William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw

Longford (2006)

Actors: Robert Pugh (actor), Anton Rodgers (actor), Samantha Morton (actress), Andy Harries (producer), John Mortimer (actor), Rob Lane (composer), Lindsay Duncan (actress), David Frost (actor), Andy Serkis (actor), David Frost (actor), Jim Broadbent (actor), Peter Morgan (producer), Peter Morgan (writer), Marigo Kehoe (miscellaneous crew), James Keast (costume designer),

Plot: Biopic of Lord Longford, known for many years for his work with prisoners and prisoners rights in general. The film focuses on Longford's work on behalf of Myra Hindley convicted, along with her boyfriend Ian Brady, of several child murders. Hindley is nothing short of notorious and even Longord's wife is shocked when he announces that he will visit her in prison. When Prime Minister Harold Wilson removes him as the Government Leader in the House of Lords soon after his visits to Hindley are made public, Longford continues to work for her release. A devout convert to Roman Catholicism, Longford sees hope for Hindley when he learns that she too once converted to Catholicism. In the end, his campaign to get her released on parole is for naught when she reveals that other murders took place. Longford stood by his convictions however and never regretted the good work he had done over a great many years.

Keywords: 10-downing-street, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, afterlife, apology, attorney, author, beads, bench
Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama,
Taglines: The only thing more shocking than her crime was his crusade to free her.

Quotes:

[On his first visit to Myra Hindley in prison, Lord Longford is looking aimlessly around the visiting room trying to find her. He approaches a woman with bleached blonde hair, then discovers that this is not Hindley. Suddenly a woman with jet-black hair stands up]::Myra Hindley: I think it's me you're looking for.::Lord Longford: Myra Hindley?::Myra Hindley: I got rid of the peroxide before the trial. I was blue at the trial, for most of it. And then red for the sentencing. Apparently it counted against me - showed I had no remorse.::Lord Longford: I wasn't aware of a correlation between hair colour and contrition.

[Lord and Lady Longford are sitting up in bed looking at pornographic magazines, such as Mayfair and Slave, to decide whether they are offensive]::Lady Elizabeth Longford: Frank, it's harmless. Completely harmless.::Lord Longford: I disagree. These things are read by children at a vulnerable age. The boys on the bus can't have been more than twelve.::Lady Elizabeth Longford: And in our day it was just the same.::Lord Longford: Nothing *like* so graphic or as available. Look at it! Sexual arousal is Pavlovian - if boys grow up thinking that these kind of breasts or this kind of submission is normal, they'll expect it in later life.::Lady Elizabeth Longford: I'm afraid I'm with Marilyn Monroe on this. When asked what she thought about sex she thought for a moment and then said that she felt it was here to stay. And if it is, so is prostitution and so is pornography.

[after visiting Myra Hindley in prison]::Lady Elizabeth Longford: It seemed to me that for years I have been merrily attacking your father for supporting her, without having the slightest idea what I was talking about. And I must say my eyes have been opened, rather. Ironically, the thing that finally persuaded me to offer her my help was the very same thing that had so made me hate her in the first place: the fact that she is a woman. Did you know there have been half a dozen similar child murders? The reason none of us has heard about them is because the killers in each case were men. And men, being sadistic violent killers, isn't a story. Incidentally, in each case, the men have also been paroled. The reason that Myra Hindley is still in jail and has never been considered for parole, is because she is a woman. And for that reason she will always have my understanding... if not my sympathy.

