This is a story about the real-life story regarding Gertrude Baniszewski. I was never familiar with this until I came across Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door (guess what film is next). SO I read about this horrible incident, and I found that another film had come out called An American Crime, and it stars Ellen Page, Hayley McFarland, Scout Taylor Compton, Bradley Whitford, and Catherine Keener as Gertrude. I don’t know how vile this one is, so I am starting with this. My comments may be slightly different knowing how much of this actually happened. It’s incredibly sad.
1966
We meet Sylvia (Ellen Page) and Jennie Likens (Hayley McFarland) who are sisters. Their parents are traveling carnies, Lester and Betty. It’s April, and we are in a courtroom, and we see some injuries, some stuff written on skin. Lester is on the stand and he talks about the last week in June, he and Betty separated.
July 1965
We see that Jennie has some leg braces. Lester tells Betty that perhaps they wouldn’t fight so much with the kids not around. They are at church and we see Gertrude (or Gert), she has a baby, and she’s feeling better now that she’s on her new meds. 2 girls ask Jennie what’s up with her legs, it’s polio. The 2 girls invite Sylvia and Jenny to their place. Paula is the oldest daughter who works. Gert doesn’t work due to being sick and their daddy doesn’t provide enough support. The 2 girls are Stephanie and Shirley. Paula is gonna take Sylvia to get a soda from her boyfriend. We also briefly meet Johnny outside. Ohhh, Paula’s boyfriend, Bradley, is actually married. What a harlot.
Lester stops by at Gert’s place, looking for his daughters. Gert asks him if he wants to leave the kids with him, and she says $20 a week, and she rubs his leg. Lester says that he will talk it over with his wife, and bam, hand off leg. We learn that Gert has 6 kids, damn. There’s the baby as well as Marie.
The Prosecutor (Bradley Whitford) is asking Lester about leaving his girls with somebody that he just met. I mean, seriously dude.
SO it’s a done deal. Gert really needed the money, so it seemed to make sense. All the girls are pumped and having a pillow fight.
August 1965
At school, Paula is talking to Sylvia, and Ricky Hobbs introduces himself to her. Now, I new I recognized him, but couldn’t figure it out. It’s Evan Peters from American Horror Story and XMen Days Of Future Past. He asks Sylvia if she’s want to go to a football game with him, but she’s not interested. The baby daddy, Andy (James Franco), shows up to the house. He’s going to boot camp I think he said, and he will have a check for her, supposedly. He is awful handsy. He asks if he could borrow some money to see his brother before he leaves. He knows that she is getting money for taking in the 2 kids. He’s like, I ain’t paying for somebody else’s kids, and she’s like, man you ain’t paying for no kids, and SLAP to her face. What did you learn Gert? He does the whole sorry and kiss routine. Gotta love abusive dickheads. Andy bangs Gert, and he asks for the money, and Gert gives in to him. She just can’t say no.
The Prosecutor asks the next door lady about Gert. She says that she thought Gert was a hard-working lady with all of those kids.
Paula comes home late and claims that she picked up an extra shift, but momma knows that she was with Bradley. Oh, she snaps at Gert, and Gert smacks a bitch. Johnny is a cruel boy, leaving the dog’s dish just out of reach. Paula reveals to Sylvia that she is pregnant. What did you learn Paula? Sylvia tells her that she has to tell him, and Paula makes Sylvia promise secrecy on this. We see the bills are piling up and Gert looks at her last bit of cash.
Gert has been drinking. She wants Jennie and Sylvia to go down to the basement. Their dad’s check never came. Sylvia thinks that their daddy just left them there. It’s punishment time. Oh man, it’s with the belt. She got one good on Jennie. Sylvia will take the rest. Oh man, Gert says that she needs that money. I am fairly certain that the girls have no way of acquiring money.
