Product Details

• Actors: Wanda Jean Allen, Jesse Jackson, David Presson
• Directors: Liz Garbus
• Producers: Liz Garbus, Chandra Simon, Julie Gaither, Nancy Abraham, Rory Kennedy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: New Video Group
• DVD Release Date: November 29, 2005
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BB154I
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,020 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #3 in	Movies & TV > Documentary > Series & Studios > Docurama > African American Heritage
  #8 in	Movies & TV > Documentary > Series & Studios > Docurama > Crime & Conspiracy

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In January 2001, we're told, no less than eight executions were scheduled in the state of Oklahoma. By far the most prominent case was that of Wanda Jean Allen, whose story is documented in The Execution of Wanda Jean, an absorbing film directed and produced by Liz Garbus. The fact that the 41-year-old Allen was to become the first black woman executed in the United States in nearly 50 years was the principal source of her notoriety, but not the only one. There was no doubt that she had shot her lover, Gloria Leathers (whom she had met while serving time for a previous killing), in 1988. Yet those who took up Wanda Jean's cause argued that her apparent "neuro-psychological problems"--she was, they said, "borderline retarded"--hadn't been taken into account, or even brought up, during her trial. Over a decade later, a new defense team, led by an indefatigable legal investigator named David Presson, attempted to win clemency, an effort that is the focus of Garbus's film. Obviously, they failed. The Oklahoma Clemency Board immediately rejected her appeal, as did Gov. Frank Keating, despite the efforts of Rev. Jesse Jackson and others, and Allen, who remained preternaturally calm until the end, died on the scheduled date. So much for the facts. What The Execution of Wanda Jean is really about is the debate over capital punishment in general, and it's an argument that raged even within Gloria Leathers' own family (the victim's mother pled for mercy, while her sister argued that Allen should be "chain(ed) to a tree and beat(en) to death," because lethal injection, Oklahoma's preferred method, was too painless). Does a convicted double murderer deserve to die? Is revenge a good enough reason to apply this ultimate punishment? These are questions too profound to be answered in a 90-minute documentary, but at the very least, The Execution of Wanda Jean provides some serious and not easily digestible food for thought. --Sam Graham

Product Description
In 2001 Wanda Jean Allen was given a lethal injection by the state of Oklahoma, making her the first black woman to be executed in America in fifty years. In THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN, award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA; Girlhood) continues her investigations into the American criminal justice system with the compelling story of convicted murderess Wanda Jean Allen. Allen was sentenced to death in 1989 after shooting her lover, Gloria Leathers, whom she met in prison while serving time for another killing. This quietly powerful film chronicles the tragically methodical way the state of Oklahoma proceeds to execute Wanda, a woman with a low IQ bordering on retardation, despite the deperate efforts of her family, legal team, and mental health and anti-capital punishment advocates. As pleas for clemency and legal maneuvers are gradually exhausted, there’s a chilling inevitability to Wanda’s plight, which she bears with a rare strength and introspection. THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN is an intimate account of a uniquely American story. Its power lies in its portrait of simple human dignity in the face of inevitable death. DVD Features: Filmmaker Biography; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Compelling, April 24, 2008

By	Nasty Bob (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

I won't go into the details of this incredibly engrossing documentary but I did want to express my own kudos. This was certainly a film I just could not take my eyes off of, and though the mere thought of developing an affection and sympathy towards a confessed killer may incense some (as it should)there does come a time (If You are truly a Believer in God) when forgiveness must win out. As engaging as it is, this is not the type of film you will pull out regularly to watch again and again. But at the same time You will be glad it is in your collection. For documentary film making this is a true masterpiece. I believe Wanda Jean came to terms with God, and developed immoveable and deep Faith. I also believe that her mental state should have spared her life. But if there is a positive to be found it is that, through the tragic circumstances she found herself in that led to her earthly demise, she may have found eternal life.

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Documentary I've ever seen., December 13, 2005

By	Sandra Wiley "Anti-Capitol Punishment" (Up North) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This documentary is was well put together using all original characters and the original seen during each time frame. It was very sad; yet, educational. It reveals the controversial over lesbian relationships as well as racial capitol punishment. I found this documentary interesting because I am anti-capitol punishment because I believe that rather a person should die or not should be a decision made by God and not by man. Executing someone for murder will not justify judgment if it's an act of will. Besides, executing someone for murder does not bring the victim back and it doesn't always bring closure to the victim family if the executioner is given an easy death by lethal injection when their loved one died a whole lot worst. I believe that dying is too easy anyhow for convicted murderers; therefore, they need to suffer in prison for life for what they did.

Wanda Jean Allen is no different from other murderers in God's eye, but she was diagnosed with having a mental condition, she did apologize and confess to her Lord and the victims family for her negligence and only wanted her sentence commuted to life in prison. If Charles Manson can have his sentence commuted from death to life in prison for all the victims he murdered, why can't Wanda Jean Allen and other African American death row inmates have their life spared?

Lets not forget the victims who also loss their lives as a result of Wanda's negligence, but even the victims family don't believe in an "eye for and eye," and did not support the decision for Wands Jean Allen to be sentence to death, so where was the justice in all of this? If the wages of sin equals death, then death will come to them instead of them going to the death chamber.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Real, October 14, 2008

By	Coffy6 (Trenton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This is a very good case study of one woman's life, crimes, redemption, and execution. Wanda Jean Allen killed 2 women, and I believe the death penalty was justified in her case. Had she received an adequate amount of jail time and rehabilitation for the first murder, the second murder may have been preventable.

Wanda Jean Allen was not only a double murderer, she was a disgrace to the system and prosecutors who gave her a plea bargain in the first case. I believe to an extent that she was executed to appease the public, many of whom had a hard time with the fact that she only served two years for her first murder. The system was just as reposnsible for Gloria's death as Wanda Jean was. But, someone had to pay, and that someone was Wanda Jean.

Her upbringing was poor to say the least. Viewers have no problem believing she had a terribly low IQ. Personally, I feel that from watching this documentary, the whole family had low IQs and mental problems. However, this does not justify murder. I felt no sorrow for her when she was executed. Perhaps that's because this documentary never succeeded in making me totally sympathetic to her plight. I felt more sorrow for her first victim, but not her second. The second victim got involved with her knowing what she had done to be incarcerated. Did Gloria think this violent woman would not kill her some day? I did feel intense sorrow for Gloria's mother. No parent should have to see their child gunned down in cold blood right in front of their very eyes.

So many questions remain: Did she really deserve to die? Was she truly sorry before her death? Had she truly found Christ? Would she have killed again if spared the death penalty and granted parole at 65 years old? We will never know.

But, one thing is for sure...her debt to society is now paid in full.