Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

R

2005

1 hr. 34 min.

Drama

List

79%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) 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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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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william d

Interesting biopic and excellently executed (no pun intended), terrific acting by Timothy Spall.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Morbidly fascinating

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

An insightful and emotive character study of Pierrepoint that integrated some key moral issues rife in the society it was performed.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

good, be warned this ain't no barrel of laughs.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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william s

One of the best performances of the year as Spall just weaves his spell perfectly as an unassuming man doing the devils bidding.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excelente Timothy Spall, en un sencillo pero intenso relato sobre la pena de muerte.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

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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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Margaret Lyons

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

David Fear

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

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.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 2, 2007

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Adrian Shergold's The Last Hangman, an account of the career of Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall), Britain's final executioner, is a superior work.

Feb 15, 2021

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Plodding biopic.

Rated: C+

Jul 17, 2009

Full Review

Jennie Kermode

Eye for Film

Rated: 5/5

Dec 7, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) 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
Executive Producer: Jeff Pope, Andy Harries
Screenwriter: Jeff Pope
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

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