Most of the episode ,the shortest of them all (55 min),is given over to the trial,the Pièce De Résistance of Stevens' and mainly Sternberg's movies.
Warner Bentivagna underplays:he is absent as though the whole thing does not concern him anymore ;he knows the jury is hostile,as is the populace inside and outside the courtroom,and the prosecutor (Alberto Lupo) has no mercy for this first-degree murderer;he knows that the die is cast whatever his defense suggested by his lawyers may be. One scene sums up the atmosphere in succinct style: the wardens are having lunch,Clyde's plate remains full as he's desperately watching the clock.
The two American movies stop when the jury brings a guilty verdict and Clyde gets a death sentence ;but in fact Clyde's execution takes place after long months on death row ,depicted by Dreiser with spooky details.
Once more,the ending is brilliant:a black convict breaks into "nobody knows the trouble I've been " in a weary voice,and this is the perfect introduction to the last chapter:religion which was omnipresent in the first episode ,will come back as the key issue of the finale,when reverend Duncan enters the scene.
Warner Bentivagna underplays:he is absent as though the whole thing does not concern him anymore ;he knows the jury is hostile,as is the populace inside and outside the courtroom,and the prosecutor (Alberto Lupo) has no mercy for this first-degree murderer;he knows that the die is cast whatever his defense suggested by his lawyers may be. One scene sums up the atmosphere in succinct style: the wardens are having lunch,Clyde's plate remains full as he's desperately watching the clock.
The two American movies stop when the jury brings a guilty verdict and Clyde gets a death sentence ;but in fact Clyde's execution takes place after long months on death row ,depicted by Dreiser with spooky details.
Once more,the ending is brilliant:a black convict breaks into "nobody knows the trouble I've been " in a weary voice,and this is the perfect introduction to the last chapter:religion which was omnipresent in the first episode ,will come back as the key issue of the finale,when reverend Duncan enters the scene.