Thursday, August 22, 2013

Case Study No. 0938: Julia London, Angela Drown, and Mrs. Crutch

Grave Misconduct Trailer
1:34
(c)RHI Entertainment

A fledgling mystery writer sees an opportunity to advance her career after the death of a novelist/friend but faces dire consequences when a series of vicious murders occur, implicating her. (Imdb)

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Una fracasada novelista de misterio ve la oportunidad de avanzar en su carrera cuando una novelista/amiga muere en circunstancias misteriosas dejandole a ella el manuscrito, pero luego debera a enfrentar las consecuencias: una serie de asesinatos ocurren, implicandola
Tags: RHI Entertainment thriller murder mistery novel Grave misconduct trailer
Added: 4 years ago
From: thrillerlife
Views: 5,270

[scene opens with two female librarians sitting on the couch]
ANGELA: I have something I wanna show you.
[one hands the other a thick manuscript]
JULIA: I thought I was the first one to read your stuff.
ANGELA: Oh, you are. Nobody else has seen it.
[cut to another shot of the two on the couch]
ANGELA: Any advice you could give would be great.
JULIA: Okay.
[cut to Julia alone in her home during a thunderstorm, reading the manuscript by candlelight]
JULIA: "It's ugly, it's brutal, it's exciting. A manhunt, with blood at the end."
[she stops]
JULIA: [whispers] It's a bestseller.
[cut back to Angela's home, as an unseen person tapes the doors and windows shut and turns on the gas stove, asphyxiating her]
NARRATOR: Someone is playing a deadly game.
[cut to Julia speaking with an older female librarian]
JULIA: Would you just tell me what's going on here?
MRS. CRUTCH: Angela Drown is dead.
NARRATOR: Someone who's read too many mystery novels. Now, in desperate times ...
[cut to Julia listening to a message on her answering machine]
MARGO: [over the phone] If we don't get your book by the end of the month, we'll expect repayment of your advance at once.
[Julia looks down at the manuscript on her table]
NARRATOR: She'll do the unthinkable.
[cut to Julia handing the manuscript to her publicist]
JULIA: Take it.
MARGO: You wrote something?
[cut to a dinner party being thrown in Julia's honor for the release of "her" bestselling mystery novel, "Grave Misconduct"]
MARGO: Julia London, our star author!
[cut to a woman being murdered in a hotel room, as Julia and some other party goers discover the body, then cut to a television broadcasting news of the crime]
NEWS REPORTER: Witnesses describe the eerie scene as something right out of the popular novel "Grave Misconduct."
[cut to Julia speaking with another member of her mystery writers' group]
JULIA: Wadda you want?
BILLY: I know you didn't write it.
JULIA: Get out, Billy!
[cut to Julia speaking with an older woman]
CATHERINE: I know something about secrets, Julia ...
[cut to Julia being interrogated by a detective]
BAXTER: Why is everyone with a connection to your book dying?
[cut to another person being murdered, then back to the interrogation]
BAXTER: I know you're hiding something.
NARRATOR: She didn't write the rules ...
[cut to more scenes from the film]
CATHERINE: Something is wrong, something frightening.
NARRATOR: But will she die by them?
[cut to more scenes from the film, as "Don't turn the page, don't look up, and never trust anyone" appears on screen]
JULIA: Somebody help me!
NARRATOR: Grave Misconduct ...

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From mylifetime.com:

Starring: Crystal Bernard
Genre: Suspense
A writer, struggling with crippling writers block, takes an unpublished manuscript from her recently deceased mentor and former professor and passes it off as her own. To her surprise, the crime novel is published and becomes a huge success, but her deed comes back to haunt her when an intrepid police detective begins to see a link between a series of unsolved crimes in the area and those depicted in the book.

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From rottentomatoes.com:


Following the mysterious death of a fellow member of a local Mystery Writers' Workshop, a librarian and struggling mystery novelist named Julia London (Crystal Bernard) steals the deceased author's unpublished manuscript and purports it to be her own. Once the novel, entitled "Grave Misconduct", becomes a publishing phenomenon, a series of grisly murders occur that mirror events in the book and eventually implicate Julia herself. Now she must work to discover the identity of the killer while simultaneously protecting herself from being publicly exposed.

