All Slights Deserved

Sooner or later most infamous real-life crimes receive a dramatisation, but the timing of such treatments can vary enormously. Some cases, such as that of the Moors Murders, are granted a respectful distance (although See No Evil finally told the story for tv in 2006). Others, like that of Harold Shipman, can make it to the screen in just a couple years . American readers will know that over there the turnaround can be even quicker. Perhaps it owes something to the degree to which ordinary, middle-class society is offended or horrified by the crimes, or to what extent they simply feel a morbid curiosity. Film or television executives will seldom commission such a drama if there's any risk of a public backlash, even if it rarely equates to a drop in revenue (far from it). And occasionally independent producers have taken real-life crimes and crafted them into grimly effective films. One of the most notable (if sadly neglected) examples is The Black Panther (1977), a criminal...