| Description |
1 videodisc (DVD) (75 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in |
| Series |
Hot docs (Television program)
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| Summary |
"On what one news report described as a "torrid August day in 1972," John Wojtowicz attempted to rob a Chase bank in south Brooklyn in order to finance a sex change operation for his suicidal boyfriend. Before he and his accomplice could flee the scene, the police had the block surrounded, and a fourteen-hour standoff ensued, with all the bank staff held hostage. Based On A True Story looks at how screenwriter Frank Pierson and director Sidney Lumet transformed this wild news story into the Academy Award winning film, Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino. Convinced that no one would believe the outrageous plot, they began the film with the words "based on a true story." But what is the real story? Dutch director Walter Stokman sets out to speak to the people directly involved: the cops and FBI agents, the tellers who were held hostage, and to John Wojtowicz himself. Featured in the documentary is an interview with John's ex-wife Carmen, who married him when she was eighteen, despite warnings from friends and family. Abandoned by John but still married to him, she had no idea that he had gone on to also marry Ernie Aaron at a ceremony in The Village - where not even the priest knew that the bride was really a man. Based On A True Story seeks to put together the pieces of this strange puzzle and tell a story that has proven that fact can be much stranger then fiction. (From the Netherlands, in English) CC WS" -- website |
| Notes |
Off-air recording of SBS-TV broadcast March 21, 2006 and March 25, 2008. Copied under Part VA of the Copyright Act |
| Credits |
Written and directed by Walter Stokman, produced by Kees Kasander |
| Notes |
Rated: M |
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DVD |
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Available for Deakin University staff and students only |
| Subject |
Wojtowicz, John -- Motion pictures
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Documentary films
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Bank robberies -- New York (State) -- New York
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| Author |
Stokman, Walter
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