samkydd

Jack the Ripper has probably featured in more films than Gladys Henson, but I’ve yet to find out which film is the definitive Jack the Ripper story based on the Scotland Yard case file.

Some films hint that he’s the Prime Minister, or The Prince of Wales, and another story I heard was that he was some American who was a bogus doctor and the authorities let him return to the US. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know the truth about this person, but does anyone have an opinion on what film or TV drama is closest to the real story?

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

smudge

Ah yes, but has he featured in more films than Marianne Stone ?

Such an achievement as that now WOULD be noteworthy....

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Wilfried Mueller

Hi Smudge!

Certainly nobody knows what is the "most truest film" about that crime but for me it is JACK THE RIPPER with Michael Caine from 1988. Not only a fantastic atmosphere in that miniseries but also a good explanation and not a new one! That mentioned killer appears in several books.

Wilfried Mueller, Germany

DB7

The BBC's 1973 mini-series.

smudge

Wilfried, you know, I didn't watch all of that...Mrs. Smudge did ; she enjoyed it. As for the 1973 mini-series, who was in that then DB7 ? Was it ever repeated ?

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Freddy

According to the Times a few weeks ago Bruce 'Withnail and I' Robinson has written a 1,800 page manuscript on Jack the Ripper, whether it will be a book or a film it didn't say.

Interesting though

Freddy

The world wags on.

Ruth

I think that the Michael Caine version is by far the best and is truest to what we know as fact. However, the film " From Hell" is very good also and takes into account the black grapes given to the victims by the Ripper. This fact is left out of the Michael Caine version. On the whole though, an excellent Interpretation and with his Cockney roots, Caine makes a first class Abbeline.

DB7

Stratford Johns. The director also helmed the Caine version years later (and many of your fave tv serials) - I think to mark the centenary of the first confirmed WhiteChapel murders.

Marky B

Stratford Johns. Was that the one of Charlie Barlow and John Watt investigating old crimes,like "waking the dead"?
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

DB7

Yep, haven't seen it for years but didn't they reopen the case?

AMP

…probably because this ‘fact’ was Hollywood invention - the only foundation being the testimony of an unreliable witness who believed he had sold grapes to one of the victims and a gentlemen. The importance of grapes in the actual Ripper investigation being merely to ascertain whether said witness was mistaken or not. In the event none of the victims had eaten grapes before their deaths.

Iain1962

Hi there.

I can also recommend Bob Clark's Murder by Decree (an Anglo-Canadian co-production) from 1979. This is based on the same material that was spawned from the Barlow and Watt serial written by Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd. The screenwriter John Hopkins was I think a regular contributor to Z Cars and other BBC crime shows of the 1960s and 1970s as was Elwyn Jones. The serial was reportedly the first time that the Masonic/Royal link was publicised and after that became a major component in any conspiracy theories surrounding the case. I think the Caine/David Wickes version ignored the Masonic angle. Interestingly some of the actors from Clark's film actually turned up in an earlier version of the story called A Study in Terror, directed by James Hill and produced by Herman Cohen, even playing the same characters. Some sources say tha particular Anglo-German venture began life as a sequel to Terence Fisher's Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace.

For a number ofyears I was fascinated by the Jack the Ripper case. There were a number of reasons for this including the fact that it had loads of unique features including reports of satanic monks, witchcraft, government conspiracies and many many bizarre conincidences. I wasn't too impressed with the movie adaptation of From Hell, technically outstanding though it was, but the original graphic novel is outstanding and covers most of the bases connected with the case. Although I haven't seen the Barlow/Watt serial since the 1970s I do remember being completely hooked by it. Fascinating stuff. The follow-up series which devoted just one episode each to unsolved crimes was pretty weak overall.

I haven't read Patricia Cornwells' recent pronouncements on the case but I've read various articles on her investigation. I wasn't impressed. I'm certainly very surprised by her lack of awareness of the case until she began her own research and especially by her belief that no one had ever considered Walter Sickert as a possible candidate as the Ripper. I'm sure that his name surfaced at least as far back as the 1960s.

Cheers.

Iain

samkydd

Interesting stuff. Thanks everybody. I will get hold of a few examples mentioned and perhaps have a Ripper night in or two!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

plasticjock

As a 'ripperologist' of long standing, can I direct you to the most comprehensive site for Jack the Ripper information....Casebook: Jack the Ripper - Main
There is also a thriving forum in operation which can get quite heated at times.

samkydd

Thanks I will have a look at that!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"