A Cruel Love The Ruth Ellis Story S01 E01
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00:00♪
00:05♪
00:10♪
00:15♪
00:20♪
00:25♪
00:30Lovely.
00:32Thank you, Joy.
00:34♪
00:39♪
00:44♪
00:51Sorry.
00:52♪
00:57♪
01:02♪
01:07♪
01:12♪
01:17It will calm you.
01:19No, thank you.
01:21♪
01:26♪
01:31♪
01:36♪
01:41♪
01:46♪
01:50David?
01:51♪
01:56♪
02:01♪
02:06♪
02:10What are you doing?
02:12♪
02:15Why did you have to kill him?
02:17♪
02:22♪
02:27♪
02:31Nail files.
02:33Scent bottle.
02:35Lip brush.
02:37Sixpence and copper.
02:39Powder contact.
02:41♪
02:44One .38 revolver and six empty cases.
02:48Already in custody.
02:50♪
02:54We've just seen the body of David Blakely at Hampstead Mortuary.
02:57I understand you know something about it.
03:03Tell us about how Blakely ended up dead.
03:07I am guilty.
03:13I'm rather confused.
03:16Hold still.
03:18Let me on, Vicky.
03:20Not enough for Murray.
03:22Perfect.
03:24Drinks on you tonight, if I get the job.
03:26Knock him dead.
03:28You're a good hostess, Ruthie,
03:30but it's a big step from hostess into banishment.
03:33Not many girls of your background make it.
03:37I know, sir, but I will.
03:43A peer of the realm, an actor,
03:46and a travelling salesman all at a table.
03:49You've got one left.
03:51Who gets it?
03:53Well...
03:55the poshers get a kick out of being treated like scum.
03:59So you send Lord Snooty Bollocks packing.
04:01He'll tell all his mates and come back for more.
04:04The actor just wants free booze.
04:06So you set him up at the bar, let everyone get an eyeful,
04:09got yourself a gossip piece in the mirror the next day.
04:12Now the salesman, he may look shabby,
04:14but he's got pockets full of cash.
04:16A few years ago he was a hero fighting Nazis.
04:18Now he's flogging dusters door to door.
04:21You make him feel like somebody again.
04:24He'll spend everything he's got on you.
04:28He'll spend everything he's got.
04:31He gets the table.
04:36How's it going with the new bloke?
04:38He sent me every bouquet from the Dorchester's florist.
04:42How do you meet him anyway? Stephen, obviously.
04:45Of course, that burn-crunching...
04:47He's been good to me.
04:49Could introduce you to Lord Astor. He's just got divorced.
04:52No, thanks. What you need is a nice rich husband,
04:55a big posh house.
04:57All you'd have to do is spank him once a week.
05:05Do you mind?
05:07This is a private conversation.
05:09Josh, I know him from carols.
05:14Um, sorry, I wasn't, um, eavesdropping.
05:18It's Miss Ellis.
05:20Yes, hello.
05:22Uh, Desmond. Cousin.
05:25This is Vicky Martin. My children, Andre and Georgina.
05:31I've been more of a magnet man myself.
05:35Well, I was thinking that I might go to carols club tonight.
05:40Actually, I'm not working there any more. I've got a new job.
05:43Uh, congratulations.
05:45Thank you. It's at the little club.
05:48Uh, good... Goodbye, then.
05:53LAUGHTER
05:57Stephen Ward may be a perv, but at least he's amusing.
06:04It's, um, very funny today.
06:19Desmond?
06:23Since I'm celebrating, you can buy me a drink later if you like.
06:29It'll be lovely.
06:36Shall we?
06:40Evening, Reggie. Evening.
06:44Evening.
06:45Club's reopening next week.
06:47Redecorated. I'll be London's youngest club manager.
06:50Quite an achievement.
06:53I've been working since I was 14.
06:55Cinema cafe, Lion's Corner house.
06:57Most of the money went to my mother. Still does.
07:00It's all I've ever wanted to do, really. Work.
07:03I thought, um, girls mostly wanted to get married.
07:08Tried that. No thank you.
07:11And the, um, the children's, um, their father?
07:16I'm separated from Georgina's.
