Beulah shouted back. At 8:30PM that Saturday night, the jury was sent out for deliberation. This painted Beulah as cold and uncaring. She snuggled up close to him on the couch, touching and kissing as much as she pleased. The Real Roxie Hart Was Too Beautiful to Execute, ©2020 Chicago magazine / A Chicago Tribune Media Group website. She was young and beautiful and had what Perry called, “too many friends”. She wanted to get a rise out of him. Harry stepped toward her. She focused. What choice did she have but to shoot? She picked up the phone and called her husband at the garage where he worked. Now, you may be wondering how we went from Beulah Annan to Roxie Hart. So much so her father refused to help her out of her jams, making her live with the consequences of her actions. But, she wondered, would this alone be enough to get her off the hook? She knew him. She was surrendered to the shelter when the owners didn't have any more time for her. It helps her case that she’s beautiful with a fine figure. And that is the sordid, steamy, unbelievable reality of the woman who inspired Foxy Roxie Hart in all her glorious itarations. Maureen Watkins described her best – “Under the glare of motion picture lights – a news weekly – Beulah took the stand. It was a little after noon when Harry came knocking on Beulah’s apartment door asking for money. Phyllis Haver was ideally cast as gum-chewing dance-hall girl Roxie Hart, who shoots her lover full of holes and then is forgiven by her faithful -- if not entirely honest -- … “‘Both went for the gun!’ W.W. O’Brien called out” (pg. He was recording every word she said. In order to hold onto her own narrative, she was forced to concede that she willingly did those things. The prosecution brought up the call Beulah had made to the laundry at 4:10 PM, making sure the jury understood that Harry had been dying on the floor when it happened. “Come home, I’ve shot a man. As the star of the murder story of the century, or until the next murder of the century, she quickly becomes the sweetheart of the prison and the darling of the press. Then a struggle ensued. 93), she told them. Maureen kept quiet about the fact that most of the characters and events were lifted from her own newspaper, modelling it all on real people and events. But Harry never did those things. Beulah simply couldn’t take it anymore! Movie Review. 233). Beulah wouldn’t stand for it. Beulah would not, could not, let him walk out. Al believed her – his beautiful Beulah must have been so frightened! And other tidbits from a new book on the real-life women who inspired Chicago. But Beulah wasn’t 100% happy. And if she was talking, she was making them money with their headlines. It is astounding to me that after nearly 100 years, and through all the adaptations, Beulah Annan was so iconic, so unbelievable as she was, her character has remained more or less unchanged. This was the version of events Steward and O’Brien decided to stick to. She pushed at his right shoulder with her left hand, and that’s how she ended up shooting him in the back, she said. O’Brien made it clear that Beulah would be pleading self-defence. 86) she said. She was no longer the sobbing mess officers had first brought into the Hyde Park police station. It's basically the same story as "Chicago" with some changes. Another witness recounted how Beulah had first asked Woods to ‘frame’ it as an accident. She told him her story – a man came in and tried to make love to her, but she fought him off and shot him with a gun. That plan didn’t last. Beulah launched into her tale. He wanted to make her steady, solid, convincing and credible for the jury. However, did you know that the Roxie we know and hate to love was inspired by an actual woman from Chicago? That was not what he had been expecting. Assistant State’s Attorneys Bert Cranson and William McLaughlin, as well as police Captain Edward Murname were in attendance of this confession. Beulah, tears in her eyes, even believed the web he was artfully weaving. She met Harry Kalstedt and fell head over heels. “I was nervous, you see” (pg. Why was Harry shot in the back? They belonged to Beulah Annan, who was the inspiration for Roxie Hart of Chicago — the 1924 play, the 1927 silent, the 1975 musical and the 2002 Oscar-winning film (and that 1942 Ginger Rogers flick). Erika Girardi channels her inner Roxie Hart for her upcoming stage performance in Chicago. Sound familiar? He kept probing for known inconsistencies. The result is the story of Roxie Hart – a married woman who shot down her boyfriend when he tried to leave her. Harry was still on the floor. As a teen, Beulah had a habit of getting into trouble. Surely he wouldn’t have had a second thought about assaulting another woman. The inquest concluded that Beulah was responsible for Harry’s death. Harry demanded to know if they’d slept together, calling her a “vile name” (pg. I've seen the movie Chicago - which is about the fictional Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly who get away with murder - and had been aware that it was based on real goings-on in 1920's Chicago. If Harry left her, then she’d only have Al. The marriage lasted four months. The case would then go to a grand jury before certainly going to trial. Roy Woods had laid out his evidence at the Coroner’s Inquest piece by piece. Some people did notice, though, that she never gave birth to the child she claimed to be expecting while on trial. The police bullied her, they said. But Harry had said he was going to quit her, and she couldn’t have that. This musical, which still tours regularly, then inspired the blockbuster film most of us are familiar with, 2002’s “Chicago”, featuring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere, to name a few. Of course, with every new Roxy and Velma, Long takes the same care in dressing the person, not just the character. However, the prosecution hit a snag. 85) and shouting as he did so. They had witness after witness who could testify for them. As Al was saving his wife’s ass, Beulah was living it up. The play garnered attention – both good and bad – and soon was consistently playing to packed houses. He and Stewart presented Beulah as a “virtuous working girl”, dredging up the time Harry had spent in prison in Minnesota. 