A Cry in the Dark Page #8

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain. During a camping trip to Ayers Rock in outback Australia, she claimed that she witnessed a dingo stealing her baby daughter, Azaria, from the family tent. Azaria's body was never found. Police noted some apparent inconsistencies in her story, and she was charged with murder. The case attracted a lot of attention, turning an investigation into a media circus, with the public divided in their opinions.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Fred Schepisi
Production: Warner Home Video
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
PG-13
Year:
1988
120 min
567 Views


- If that's a hand, I'm a virgin.

Would you align your finger along the

mark that impressed Professor Cameron?

I object to that. The hand is flat.

Noted.

How many smudges do you see?

One, two, three, four.

Would you hold your finger up, please?

One, two, three.

We're gonna take some of the wind out

of Professor Cameron's sails tomorrow.

- We're gonna bring up the Confait case.

- What's that?

This bloke Confait

was murdered in England.

Three boys were sent to prison for life,

based on Professor Cameron's evidence.

Three years later, the evidence was totally

discredited and the boys were freed.

Turns out they'd been nowhere

near the place at the time of death.

The media are gonna be pleased.

I gotta go to the loo again.

Decoy time.

- Here she comes!

- It's not her.

Professor Cameron, when you gave

evidence in the Confait case,

you weren't armed with the correct

knowledge of the circumstances.

I agree entirely.

I want to suggest you have done

the same thing in this case.

I should like to show

the professor photograph 10B.

Would you call that a neat bundle?

No.

Did you swear

''I rely entirely on Dr Scott's evidence

that there was no saliva present

on the jump suit?''

Correct.

Yet Dr Scott states ''There is no

guarantee there is no saliva elsewhere.''

There was no saliva

present on the samples.

He said ''There is no guarantee

there is no saliva elsewhere.''

I would accept that.

ln court, John Phillips QC

told how evidence

presented by Professor Cameron

in a London murder trial was discredited.

That's silly, sweetheart. Gran loves you.

- She won't let me play outside.

- She's just doing what Mummy told her.

It's too dangerous

for you to play outside now.

Because we're in the papers

so much and on the telly.

Silly people get silly ideas in their head.

We wouldn't want one of them

to come and get you, would we?

Yeah, won't be much longer now,

sweetheart.

I've been looking at reactions

given by the different antisera

against the blood samples

taken from the car.

I think the court is familiar from the past

that the antiserum

known as antihaemoglobin

has in it antibodies that react with

both the alpha and beta molecular chains

which are found in haemoglobins.

For example, a sample could have been

obtained from the baby's clothing.

Such a model would have made a perfect

control to see if your serum was working.

Jesus, how many more days of this?

The trial faces five days of forensic

evidence that even experts can't agree on.

How is a jury supposed to make

conclusions from this evidence?

We could dispense with the jury.

Orthotoluidine tests,

Ouchterlony plates and electrophoresis?

Give you ten bucks if you can get

haptoglobin into a headline.

We should be asking

why none of the Aboriginal trackers

used in the search for baby Azaria

have been called

to give evidence at this trial.

You can't believe those bludgers.

They're always drunk.

Michael.

Michael. You must get up.

I don't know what I'm going to say.

Just tell them the truth, sweetheart.

Keep calm. Don't let them rattle you.

And listen carefully.

Is that the truth? That your wife told you

she saw a dingo coming out of the tent,

she thought it had Azeria... sorry, Azaria.

And you didn't ever ask her

why she thought it had Azaria?

The tent was empty.

I'm sorry. Could you speak up?

The tent was empty, Mr Barker.

She'd seen the dingo

and the baby was gone.

Did you not ask her did she see

the baby being carried by the dingo?

I don't recall asking her that.

I could have asked her.

You tell us you don't remember?

I don't remember asking that question.

Do you remember if she told you

if she saw the dingo carrying the baby?

She never told me she saw the dingo

carrying the baby in its mouth.

Pardon?

She never told me she saw the dingo

carrying the baby in its mouth.

In her mouth.

In its mouth.

Did she ever tell you she didn't see

the baby in the dingo's mouth?

- You'll have to repeat that question.

- Did she ever tell you

she didn't see the baby

in the dingo's mouth?

Perhaps Mr Barker means

not what you've heard her say...

She did... She did... She did...

- I'm sorry.

- That's all right if you don't understand.

I'm not...

I'm aware of...

I think what you're trying to ask me...

I'll ask Mr Barker

to put the question again?

Yes, please.

Would you put it again, please, Mr Barker?

Did she ever tell you she did not see

the baby in the dingo's mouth?

I can't answer that question specifically.

Did she ever tell you she saw nothing

in the dingo's mouth?

She told me the baby...

She told me the dingo

appeared to have nothing in its mouth.

I think.

When did she tell you that?

I can't say.

I don't know.

Get your face straight

before Michael comes in.

He needs all the help he can get.

Well?

- How did I go? I want the truth.

- You're doing fine.

You had Barker working hard, sweetheart.

Jesus, mate, you're a bloody bad witness.

If you'd been under the hammer for hours

and hours, you wouldn't be in a fit state.

He couldn't answer the question

because he was a mess.

If he makes Chamberlain

look so emotionally incompetent,

there's no way anyone will believe

he could keep up such a fantastic story.

The clothing your child Azaria

was wearing,

could we have the exhibits, please?

The jump suit?

- How are you feeling? All right?

- Yes, thank you, Your Honour.

Let me know if you're not.

Perhaps I can approach this

in a different way, Your Honour?

Without opening any of those articles,

can you confirm they were

the clothing your child was wearing?

Yes.

Right, put the clothing back.

Please state what other article

Azaria was wearing.

She had a white knitted

marquee matinee jacket

with a pale lemon edging.

What approximate age was this

matinee jacket Azaria was wearing?

It had been given to me by a friend

who'd used it on two children before me.

Some of the jury are upset now.

We'll take a short break.

The court will rise for ten minutes.

- The jury were upset. That's good.

- If it was for Lindy.

If it was for the baby, it's not so good.

Could be bad.

I can't let that out any more.

Blowed if I know

what I can wear tomorrow.

I've never seen you quite so large. Maybe

if you cut down on the eating just a little...

You mean ''quite so fat'',

don't you, Michael?

You hate fat, right?

I've never been quite this fat, have I?

I'm twice my normal pregnancy weight.

I wonder why.

You can't stand to look at me.

You're so afraid I'll never get

thin again, the way you like it.

You threatened once

to leave me if I got fat.

Well, darling, if Mr Barker has his way,

the decision may be

right out of your hands.

How are you bearing up, Lindy?

How are you bearing up, Michael?

Did you tell Constable Morris

about the matinee jacket?

I did mention it.

He was on the move.

You heard him say that you said nothing

about a matinee jacket.

It's quite possible he was...

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Robert Caswell

Robert Caswell (13 July 1946 – 29 October 2006) was an Australian screenwriter of films and television. In the 1970s and early 1980s he was one of the leading writers in Australian television. After the success of Evil Angels, for which he received an Oscar nomination, he moved to Hollywood and became a leading "script doctor". more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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