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Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

Play trailer Poster for Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman R 2005 1h 34m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Albert Pierrepoint finds great success as Britain's most famous public executioner, and his notoriety rises to a new level after he is selected to hang Nazi war criminals after the Nuremberg trials, but the experience changes him, and he begins to question the morality of his vocation at the same time that abolitionists begin a campaign to end hanging.

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Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

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Critics Consensus

Director Adrian Shergold doesn't shy away from the darker elements of the movie's subject, and Timothy Spall is mesmerizing as the title character.

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Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 11/02/2007
3.5/4
The key to the film is in the performances by Spall and Stevenson -- and by Marsan. The utter averageness of the characters, their lack of insight, their normality, contrasts with the subject matter in an unsettling way. Go to Full Review Ruthe Stein San Francisco Chronicle 06/22/2007
2.5/4
Grim and disturbing yet perversely riveting. Go to Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader 06/21/2007
The movie grows more compelling in the latter half as British public opinion turns against capital punishment and Pierrepoint begins to have his own doubts. Go to Full Review David Walsh World Socialist Web Site 02/15/2021
Adrian Shergold's The Last Hangman, an account of the career of Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall), Britain's final executioner, is a superior work. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 07/17/2009
C+
Plodding biopic. Go to Full Review Jennie Kermode Eye for Film 12/07/2007
5/5
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Audience Reviews

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william d @acsdoug 08/22/2021 Interesting biopic and excellently executed (no pun intended), terrific acting by Timothy Spall. See more 07/17/2019 Morbidly fascinating See more 10/21/2018 An insightful and emotive character study of Pierrepoint that integrated some key moral issues rife in the society it was performed. See more 01/30/2017 good, be warned this ain't no barrel of laughs. See more 06/15/2015 Excelente Timothy Spall, en un sencillo pero intenso relato sobre la pena de muerte. See more 03/31/2014 This movie starts slow but is quite moving by the end. See more Read all reviews
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

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Cast & Crew

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Adrian Shergold

Director

Timothy Spall

Albert Pierrepoint

Juliet Stevenson

Annie Pierrepoint

Eddie Marsan

James 'Tish' Corbitt

Michael Irwin Norton

Josef Kramer

Cavan Clerkin

George Cooper

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Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005) A scene from the film "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman." A scene from the film "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman." A scene from the film "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman." A scene from the film "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Albert Pierrepoint finds great success as Britain's most famous public executioner, and his notoriety rises to a new level after he is selected to hang Nazi war criminals after the Nuremberg trials, but the experience changes him, and he begins to question the morality of his vocation at the same time that abolitionists begin a campaign to end hanging.
Director
Adrian Shergold
Producer
Christine Langan
Screenwriter
Jeff Pope, Bob Mills
Production Co
Granada Television
Rating
R (Nudity|Disturbing Images|Brief Sexuality)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jun 1, 2007
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$21.8K
Runtime
1h 34m