101). But this time, there are reporters surrounding her, waiting on baited breath to hear from Chicago’s latest gunner girl. Her story simply didn’t add up. She was simply another woman scorned by jazz and liquor, leading her dreadfully astray. Then the police began to question Beulah. Based on a real-life incident, Maurine Watkins' semi-satirical novel and play Chicago was first brought to the screen in 1927. She was repentant of her actions. She denied it vehemently, blaming the liquor for clouding her mind. She returned to Chicago and moved in with her mother. Officers arrived at the small apartment at 817 East Forty-Sixth Street, took note of their surroundings, and paid close attention to where the body was lying. The ploy worked. Beulah was a “virtuous, hard working girl, a loving and decent wife who had been ruthlessly slandered so that the State’s Attorney’s Office could rack up a conviction” (pg. Samantha Harris makes her broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre on July 7, 2009 in New York City. As a result, she married young, at the age of 17. The case took over the papers, reporters – including Maureen Watkins – fighting tooth and nail to get a look at, and interview, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. She wanted him to leave but he wouldn’t go. She is the main character of the 1926 play Chicago and its various remakes and derivatives. 195). They engaged in an emotional and theatrical opening statement, O’Brien working his magic as he spun their version of events for the jury. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were born. He quickly began trying to found up the funds to cover Beulah’s legal expenses. She was loving all the attention. That’s what started the whole struggle for the gun, she said. Not if he wanted to convict Beulah for the murder of Harry Kalstedt. He reiterated that Harry Kalstedt had spent five years in prison for assaulting a woman. Though frustrated, McLaughlin didn’t back down. And other tidbits from a new book on the real-life women who inspired Chicago. Beulah discovered that motherhood wasn’t quite her cup of tea. Amos Hart (George Chandler) the disposable husband sells everything to get the great and even more cynical lawyer Billy Flynn (Adolphe Menjou) as Roxie's defense lawyer. They drank the wine, and he said he wanted to leave her. But before she was a notorious ‘girl gunner’, she was born Beulah Sheriff, daughter of John Sheriff – a prosperous Kentucky farmer – on November 18th, 1899 in the Ohio River Valley. This meant he could also be cross-examined. He was confident. Beulah didn’t hear the officer ask her: “In the back?” (pg. The prosecution battered back. He thought he had the jury on his side. Soon enough, she divorced her husband and left him with their son, never to make contact with them again. Later she changed the name of the book to Chicago and wrote a play also called Chicago . She acted like she hadn’t seen Harry all day, wondering where he was. She vowed to be a dear, devoted wife to Al. Like what you’re reading? Not one to sit still for too long, Beulah found a new man. The entire courtroom was silent. They both reached for the gun, but she got it first! After the death of Maureen Watkins in 1969, her family sold the rights to her play. The papers weren’t as interested in her anymore. She is a naïve woman with a bad temper. 196). It's basically the same story as "Chicago" with some changes. The result is the story of Roxie Hart – a married woman who shot down her boyfriend when he tried to leave her. And so, she boasted about another fictitious man named Johnny who’d come around to call on her. By Anne Ford. She seemed the be the only one not won over by Beulah’s big doe-eyes. Evidence, witnesses, and statements continued to pile up against Beulah. They hoped to catch Beulah in all her lies and fabrications. If you’re a fan of the musical Chicago, as I am, you’ll know the story of Foxy Roxie Hart. With the tale told, Stewart had established Beulah’s version of events, craftily skewering the credibility of many witnesses with his careful phrasing. Curtain Call - Kara DioGuardi & Amra-Faye Wright makes her Broadway Debut as Roxie Hart in 'CHICAGO' on Broadway at … She’d gotten into enough trouble over her lifetime for his liking. Her second husband — the same man tried for killing her first husband — later disappeared. 89) he told police in a rush. She fully intended to make Harry keep his promises, one way or another. His concept: use one main character, Roxie Hart, and tell the story through her eyes. “She was so good on the stand that, even with the confident, evidence-packed case the state put forward, it was not impossible to guess which way the jury might be leaning” (pg. Al was determined to save his wife’s life, despite her adultery. Stewart, the calmer of Beulah’s two defence attorneys, started her off with easy to answer questions. He never seemed to have money to spend on her. 101). The gun was in plain sight. She is a 1920s modern woman, who longs for a fast paced life of liquor, jazz and her name famously known on the vaudeville stage. At the station – a little more composed but still wide-eyed and teary – Beulah repeats her story again. She didn’t want to give him up. But this didn’t deter them one bit. It was made into a silent movie in 1927, and in 1942 it became a movie called Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers. “He went through her statements line by line, and Beulah, still calm, still with that sweet Southern accent, denied practically every word credited to her by the state” (pg. As Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather recount in He Had It Coming: Four Murderous Women and the Reporter Who Immortalized Their Stories, she once told an interviewer: “I got so I prayed for murders. They did not miss the fact that the story she’d just told was not the version of events she’d first confessed to. Spectators, reporters, and prosecutors “wandered in confusion, in ecstasy, in anger” (pg. In Fosse/Verdon, she … Everything went absolutely wrong for Beulah on Thursday, April 3rd, 1924. All eyes in the courtroom were on the ‘expectant mother’. In this version Roxie Hart (Ginger Rogers) is more or less innocent, but takes the fall in the hopes of turning her notoriety into a dancing career. She simply loved being the centre of attention, and the reporters were keen to keep Beautiful Beulah happy. By Monday afternoon, “she appeared in a newspaper office with a divorce lawyer in tow” (pg. “Beulah didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s cynicism. Zellweger shows her moxie After two decades of oversized personalities such as Goldie Hawn, Liza Minnelli and Madonna being linked to a movie version of … He asked her her name, her age, and the like. There was a real Roxie Hart, and in 1942, she was played by none other than Ginger Rogers with red hair. From there, he moved on to what happened that dreary day in April. 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