Lord Longford: Hello Myra, is this the nightie you wanted, I couldn't remember what colour you asked for.::Myra Hindley: It's great thanks [quietly]::Lord Longford: Now the business.::Myra Hindley: Frank.::Lord Longford: I have a friend on the parole board::Myra Hindley: _Frank.::Lord Longford: ...who tells me your application will be considered next month, now if that goes well and all things being equal the national::Myra Hindley: _Frank enough. [Inhales cigarette slowly] The police have been to see me. Brady's talked to the press about the other bodies. I'm saying, that i'm going to give a full confessional to all five murders.::Lord Longford: What other bodies?::Myra Hindley: Pauline Reade. And the Bennet boy. He hasn't given them any details yet, but he says he knows where they're buried, and before he grabs the initiative i'm going to come clean and tell the prison "I know".::Lord Longford: but you know nothing about the bodies you've told me as much yourself.::Myra Hindley: [Stares blankly]::Lord Longford: What are you saying?::Myra Hindley: I'm saying, that i'm going to make a confessional to all five murders.::Lord Longford: Dear girl... I asked you specifically if there was anything that you hadn't told me. I've staked my name on this, my reputation.::Myra Hindley: I know. And i'd perfectly understand if you never wanted to see me again. It's what my new solicitor suggested anyway.::Lord Longford: Your new solicitor...?::Myra Hindley: He feels, and if i'm honest i'd agree with him, that the campaign you have conducted on my behalf has hurt me, more than helped me, and that we should make this our last meeting.I see...::Lord Longford: I see... if that's what he feels... that you feel. [Looks down]::Myra Hindley: [pause] Goodbye Frank. [Walks off]::Lord Longford: [Sits for a bit, and then apprehensively walks towards the door]

Myra Hindley: I'm trying Frank, to know the God that you know. But if you had been there, on the moors, in the moonlight, when we did the first one, you'd know, that evil can be a spiritual experience too.

Myra Hindley: It would be a nice place to be.::Lord Longford: Where?::Myra Hindley: Inside your head.::Lord Longford: Oh, I'm not sure about that.

[last lines]::Myra Hindley: You know, we only missed it by a few weeks.::Lord Longford: What?::Myra Hindley: The death sentence. They abolished it while we were on remand. Looking back, don't you think it would have been better for everyone if they'd just hung us?::Lord Longford: Certainly not! Only God has the right to take human life.::Myra Hindley: Would He not have wanted to give the families that comfort?::Lord Longford: [staring off into space] None of us knows the true purpose of our lives on earth... Besides, [gallant again] had you been hanged, I would never have had the privilege of getting to know you!::Myra Hindley: [gazes at him with sadness in her eyes] You really believe that, don't you? [he smiles at her shyly, and says nothing]::Myra Hindley: Must be a rather nice place to be.::Lord Longford: [he glances around them] Where?::Myra Hindley: Inside your head.::Lord Longford: [grins awkwardly and wags his head from side to side as if to dismiss the thought] Oh! I'm not so sure about that!::Myra Hindley: [taking another cigarette from her pack and pulling out her lighter] A fine pair we are, then. [long pan on the two chatting on their bench, so close they are almost touching. Credit sequence rolls]

Ian Brady: [at first seeing Lord Longford in prison] How good of you not to disappoint! Wonderful, isn't it, when people look *exactly* as you imagined? So this is my competition? This is what I'm up against? Myra's new boyfriend? She certainly picks them, doesn't she? I did a little research before our first meeting. I'd say there's great evidence of mental instability in your past and mine.

Lord Longford: [in first visit] What can I do for you, Mr. Brady?::Ian Brady: [looks sad and troubled] I'd like to find my way back to God, Lord Longford. Will ye help me?::Lord Longford: [eagerly] Most certainly, if that's what you want to -::Ian Brady: Don't ye fucking dare. If ye start that pious mumbo-jumbo with me, I will jump across that table and bite out your tongue.

Ian Brady: I want to tell ye about Myra, whom ye no doubt believe is sincere in her religious conversion. Let me tell ye, that woman cares no more about God than she does about the piles in my arse. What she cares about is... getting out! And she thinks you'll help her. But the minute your back is turned, she mocks ye! [pulls three letters from his lap] For your silly hair... and your clothes... and your "self-important autobiography that's only published 'cause his family owns a bloody publishing house!" [pauses for effect] What? She didn't tell ye she was still writing to me?::Lord Longford: No.::Ian Brady: Oh, dear. She probably didn't tell ye she was fucking that little prison officer either? A nun? They do it under the bed in the cell, apparently. Four times a day! She has a very high sex drive, our Myra. It's the sort of detail ye might want about your new girlfriend. She needs it all the time... like a man, in that way. Like a man in other ways, too. She's strong! That came in handy, as ye can imagine. When they were wriggling and trying to get away.