean's trial for murder, a second depiction of the shooting is shown, contrasting the earlier portrayal. In this version, Jean is seen deliberately shooting Herman multiple times, contradicting her courtroom claim of

accidental discharge An unintentional discharge is the event of a firearm discharging (firing) at a time not intended by the user. An unintended discharge may be produced by an incompatibility between firearm design and usage, such as the phenomenon of cooking off a r ...

. Her refusal to allow her attorney to present Tarnower's manipulative behavior as part of her defense undermines a plea of emotional disturbance. She is ultimately convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison at

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a women's prison Approximately 741,000 women are incarcerated in correctional facilities, a 17% increase since 2010 and the female prison population has been increasing across all contine ...

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

Cast

as Herman Tarnower *

as Pearl Schwartz *

Bill Smitrovich William Stanley Zmitrowicz Jr. (born May 16, 1947), known professionally as Bill Smitrovich ( ), is an American actor. Personal life Smitrovich was born on May 16, 1947, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Anna (married and maiden names, née ...

as Joel Arnou *

as Lynne Tryforos *

Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is an American actress. She began her career in theater and later starred as Detective Deborah Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Edge of Night'' (1976–1981). In film, she is known for her rol ...

as Marge Jacobson * Michael Gross as Leslie Jacobson *

Cristine Rose Cristine Rose is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Angela Petrelli on the hit NBC science fiction drama ''Heroes (U.S. TV series), Heroes''. Career She was a regular on the short-lived television series ''Ferris Bueller ...

as Suzanne *

Mary McDonnell Mary Eileen McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in ''Dances With Wolves'' and May-Alice Culhane in ''Pas ...

as Vivian Schulte *

Philip Baker Hall Philip Baker Hall (September 10, 1931 – June 12, 2022) was an American character actor. He is known for his collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson, including '' Hard Eight'' (1996), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), and ''Magnolia'' (1999). He also ...

as Arthur Schulte *

Robert Cicchini Robert Cicchini is an American film and television actor and director. Among Cicchini's film appearances are his roles as Lou Pennino, Vincent Corleone's bodyguard, in '' The Godfather Part III'' (1990), Bill Guidone in '' Light Sleeper'' (1 ...

as Detective Siciliano *

Michael Paul Chan Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the Turner Network Television, TNT series ''The Closer'' and ''Major Crimes (TV series), Major Crimes''. Chan also acted in ''U. ...

as Dr. Louis Roh *

as Former Tarnower Steady *

Nan Martin Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 – March 4, 2010) was an American actress and comedian who starred in movies and on television. Life and career Early life Nan Martin was born on July 15, 1927, in Decatur, Illinois. She was raised in Santa Monica, Ca ...

as Mama Tarnower *

Lisa Edelstein Lisa Edelstein ( ; born May 21, 1966) is an American actress and artist. She is known for playing Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the Fox medical drama series ''House'' (2004–2011). Between 2014 and 2018, Edelstein starred as Abby McCarthy in the Bravo s ...

as Forensic Psychologist * Brett Butler as Tarnower Ex #1 *

Lee Garlington Ann Leslie "Lee" Garlington (born July 20, 1953) is an American actress. Early life Garlington was born in Teaneck, New Jersey on July 20, 1953. She spent her teenage years in Wilmington, Delaware. Career She has guest-starred in a number of not ...

as Tarnower Ex #2 *

Jessica Tuck Jessica Tuck (born February 19, 1963) is an American actress, best known for her performances on television as Megan Gordon Harrison on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'', Gillian Gray in the CBS drama series ...

as Wife #1 *

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the da ...

as Tarnower's Best Friend *

Larry Drake Larry Richard Drake (February 21, 1949 – March 17, 2016) was an American actor. He was best known as Benny Stulwicz in ''L.A. Law'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. He also appeared as Robert G. Durant in both '' Darkman'' and '' ...

as Harris Defense Team Psychiatrist * Heidemarie Fuentes as Crying Court Room Spectator (uncredited) * Michael C. Moore as Jimmie Harris

Production

Development

''Mrs. Harris'' was adapted for television by playwright and screenwriter

, who also made her directorial debut with the film. The project was initiated when executive producer Elizabeth Karlsen brought Nagy in to discuss potential directors. In an interview with ''Creative Screenwriting'', Nagy recalled, "After I finished the first draft of that script, and Liz Karlsen brought me in to talk about directors, I knew she was going to ask me who I thought could direct this. I thought to myself, 'Well, I want to direct it.' But I didn't say that." When Karlsen rejected the other names Nagy suggested, she proposed that Nagy direct it herself—a decision Nagy described as both unexpected and affirming.

Casting

The film stars

and

as Dr.

, supported by

as Tarnower's sister and

as Lynne Tryforos, his secretary and lover.

, who portrayed Harris in the 1981 television film ''The People vs. Jean Harris'', appears in a cameo role as Gerda Stedman, one of Tarnower's former romantic partners. Burstyn's brief appearance—consisting of two lines of dialogue totaling 38 words and lasting 14 seconds—earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. In response, she quipped, "My next ambition is to get nominated for seven seconds, and, ultimately, I want to be nominated for a picture in which I don't even appear."

Filming

The film was produced for

, and John Wells Productions. Production design and visual aesthetics aimed to capture the contrasting environments of Harris's structured professional life and her increasingly chaotic personal relationship with Tarnower. The film used a

style with flashbacks and flashforwards to parallel Jean Harris's emotional deterioration and the unraveling of her trial.

Critical reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

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 ...

, 43% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, ''Mrs. Harris'' holds a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." In his review for ''Variety'', Dennis Harvey described the film as "competent rather than inspired" and "an uneven affair," noting that it struggles to settle on a consistent tone. He wrote, "Elements of mystery, social satire (Nagy does have some bright lines up her sleeve), psychological horror story, black comedy, and straightforward tragic love story all jostle without complementing each other or achieving a successful kaleidoscope effect." Nevertheless, he acknowledged that "tale and execution are both colorful enough to hold attention."

Awards and nominations

DVD release

''Mrs. Harris'' was released 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 ...

Home Video in

anamorphic widescreen Anamorphic widescreen (also called full-height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for example) with a narr ...

format on August 1, 2006. The disc includes audio options in English and Spanish, with subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French. Special features include an audio commentary with

, and writer-director

, as well as a short featurette titled ''Mrs. Harris: For the Record'', which presents brief interviews with individuals connected to the real-life events, including

herself. The film was re-released on

in September 2012.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(Archive)
'' Mrs. Harris''
at BFI *{{IMDb title, 0391353 2005 television films 2005 films 2005 crime drama films 2006 in American television 2000s American films 2000s British films 2000s English-language films American crime drama films American crime television films American drama television films American films based on actual events British crime drama films British drama television films British films based on actual events Crime drama films based on actual events English-language crime drama films Films based on non-fiction books Films scored by Alex Wurman Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Killer Films films Number 9 Films films HBO Films films Television films based on actual events Television films based on books