07:18I'm separated from Georgina's, and Andres was killed in the war.
07:24So you've done all that on your own?
07:27I've done nothing with my life except turn my father's successful business into a middling one.
07:34You, on the other hand, well, you're quite something.
07:43Can I get you another drink?
07:46I'm by.
07:54Sorry.
07:58I suppose you're the hostess. I'll have another gin and tonic.
08:03As a matter of fact, I'm an old has-been.
08:10Two vermouths, please, and who is that pompous arse?
08:12Some racing driver.
08:16Cheers.
08:26You set out from home tonight with a gun in your bag, and you shot David Blakely.
08:31That is correct.
08:32Blakely was your lover.
08:36Why did you want to kill him?
08:38He hadn't picked me up when he said he would.
08:40He was drinking with some friends. There was some other woman there.
08:45I became very furious.
08:47Where did he get the gun from?
08:49It was given to me as security in a club.
08:52By whom?
08:53A man. I don't remember his name.
08:57When was this?
08:59About three years ago.
09:02Mrs. Ellis, when you put the gun in your bag, did you intend to kill Blakely with it?
09:10Yes. I left Andre at home.
09:14I took the gun and I got in a taxi to Hampstead.
09:17Andre? Who's that?
09:20My son.
09:24Where's Andre now, Ruth?
09:32Help!
09:36Yes, can I help you?
09:37Detective Inspector Peter Gill. Andre, the son of Mrs. Ruth Ellis. Where is he?
09:42It's room number five.
09:50Mum?
09:51It's all right, Andre. Go back to sleep.
10:31Hello?
10:49I can't afford to pay Slister's fees, Mr. Bickford.
10:53It's all in hand.
10:55Mrs. Ellis, you have signed a written statement admitting your guilt without any legal advice.
11:03Well, I am guilty. I've already agreed to tell the court I fully intended to shoot David.
11:08Stop there. Do you feel quite well? Have the police treated you well?
11:13Perfectly.
11:14Ever been in any trouble with them before?
11:16Certainly not.
11:18Why did you decide to do what you did earlier tonight?
11:25I was in a rage at the way David and his friends were treating me.
11:31Laughing at me. Hanging up when I tried to call, like I was nothing.
11:36You killed him because he wouldn't answer the phone.
11:40When did you decide you were going to do this?
11:48Yesterday morning. I hadn't been able to sleep. I hadn't been able to find David.
11:52I suddenly had an overwhelming and peculiar desire to kill him.
11:57You thought he was with another woman, but lost control.
12:01No, I saw things clearly. For the first time.
12:09Has a doctor ever treated you for mental instability?
12:13I'm not cuckoo if that's what...
12:15No, no, no. Of course. But it's important that we explore every possible line of defense.
12:24You don't understand, Mr. Pickford. I'm not interested in any defense.
12:28You've admitted to a capital crime. Without mitigation. Without a defense. Any judge would be forced to...
12:35To hang me. Yes. I chose to do what I did. I don't regret it. I don't ask you or anyone else to plead for my life.
12:45An eye for an eye. I took David's life. I don't ask you to save mine.
13:15Just over there by the piano, son. Lovely.
13:38What do you think? Too much?
13:41I think it's perfect.
13:43Thanks, Jackie.
13:56Almost.
14:06Good evening. Welcome. Wonderful. Thank you.
14:11Vicky, what do you think? Bloody gorgeous. I know.
14:19Champagne? Oh, please.
14:23Champagne each for Vicky and Glute.
14:41I've seen you before.
14:46You look... different.
14:50That's probably rather rude to you.
14:52I probably deserved it.
14:56Can I buy you a drink?
14:58You're on this place, Mr. Blakely. Let me get you one.
15:11Well, remember it.
15:13I'm very good at my job.
15:30It's a little too much tonic.
15:32Perhaps you should go back to bed.
15:35Most nights I'm at the steering wheel club, actually.
15:38I'm a...
15:39Racing driver, isn't he?
15:45I expect you're waiting for me to ask you about it.
15:51I travel all over Europe. I meet a lot of famous people.
15:54You think I should ask you about it.
15:57Oh.
16:00I travel all over Europe. I meet a lot of famous people.
16:03You think I should go weak at the knees for your little hobby.
