MovieChat Forums > The Front Page (1974) Discussion > So was Earl Williams insane? (spoilers)

So was Earl Williams insane? (spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by Sunflower64
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The movie makes a big to-do about whether or not Williams is insane--and therefore whether his death sentence is unjust. However, I thought the actual reason his sentence was unjust was because he shot the cop accidentally, not in cold blood as part of a "red" plot, as the Powers At Be make it sound. Williams doesn't seem crazy (except maybe for the bit about sending a bomb to JP Morgan only to get it sent back for insufficent postage) just very naive, almost childlike. I'm surprised this took precedence over the fact that the murder was an accident, especially when I'm not entirely sure he was crazy.

A young girl passes / in a hurry. Hair uncombed. / Full of black devils. --Kelly Link

[–] john-2448 14 years ago

I thought the film made a much bigger deal about the 1920's Red Scare, which is why they want to execute Williams, without too much worry about the circumstances of the crime. And the authorities want to look tough on crime ahead of the election.

The sanity inquiry seems to be more of a last minute procedural hurdle, which the authorities could care less about. But things go awry when they get a wacky Freudian foreigner doing the diagnosis.

There are various hints that Williams is a bit simple or otherwise not all there.
And while we don't know how the cop shooting went down, he does intentionally shoot the doctor and shoot at the mayor when recreating the incident, hinting that either the original crime was perhaps also intentional (and he did mail a bomb once as well).
Or maybe he's a little wacky to reenact it so faithfully.

[–] MissSugarKane 13 years ago

No I don't think so? Mind you, he was pretty insane in that photo Burns took of him. Phew.

Marilyn Monroe: I don't want to be rich. I just want to be wonderful.