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The Onion Field (1979)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 2/20, 3/22

OnionF
2/20: I had heard of the Onion Field killers but didn't know what it was all about until seeing the movie now.

The basic gist of the case is this: at approximately 10 PM on March 9, 1963, Gregory Ulas Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith, the former white and the latter black, were driving around with the intention of committing robbery and made an illegal U-turn somewhere in the Los Angeles area before being spotted by two police officers, Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger, in an unmarked car. After Powell was ordered to get out of the car, he managed to turn the tables on them by holding a gun behind Campbell's back, and Hettinger was persuaded by his partner to give up his firearm.

Once Powell and Smith had control of the situation, Campbell was forced to drive everybody to some random onion field in Bakersfield. The cops were led to think they would be let go once there, but Powell reneged on his promise and shot Campbell right above the upper lip. This is now the point that nobody had agreed on who really did it when Campbell was fatally gunned down four times afterwards. Hettinger escaped prior to that and ran four miles to seek help. After failing to locate Hettinger for a while, Smith drove away without Powell, and the latter was forced to find another automobile and got caught by another unmarked car during the same night.

Powell confessed to the crime but maintained that Smith was the one who murdered the cop. They were given the death penalty which was later commuted to life because the California Supreme Court decided in 1972 that death was cruel and unusual punishment. The trials took over six years with many, many filed motions and because of Irving Kanarek, the notorious lawyer from the Tate–LaBianca murder trials.

Thanks to the book written by Joseph Wambaugh about the Onion Field murder that served as a major factor, the death penalty was reinstated. A hopeless drug addict, Smith was paroled in 1982 but had been in and out of prisons for decades until his death twenty-five years later. Powell remained in prison until his death in 2012. Although I'm near certain Powell was the one who killed Ian Campbell, the author thought it was Smith after all, so I have to go with the authority.

Hettinger was labeled a coward by his fellow police officers because of what happened that night. They thought he shouldn't have given up his gun when he could've used it to defuse the situation. For many, it's been highly contentious and a matter of debate with no easy answers; honestly, I found no fault in what he did. Regardless, Hettinger stayed on for a while but somehow became a kleptomaniac which led to his forced resignation from the department. Psychologically broken (which is now defined as PTSD) and suicidal for a long time, he died of liver failure at age 59 in 1994. The onion field, where the incident happened, is no longer there.

All of what I've described has been captured detail for detail in The Onion Field, right down to the cars and locations, thanks to the author's insistence of keeping the truth intact. It's one of the, if not the, most accurate true crime movies ever shot. Yes, it's slow-paced and can meander a bit from time to time but is uniformly excellent and meticulously crafted.

The acting is first-rate, and some of the cast are the spitting images of the principals who were involved. Absolutely excellent, James Woods, who must have weighed 125 pounds at the time, is the scene-stealing star of the show. Franklyn Seales, a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines actor whom I've never heard of, certainly has the role of his lifetime. Looking destined to portray Harry Belafonte in a future biopic, he would die of complications from AIDS at age 37 in 1990. Forced to internalize his feelings, John Savage has the hardest and most unforgiving task of anyone.

By the way, if you remember the black prisoner who slashed his wrist, it's Jessie Lawrence Ferguson. He's especially memorable for playing the LAPD cop who put his gun against Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s throat and made him cry in Boyz n the Hood. The Onion Field is actually the first film for Ted Danson with Christopher Lloyd making a small appearance.

All in all, despite the faults, The Onion Field is a top three true crime movies ever made.

3/22: Upgrading my rating from '7' to '9', I read The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh for the first time before seeing the film again.

It may be the most factually true movie made with zero liberties taken. What's impressive is the performances and how well-cast everybody is. The likeness James Woods and Franklyn Seales have to their counterparts in real life is quite close. They even act like them, too. I admit, the pace is slow, but the book is like that as well.

If you're annoyed by Franklyn Seales' performance, no worries...you aren't alone as Jimmy Lee Smith was actually a crybaby whiner and a total loser; although released in 1982, he could never stay out of trouble, going in and out of prisons until his death. The controversy of who really fired the last four fatal bullets into Officer Ian Campbell has never been settled to this day. Strong suspicions are toward Smith for having done it.

It's apparent more than two lives were lost during that night at the onion field, and everybody suddenly forgot Ian Campbell was killed during the line of duty. Oddly, a square was dedicated to his memory which came fifty years afterwards. Karl Hettinger didn't get a proper psychiatric treatment right away and was still in a state of shock for so long which slowly ruined his health. Now, it's unfair to criticize either in terms of what they should've done; it's impossible unless you were there and actually felt what they felt. Hence, training means everything. As for the killers, who cares about them? They're dead, and good riddance.

All in all, it's best to read The Onion Field first and then see the film.