A letter came from Betty and Lester with a check and telling the girls to give them a call. A bunch of the teens hang out at night. Teddy is bored, and he doesn’t give a shit. Paula sees Bradley, and she is gonna chase him. Ricky shows up to talk to Sylvia. Bradley tells her to basically back off, but she keeps coming at him trying to get a hug, so he gets aggressive, pushes her up against the building, and Sylvia stops it by telling him that Paula is pregnant. He doesn’t buy that. He tells them to stay away. Paula tells Sylvia that she is gonna pay for that. Ricky witnesses everything, and Sylvia is kinda rude to Ricky. Paula comes home crying, and Gert is trying to be nice and supportive. She tells Gert that Sylvia is telling terrible lies about her, telling everybody that Paula’s a slut. Gert tells her not to worry..
The prosecutor asks one of the girls if she ever heard Sylvia use any profanity, and she says no. She says that Sylvia went to church and was clean.
After church, on the bus, Gert wants Jennie to sit with her. At home, it is family meeting time. Gert tells Sylvia to apologize to Paula for spreading lies. Sylvia denies it but still apologizes. Gert says that she has a right to get even. Paula says that Gert should punish her, but that’s not good enough and Paula needs to learn to fight her own battles. Gert has Johnny restrain Sylvia, and we get a bitch slap followed by a little wrestling on the ground. That’s what happens when you tell lies in this house. Gert gets paid for doing laundry. Gert is stressed the fudge out.
September 1965
Man, the soundtrack is fantastic, well if you like oldies music, which I love. Sylvia meets Eric in the library. He hopes to see her later in the week. Word is spreading that Paula is pregnant. Ricky visits Gert, and her and him have a cig. She offers him some booze and is flirty. Jenny found the note that Gert through in the trash. Ricky asks Gert about Sylvia. Gert is very handsy with Ricky, and then Paula comes home, she’s not feeling well. Sylvia and Jennie call their mom and says they got punished because the check was late. Lester says that it wasn’t, and the other kids see them on the phone. As soon as the girls walk in, Gert is grilling them about who they were talking to, and Jennie fesses up. Gert asks how they could afford to make a long-distance call, and Jennie says that they returned a bottle for the money. Well, Gert isn’t buying that, she thinks that they were stealing from her. Gert isn’t buying her story, so cigarette burn to the hand. The neighbor lady hears it but ignores it.
The Prosecutor asks Marie about Paula’s hate for Sylvia, and Marie said that Paula gave Sylvia the evil eye. He asks why the looks, and it was because Sylvia thought that she was better than Paula.
A teacher asks Paula why she hasn’t seen her around much. Paula has her right forearm and hand bandaged up from the slap/punch/tussle with Sylvia. The teacher asks what’s up with the arm. She says that she lost her temper and Sylvia needed to be punished. This is like a church picnic. Oh boy, Andy is there. Andy is the dad of just the dad of the baby I speculate. Eric invites Sylvia to eat with some of his friends. Sylvia asks Ricky if he was spreading the rumors about Paula. Andy says that she may as well get the abortion, and Gert says that Sylvia has been a problem. Andy tells Sylvia in a nice way to not come become Gert and her kids. Eric asks Sylvia if she wants to go for a ride, and she wants to ask Gert, and Eric just tells her to come on, so she does. Sylvia gets home, and all the kids look concerned. That means Gert is pissed. Gert accuses her of telling more lies about Paula and flirting with Andy. Gert says that Paula told her about all the boys Sylvia had been with in California, which was a conversation early on, which Sylvia said that she had liked or dated one boy. So this is a lesson for Jennie to not be like her sister. Gert is like the OG of slut-shaming. Gert sits Sylvia down on the couch and reaches for a glass soda bottle.
The Prosecutor asks the youngest girl what happened. Sylvia had to pull up her skirt and then had to put it up her, and Sylvia said that she couldn’t, and Gert insisted that she shove the coke bottle in her vagina. Yikes.