16:06I was once engaged to a Canadian Air Force pilot.
16:09Now flying, that's something.
16:11Not just... racing toy cars.
16:14Oh, believe me.
16:16They're not toys.
16:27Who's he?
16:28Is he your boyfriend?
16:30Do you care?
16:32Not particularly.
16:34I think you do.
16:36I think you came here for me.
16:38I'm not taken by this little...
16:42International playboy act.
16:45I think you're a spoiled brat, spending Daddy's money.
16:48And you are too used to getting your own way.
16:52I do always get my own way.
17:05This one's on me.
17:09Ruthie looking after you, all right?
17:11Always.
17:13Needs some extra special looking after.
17:15You let her know.
17:17That's not...
17:20That's not...
17:26Have lunch with me tomorrow.
17:29God, I'm so busy with the plays.
17:31You could bring Andre and Georgina and we could do whatever you want.
17:38Andre has been going on about the zoo.
17:40The zoo it is.
17:43I could pick you up at ten?
17:49Shh.
18:20Shh.
18:25I haven't been able to get you out of my mind.
18:27I know.
18:29You've been thinking about me too?
18:32About what an arrogant bastard you are?
18:36It's all an act.
18:38But you know that, don't you?
18:41Because you are too.
18:49You are too.
19:20Mr. Bickford.
19:22Just in time for Peter's round.
19:24Have you dusted the gun for fingerprints?
19:27Whose prints would we be looking for?
19:29Half a dozen witnesses saw her shoot Blakely.
19:32The question is, who gave her the gun?
19:35She claims it was security for a loan at the little club.
19:38She kept it in her drawer for three years.
19:41And?
19:42We both know that can't possibly be true.
19:44That gun hasn't been sitting in her drawer.
19:47It's in perfect working condition. It's oiled.
19:50You were too, Bob, brief.
19:52Not an arms expert.
19:54I prosecuted war crimes in Austria, believe me.
19:58I know guns.
20:00Does anything about this crime make any sense to you at all?
20:04A young woman with no previous record never even fired a gun.
20:08Twenty years of policing have taught me anyone is capable of almost anything.
20:13Have you conducted even the most cursory investigation into where she obtained that gun?
20:22What I'm investigating is the murder of an innocent young man.
20:26And what interests me are the four bullets that that gun and your client put into him.
20:30I...
20:31You know David went down after the first shot.
20:34It was on the ground when she fired the next three.
20:37Point-blank range.
20:39Tell your client to do the decent thing.
20:42Give Mary's family a trial.
20:47Ruth Ellis, you have been charged with the murder of David Blakely.
20:52You will appear in this court to enter a plea in ten days' time.
20:56Until then, you will be remanded in custody at Holloway Women's Prison.
21:03Where did the gun come from, Ruth?
21:06I told you, security for a loan.
21:08If I'm to defend you, I need you to be honest with me.
21:11Honest, Mr. Bigfoot.
21:13My parents had a visit from a journalist at the Mirror.
21:16Says his newspaper are paying my legal fees.
21:18Your fees.
21:19That's why you turned up the night I was arrested.
21:21Because a tabloid wants an exclusive.
21:23Someone's put you up to this.
21:26Someone gave you the gun and you're protecting them.
21:30This way, miss.
21:56Oh, God.
22:27Look how long your eyelashes are.
22:31Are you wearing mascara?
22:34I once threw a girl in French in ponds for asking that.
22:40Naughty boy.
22:42You're not going to get away with this.
22:45You're going to pay for this.
22:47You're going to pay for this.
22:49You're going to pay for this.
22:51You're going to pay for this.
22:54Naughty boy.
22:56You don't know the half of it.
22:59I heard you once drove a Bentley around the Albert Hall
23:03at 60 miles per hour.
23:06Mm.
23:08Didn't get caught, though.
23:19I'm late.
23:24Late for what?
23:27Race meeting in Surrey.
23:32Well, you can show me what all the fuss is about, then.
23:35With your toy cars.
23:39I'll pack a champagne picnic.
23:56Don't mind your fingers.
23:58All right, you all in?
24:01I'm late.
24:03You can show me what all the fuss is about.
