'A Crime to Remember' review: Slick piece of work
Alice Crimmins, 28, charged with the murder of her daughter, Alice Marie, 4, has her hand held by her husband Edmund, 32, on arriving at a courthouse in Queens, N.Y. the morning of May 23, 1968. Credit: AP
ID's standard two-bit stagings are upscaled here to $3.95, for a "Mad Men"-lite look of vintage design, faded colors and cigarette smoke. Period stock footage and TV news coverage, plus current-day recall from involved journalists and investigators, are woven among the re-enactments' "I remember that" touchstones (green-black-white city cop cars) and "I was there" narration by a conjured "neighbor" or "co-worker."
That narration lets the episode's teller assess the case's larger impact. "Looking back on it," says a female voice about man-loving Crimmins, "maybe she was sent to jail for something else, too." Ditto next week's ambitious young women, out and about in the '60s city rather than home with hubby. Social norms, culture shifts, even citizens' need to feel safe -- and cops' push to solve cases -- infuse what unfolds.
It's also a kick seeing locally familiar folks like WCBS radio reporter Irene Cornell filling us in on the facts and fury. And it's a definite step up for ID's cable crime time.
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