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From earthlink.net:

GRAVE MISCONDUCT

Mastroianni, Armand (Director). Grave Misconduct. United States: Alpine Medien Production, 2008.

Starring: Crystal Bernard (Julia London, Public Librarian); Fran Bennett (Mrs. Crutch, Library Manager); Dorian Harewood (Police Detective)

Crystal Bernard plays the character of librarian Julia London in this rather shallow made-for-TV thriller about a woman who passes off a best-selling novel as her own work. You might be old enough to remember Bernard as an iconic TV beauty from the 1980-1990s when it was fashionable to have long hair wave around your head like Medusa's snakes. The film opens during the lunchtime meeting of the Mystery Writers Workshop outside a large, modern library. Discouraged by criticism, Julia berates herself for her lack of talent, moaning her excuse that "I'm a librarian." She heads inside where the boss meets her with a sour face. Julia is firmly (albeit quietly) upbraided for her tardiness. Mrs. Crutch (Fran Bennett) looks to be in her mid-fifties, African-American, with short white hair and reading glasses hooked in the V of her blouse. She hisses at Julia, "Librarians read. We do not write, for writing is a fool's folly. We read, we catalog, we shelve." (And we wonder why the general public has a low opinion of our skills?) Later, when a police detective interviews Mrs. Crutch about Julia, he is told, "She was an employee, and not a model one," and calls the writers in the club "dreamers." When he interviews Julia, he tries to calm her. "Look, I'm not the library police. I do homicide, not plagiarism, I couldn't care less about fiction right now." Bernard's costumes for this film are designed to set off the actress, not her character's occupation – classic skirts and blouses, tight and flattering, with high heels. We never see her on-the-job, and the association between her profession and the story is rather thin. She lacks self confidence and seems easily swayed by others' opinions, but that's more in line with the film genre than her employment. As an aside, Julia is such an inept writer that she can't even properly compose her own suicide note, the most interesting scene in the film.

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From imdb.com:

Billy Speck: Face it, your heart's not in the genre, you're too soft. How you scored a fat book deal with Gordon McGuire Publishing is the only mystery I see.
Angela Drown: Julia won the Doyle Award for her first short story, Billy.
Billy Speck: Tell us, Julia. How is that great American mystery novel coming along? It's been over a year since you've shared anything new about it with the group. Please, do tell.
Julia London: It's coming along fine. I turn in the first draft this week.
Billy Speck: I can't wait to read it.
[he leaves]
Angela Drown: Don't let that creep get to you. The best thing he's ever written is a ransom note.
Julia London: He's right. I am in over my head. Look at me, I'm a librarian. I mean, I'm no Agatha Christie. What do I know about murder?
Angela Drown: Well, what did Agatha Christie know about murder? She was an old British chick.
Julia London: The truth is... I've been having a little trouble lately. Call it writer's block or whatever you want.
Angela Drown: Relax, Jules. You're a great writer, a great mentor. Why else would I beg you to edit my work all the time? Come on, let's go for a drink later.
Julia London: I can't, I... I'm broke.
Angela Drown: Well then come to my house. I owe you for all the encouragement you've given me. You've really helped me grow as a writer. It's the least I can do. Oh besides, I have something I wanna show you.
Julia London: You're on.
Angela Drown: Would you do me a favor? Will you cover for me for a few minutes? I have a really important phone call I need to make.
Julia London: Sure.
Angela Drown: Thanks.
[Julia walks into the library and talks to the African American librarian at the desk]
Mrs. Crutch: You're ten minutes late, Miss London.
Julia London: Only ten? Yeah, the mystery writers' workshop lasted a little long.
Mrs. Crutch: This is the second time this month it's run a little long. When you asked me if you could waste your lunch hour moderating a writers' group, you assured me it would not interfere with your work duties.
Julia London: Sorry Miss Crutch.
Mrs. Crutch: It's interfering with your work duties. And where is your partner in literary crime, Miss Drown?
Julia London: She stopped to help a group of students fill their reading lists.
Mrs. Crutch: This is your final warning, Miss London. Do not be late again. Librarians read, we do not write. For writing is a fool's folly. We read, we catalog, we shelve.
Julia London: Yes ma'am.

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