24:05With your toy cars.
24:07I'll pack a champagne picnic.
24:11Don't mind your fingers.
24:13All right, you all in?
24:30It's a twin-cam version of the 1500 Singer HRC.
24:37Give me that.
24:43Look, we call it the Emperor.
24:45This car is going to make my name.
24:48You don't believe me.
24:54The Emperor has arrived.
24:56Ah, David.
24:57David, darling.
24:58Like silk, old boy, like silk.
25:00It's a beautiful day for it, eh?
25:02Good to see you, David.
25:03Hi.
25:04This is Clive Gunnell and Anthony Finlater.
25:07Hello.
25:08Anne's been working on the car with me.
25:09Well, he's the money and I'm the brains.
25:10Hello.
25:11And this is Carol Finlater.
25:13Carol, Ruth Ellis.
25:15Ruth works at the Little Club.
25:16Does she now?
25:17Manages it, actually.
25:19We brought champagne.
25:20Well, let's crack it open, shall we?
25:22Good choice.
25:24So what did you think of the Emperor?
25:27Don't tell David, but I thought it was thrilling.
25:30You're very sweet.
25:32David, stop that.
25:34David, watch out.
25:35Are they always like this?
25:38Anne's never entirely trusted him.
25:40Ever since...
25:43Since what?
25:46There's no secret.
25:47David and I had a tendresse.
25:49An affair, darling.
25:50All very much in the past.
25:51We laugh about it now, but...
25:53Well, I'm afraid Anne never finds it very funny.
25:56Carol, darling, we're off.
26:00I do hope we see you again.
26:01One never knows with David,
26:03but I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed for you.
26:07Coming!
26:08David's speaking.
26:11Come on.
26:20I'm so sorry to put you all through this.
26:23You have to bleed insanity.
26:25I was sane when I did it.
26:27I meant to do it.
26:28I won't lie.
26:31What about Andre?
26:33It'll be all right, Mum.
26:34It's all right.
26:35He's going to be taken care of.
26:38It's all arranged.
26:39Arranged with who?
26:42Who?
26:43What do you think?
26:47She swears she was sane when she did it.
26:49And I know my daughter.
26:51Stubborn as a mule when she wants to be.
26:54What's going to happen to her?
26:56I need something to mount some sort of defence.
27:01She won't tell me where she got the gun.
27:04And her reasons for wanting Blakely dead
27:06make precious little sense.
27:09You know he knocked her about?
27:12David was violent towards her.
27:15She does pick on our Ruth.
27:17She has a history of violent relationships.
27:20Our ex-husband, George Ellis,
27:22had it with his fists too.
27:24I don't know what went wrong.
27:26She was such a happy little girl.
27:30Raised sunshine.
27:35Are you all right, love?
27:37Just get some water.
27:47Muriel.
27:51Is there anything you can tell me
27:53that might help your sister?
27:58Muriel.
28:01Ruth.
28:03She lost a baby recently.
28:05It was David's.
28:11Stop.
28:13Jackie.
28:30Jackie, will you help Mr Cossack?
28:32Yes, of course.
28:38Not good for business.
28:39Favouring some punters, neglecting others.
28:41You and your wife, Lawrence.
28:44Ah.
28:46Lover boy doesn't know, does he?
28:48A rate's ten quid a night.
28:50Worth every penny.
28:52She asked you to leave.
28:53Piss off, little Lord Fauntleroy.
28:55You know, I don't think I will.
28:58I think I'll be staying tonight.
29:00And tomorrow night.
29:02In fact, I'm moving in.
29:04So there'll be no more late night calls from you
29:06or any other sweaty old bastards
29:08unless you want my stepfather
29:11to speak to his good friend the commissioner at Scotland Yard
29:14and tell him you're running a brothel.
29:18Clean up the bar downstairs.
29:20It's a bloody...
29:28...
29:45Did you mean it?
29:58I want to live with you.
30:12So how many have you had up here?
30:16How many?
30:18Men.
30:21It's going to have to stop, you know.
30:26Because I'm not going to be able to stand it.
30:36I'm awfully afraid I'm falling in love with you.
30:42He beat you, didn't he?
30:45He did.
30:47He beat you, didn't he?