Cory (Jeremy Sumpter from Frailty) and Stephanie come in, asking what the hell is going on, the glass falls and shatters. Gert wants Cory to take Sylvia to the basement. The neighbors decide it’s best to ignore it. Cory and Johnny shove her down the stairs, and Jennie is in tears. Sylvia has been cut on her head from the fall. Jennie comes down to check on Sylvia and says that she’s sorry, but she’s scared. Gert will allow Sylvia to have her Bible. Jennie is ordered to come back upstairs for a family meeting. Gert says that Jennie’s parents are going to be gone til November now. Money is getting tighter, so she wants Paula picking up more shifts, maybe quitting school for a bit. Jennie asks how long until Sylvia is let out of the basement, and Gert says not until she has learned her lesson. Even Paula is looking like she disagrees, but will abide by Momma. If anybody asks about Sylvia, they will be told that she had to go to Juvie. Let the cover-up begin. Sylvia is really hurt. Paula comes down with some food and water and tries comforting her saying that it will only be for a while.
Prosecutor inquires if Shirley ever saw Sylvia talk back when things were being done to her. She would apologize, but she never did anything wrong. This little girl did what she was told. He asks what she saw done to Sylvia.
This is going to get brutal I feel. Johnny has some friends over and brings them down to the basement. Some of the girls are older. Johnny kicks Sylvia awake and then burns her with a cig. He shows the older kids all the marks from burns and bruises, and say that it’s OK per Momma, and tells them to give it a try. SERIOUSLY???? These are mid-teens, and this girl grabs the cig and burns her. They were Ashley and Sally I guess. These kids did this every time they came over. We see Teddy I think, punching her. They were just inviting kids over every day to just torture her, and spray her down and brutalize her. All of these kids are just having a great time abusing her. Paula tries to shelter Jennie from seeing this.
Shirley reveals that Gert was around most of the time when the kids were doing these things. They have her tied up vertically at one point to a post. None of these kids know why they did these things to this poor girl. Once again, SERIOUSLY???? Nobody is being accountable for their actions? I did some shit things as a teen that I am absolutely ashamed of, but I would own up to them at least. Fucking hell.
October 1965
Gert checks the mail, and see the letter from the doctor about the pregnancy test for Paula, and now Gert knows. Ricky stops by looking for cigs. Ricky asks if Gert has heard from Sylvia and that he shouldn’t want anything to do with her. Paula gets home just in time to interrupt the flirtation. Gert tells Paula that they will get through this. Paula says that Sylvia has learned her lesson. Gert says no, and Paula wants nothing to do with it.
Gert goes to the basement, and talks to Sylvia, and says that she isn’t going to hurt her, came down to bathe her it appears. Gert looks like she is struggling. She talks regrettably about how she punishes her kids. She says that Paula is a lot like Gert. Gert says that she’s doing what she can to hold her family together, and there has to be something better. She needs to protect her children. Sure lady. Gert says thank you for understanding. Then the doorbell. It’s the Reverend. Paula came to him to talk. Rev says that he believes Paula is pregnant. Gert blames Sylvia. Apparently, Paula mentioned Sylvia, and Gert says that she has tried everything and that’s why she sent Sylvia to Juvie, so Rev. Says that he will stop by Juvie and speak to her. He expects to see her in his office at the end of the week. Paula comes down and shakes her head in disgust. Paula walks out and Gert follows her outside saying that she’s doing this all for her, and Rev notices this, and Paula bounces and Gert closes the door.
