In November 1978, Dan White (Tim Daly ), a City Supervisor in San Francisco, shot and killed Mayor George Moscone (Stephen Young) and Harvey Milk (Peter Coyote), the first openly gay elected official in the country. White's lawyers presented what came to be known as the "Twinkie Defense," claiming their client had temporarily lost his sanity because of too much junk food. Despite what appeared to be a clear-cut case of first-degree murder, White was convicted only of voluntary manslaughter, and a riot erupted in the city. Released from prison only five years later, White brought closure to the case when he committed suicide.
Brief glimpses of White's past show how all-American he was. White was a policeman before he became a fireman like his father, married the daughter of a fireman, excelled at baseball, and so on. But we are also shown his darker side. His mother and his wife both urge him to seek psychological help for his moodiness, and Daly is not very subtle in showing us White's anger and frustration when struggling to pay his family's bills. This is a man who seems on the edge, and we don't see much of him from his own point of view, but mainly from that of his defense attorneys.
When White is elected to the Board of Supervisors, he seems to befriend Milk, only to feel betrayed when Milk votes for the opposite side of an issue. However, the filmmakers seem to ignore the obvious central conflict: Milk was a gay activist, whereas White was the Irish Catholic who felt San Francisco was going to the dogs. They are different individuals, but White's right-wing convictions are largely absent in the movie. As a result, he comes across as childish and stupid, smiling vacuously whenever someone asks him about anything substantial or political. It's one thing to portray White as a bad politician, but it's another to suggest that he shouldn't have graduated from public school. White ultimately remains a mysterious figure, and the film asks many questions without providing many answers. It keeps the viewer off balance, and gives the film a disturbing fascination.
This made-for-TV movie was filmed in Toronto and San Francisco by Daly/Harris Prods. and Paramount Network Television in association with Showtime. It is loosely based on Emily Mann's play "Execution of Justice", which was taken entirely from transcripts of Dan White's trial, plus the events and news clips that followed. It opened on Broadway on March 13, 1986, and the play has been performed in hundreds of regional theaters. The TV movie is very different, showing instead the lives of Dan White and Harvey Milk leading up to the murders. Sister Boom Boom (Khalil Kain) always fluttering around Milk is an anachronism, because Milk was killed before the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Sister Boom Boom ever appeared in SF. It works as a dramatic device, but it's wrong in a film that is otherwise generally accurate about the facts. Also included is a 20 minute trailer of commentary and news-film footage of this story by the actual political leaders, police, and others whose lives were affected by the tragedy. Daniel Licht composed the music. Michael Butler wrote the teleplay derived from Emily Mann's play, and Leon Ichaso directed.