30:51Body covered in large bruises
30:53with the skin broken in places.
30:55Temporary deafness in one ear.
30:57Strangulation bruises on neck.
30:59Recent pregnancy loss.
31:02Likely due to blows to the abdomen.
31:05This is what your doctor recorded.
31:07Why didn't you tell the police?
31:09I never asked.
31:10You lost a baby because David beat you.
31:17There are four defenses to murder.
31:20Self-defense,
31:21insanity,
31:22proof you didn't do it,
31:23but we can't use any of those.
31:25The fourth is provocation.
31:27If David did something so terrible to you,
31:30it caused you to temporarily lose control.
31:34That could be a defense.
31:43Get back into bed, now!
31:47I didn't lose control.
31:49If you can be honest about what you've suffered,
31:52if you can gain their sympathy,
31:54then the jury could recommend mercy.
31:57I won't stand in a courtroom and beg.
31:59And I didn't kill David because he beat me.
32:02Why did you kill him?
32:04You wouldn't understand.
32:10You think I'm just a drab little man in a suit.
32:15Perhaps I am.
32:16But men like me,
32:17we've seen things you can't imagine.
32:20Inconceivable acts of cruelty,
32:23inconceivable suffering.
32:25And always the impulse is never to speak of it again,
32:29because to speak of it makes it real.
32:32I know you're lying about the murder.
32:37You said it was a black cab
32:39dropped you at the Magdala pub,
32:41but not one cabbie has come forward.
32:43I've met a lot of London cabbies,
32:45and they remember who's in the back of their cars,
32:48especially when their blondes,
32:50all over the papers,
32:51accuse them of murder.
32:53Right.
32:55That's all, Mr. Bickford.
33:04Mr. Bickford?
33:06These came for Mrs. Ellis.
33:08She sent these every day.
33:13♪ ♪
33:44♪ ♪
33:57Mrs. Ellis has been remanded in Holloway Prison,
34:00charged with murder.
34:02I've been instructed to act as her solicitor.
34:06I believe you are a friend of hers,
34:09more than a friend.
34:11I wouldn't say that.
34:13Someone must have helped her.
34:15Someone must have given her a gun.
34:18Was it you?
34:24I have only her interests in mind.
34:28♪ ♪
34:40It was Desmond Carson gave you the gun,
34:42drove you to the Magdala.
34:44He confessed to me.
34:46Wouldn't say much.
34:47He's lying.
34:49I have to tell the police.
34:51No.
34:52I'd be struck off.
34:53I could be prosecuted.
34:54I'll plead not guilty.
34:55That's what you want, isn't it?
34:57I will let you fight my case in court,
34:59but his name stays out of it.
35:00I'd be committing a crime,
35:02withholding Cousin's confession from the police.
35:05I'd be seen as an accessory to murder after the fact.
35:08You'd be committing perjury.
35:10These are my terms.
35:12But I can't accept them.
35:14Fine.
35:15I never wanted a lawyer, Mr. Bickford.
35:17I want to plead guilty.
35:19But you are the one who is so concerned with saving my life,
35:21so I haven't quite worked out why.
35:26These terrible things you saw...
35:30I suppose they happened in the war.
35:35Was it you who did them?
35:40So this is all mud.
35:43Penance.
35:47I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you, Mrs. Ellis.
35:56Mr. Bickford, I'll do it. I'll do the trial your way.
35:59You can use provocation as defence.
36:01You can go for manslaughter.
36:03If we do this...
36:06you must do everything I ask.
36:09Give evidence in your own defence.
36:11And his name stays out of it.
36:21PHONE RINGS
36:26PHONE RINGS
36:31Knightsbridge, 044.
36:33Jackie, it's Ruth.
36:35Ruth!
36:36I need to know he's being taken care of properly.
36:38Who?
36:40David.
36:42I still believe
36:47We were meant for each other
36:53I still believe
36:58That you're mine and no other
37:03What's your real voice?
37:06What?
37:09Your accent.
37:12I know it's not this fake telephone voice you put on.
37:18Where did you grow up?
37:25We moved around.
37:27Manchester, Basingstoke.
37:30I was born in Rhyl.
37:34I've never met anyone from Rhyl.