October 23, 1965
Gert has mounted Sylvia and is writing on her, and Ricky comes down and sees this. Uh oh. Gert says that Sylvia has been a handful since coming back. Gert is burning words in Sylvia’s abdomen. She is branding her and asks Ricky to finish the branding. It reads “I’m a prostitute and proud of it” and Ricky finishes her. Wow. Paula waits until night time and tells Sylvia that she has to go. So she helps carry her up the stairs. The baby wakes up and is crying, this wakes up the others, but Gert is passed out on the couch. I think it is Shirley who is now awake and notices Paula’s bed is empty. Shirley wakes up Gert. Gert comes running out and Paula tells Sylvia to just run and Paula wraps Gert. The neighbor lady comes out and asks what is going on. Sylvia can barely walk. There’s Ricky who apologizes. He says that he will help her get out. He gets her in his car. He offers to take her to the police, but she wants to go to her mom’s. The car isn’t starting and there’s Gert just walking like a zombie. He brings her to her mom. She asks Ricky to get back to Jennie to protect her. Sylvia thanks him. She gets out and starts walking to find her mom as the carnie folks are setting up. She finds her dad. She shows her parents the branding. Jennie had lied on the phone.
They go for a ride back to Gert’s. Sylvia is going to come in to handle it. The girls are freaking out, a girl isn’t breathing. Gert is just in a daze saying that she’s faking it. Gert calls her a liar. We see that the girls are trying to help Sylvia and she was having like an out of body experience, seeing herself on the floor unconscious.
October 26, 1965
This is the day that Sylvia isn’t breathing, and Gert tells Steph to stop lying. Ricky is there trying to wake her up. Gert says not to call the police, that she’s not dying. Gert is just in a state of denial. Paula gets Andy. Sylvia is dead. The police show up and Jennie says to get her out of there and she will tell them everything.
The prosecutor asks Jennie is she ever saw Sylvia do anything to Gert, or Paula, or Johnny, and all times, no. The question is why didn’t Jennie tell anybody. Jennie said that she was scared by Gert. He asks if she ever saw Sylvia crack, but she never did. The trial lasted 24 days.
Gert is the last one on the stand. She says that she was very run down emotionally and mentally that summer, and she was self-medicating, and couldn’t afford a doctor. She says the kids were fighting a lot in the 3rd week of September, but she claims that she didn’t see it as fighting. She claims no knowledge of any abuse or markings on Sylvia, and she denies everything. Gert heard all the testimonies, and she says all the kids were lying. She is just denying everything, saying the kids are not telling the truth. She claims that she was in bed so much, so she wasn’t monitoring the kid’s actions.
The jury comes back from deliberation. She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. All the kids got convicted of accessories, Paula named the baby Gertrude, Johnny got it too. He was the youngest inmate. He went on to become a minister. Ricky got charged with manslaughter and died at 21 of lung cancer. Cory also did time and lived a life of crime. Gert served 20 years and was released in 1985. She died 5 years later, but before she died, she took responsibility for everything that happened.
End film
Man, I know it is not in the horror section or labeled as horror, but if that is not horror at it’s purest, I don’t know what is. This all happened. Seriously, take 5 minutes, and read the real info here if you can stomach it. It is absolutely vile.
Yeah, that is fucking awful. This whole story bothers me to no end. What really happened, how somebody could allow that, and then be allowed parole. Whoever voted for parole should have lost their jobs on the spot. I don’t care that she became a model prisoner. She tortured and mutilated a defenseless girl and manipulated other kids to partake in it, and those kids have to live with that the rest of their lives, and yes, the older ones should have known better, everybody should have. I can’t blame the young ones for fearing for their lives. That happens when you grow up in an abusive household, I can vouch for this on my own experiences. Maybe this is why this story hits me so hard is I get why the kids didn’t do anything because you get so mindfucked and intimidated that you don’t do anything about it. The whole thing saddens me.
As for the film itself, I’m not going to rate it, offer any of my typical stuff. I will say that this is an important film for people to see. The portrayal sounds fairly close to the real deal, but the film wasn’t as harsh as the reality was. The performances were all great, especially Gert, Sylvia, and Paula. This is a movie that will linger with you for hours, days, maybe weeks This is more the reality than The Girl Next Door, but the Girl Next Door is more explicit showing an even darker side to it, but it’s more fictional as far as the characters go.
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