MovieChat Forums > The Last Hangman (2006) Discussion > Last hangman

Last hangman

posted 17 years ago by Kagsy_99
3 replies | jump to latest

Change the title and the hisory for americans eh?
he was not the last hangman at all, but I guess they needed something dramatic to sell it in america were capital punishment is still going strong

[–] llscheppink 16 years ago

Well, he wasn't the last hangman but he was the last sole chief executioner in the UK. I believe after his resignation, two executioners (Wade and Stewart?) were the new joint 'number one'.

[–] PhantomHelmsman 16 years ago

Close: it was Les Stewart and Harry Allen. Wade resigned (he jumped or was pushed, it's subjective) because of ill-health around the same time that Pierrepoint left, if not slightly before. The 1948 Commission concluded that executions were to be shared, and thus it went to two men rather than one.

[–] Corner_House_guest 16 years ago

Well, yes because the surname Pierrepoint doesnt mean anything to the American audience. If he'd been Albert Smith, rather than an unusual surname, then the UK version would have a different title also.