37:38Well, we're a very exotic breed.
37:42You're different to the girls I know.
37:46Carol?
37:50That's all over.
37:54It's you I want.
37:58And only you.
38:01It's you I want.
38:05And only you.
38:24He won't give you what you deserve, you know.
38:26He'll never marry you.
38:27For Christ's sake, who has said anything about marriage?
38:29You could have everything you want, everything the children want.
38:31You could be saved for life with me.
38:33Yasmin, how much have you had to drink? Come on.
38:35Who you are, what you do, it doesn't matter to me.
38:41But it does to him.
38:42You don't know that.
38:45I do.
38:48He's engaged.
38:53What is this?
38:54Bugger off home to bed, old chap.
38:55No, you should leave.
38:59You know you're a joke to her.
39:02I flew Lancasters in the war.
39:06I dropped bombs on German children.
39:10And for what?
39:13To defend entitled boys like you who take everything that they want
39:17and they never give a second's thought to the people that they destroy.
39:20Well, sooner or later, Bill will come in.
39:30Is it true?
39:33It isn't real. It's for my mother.
39:36For your mother?
39:38You should have known that's what you were doing here.
39:41Hiding from mummy.
39:42Stop it.
39:44I was right about you.
39:46Playing with your toy cars, playing at being a man.
39:50I'm not a man.
39:52I'm not a man.
39:54I'm not a man.
39:56I'm not a man.
39:57Playing with your toy cars, playing at being a man.
40:00You're not, are you?
40:02Just a frightened little boy.
40:04The Emperor.
40:06It's you that's the joke.
40:24Dear Mrs. Blakely.
40:26No doubt these last few days have been a shock to you.
40:35The two people I blame for your son's death and my own
40:39are his so-called friends.
40:41The Findlators.
40:45You'll not understand this yet,
40:47but perhaps before I hang, you will.
40:50I'm so sorry.
40:56I implore you to forgive David for living with me.
41:00We were very much in love with one another.
41:04Unfortunately, David was not satisfied with one woman in his life.
41:12I shall die loving your son.
41:19And you should feel content that his death has been repaid.
41:25It's all right.
41:28It's all right.
41:30Goodbye.
41:32Ruth Aniston.
41:56It was Desmond Carson who gave you the gun.
42:01I have to tell the police.
42:03No.
42:05I'd be struck off. I could be prosecuted.
42:08I will let you fight my case in court,
42:11but his name stays out of it.
42:13These are my terms.
42:20I'm sorry.
42:22I'm sorry.
42:24I'm sorry.
42:45Ruth Ellis,
42:47you were charged with the murder of David Blakely.
42:50How do you plead?
42:54Not guilty.
43:00They've called Desmond Carson as a witness for the prosecution.
43:04The prosecution?
43:05What do they know about Desmond?
43:06I don't know, but when this goes to trial,
43:09Desmond will be speaking against you.
43:12Everything he's seen you suffer, we can't use it,
43:15but it's not too late to go to the police and tell them about it.
43:18There is nothing to tell.
43:24There's something you need to understand, Ruth.
43:26You represent everything they fear,
43:28and they're going to try to destroy you.
43:31They?
43:32The police, newspapers, even the courts.
43:35An ambitious woman, no respect for class boundaries,
43:38no respect for sexual boundaries.
43:41A mother who has, as they see it, abandoned her children.
43:44You have used everything to try to advance yourself
43:47at the expense of everything they value,
43:49and they won't forgive you for it.
43:51You're going to be on trial for far more than murder,
43:54and we will need to use everything we have.
43:59I won't betray anyone.
44:03Well, then I hope to God we can say the same of him.
44:15It will all come out at the trial.
44:17What you put her through, what you made her suffer,
44:20what you made her suffer...
44:24Hey, why put his family through a pointless trial?
44:28Because I believe she's not guilty of murder.
44:31You've seen the press here.
44:33You know this will be the biggest case of both of our careers.
44:36And I promise you, I will see her hang.
44:40Why has the Crown called Desmond Cussin as a witness?
44:43What's he given them?
44:46See you in court.
44:50See you in court.
45:20Let's go.
45:50© BF-WATCH TV 2021