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- “Woman of the Hour” is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala’s appearance on a game show.
- In the movie, he murders a young stewardess named Charlie in New York City in 1971.
- Her story is similar to that of Cornelia Crilley, a TWA flight attendant who Acala raped and murdered.
“Woman of the Hour” tells the story of real-life serial killer Rodney Alcala’s appearance on “The Dating Game” in 1978, in the middle of a murder spree.
The film stars Anna Kendrick as Sheryl, an aspiring actor who agrees to appear as a bachelorette on the aforementioned ABC reality TV show. Unbeknownst to Sheryl, she ends up winning a date with Rodney (Daniel Zovatto), a murderer who fools everyone with his charming demeanor.
“Woman of the Hour” arrives on Netflix as subscribers are devouring true-crime documentaries and fictional retellings like Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare.”
In its first week of availability, “Woman of the Hour” amassed 9.9 million views and peaked at No. 2 on Netflix’s weekly Top 10 list of the most-watched films.
The movie is primarily set during Rodney’s appearance on “The Dating Game,” but it jumps to other points in time before and after his prime-time debut.
“Woman of the Hour” diverges from the real events at times, but the character of Charlie (Kathryn Gallagher) has a tragic story that’s eerily similar to one of Alcala’s victims.
Stewardess Charlie meets Rodney while moving into her new apartment in 1971
The film spends a few minutes showing Charlie’s ill-fated encounter with Rodney in New York City. While unloading her boxes and furniture, she sees Rodney taking pictures across the street and asks for his assistance.
After helping, Charlie offers him a beer and they chat. During their conversation, Rodney claims to be a recent New York University graduate who’s on his way to New Hampshire to teach kids photography. He uses that as a segway to say that it’s his last day in town and it’s hard to meet people he can connect with. Since he’s getting along with Charlie, he wants to savor the moment.
Charlie seems to pick up on his creepy vibe and casually suggests that he leave so she can continue unpacking her stuff.
Rodney notices her subtle shift and continues talking to her. While Charlie tells Rodney about the perks of being a stewardess, he interrupts to take her photo.
Rodney attacks Charlie, and she tries to escape, but he pins her to the floor and pushes her head against it. Then, he grabs her nylon stockings and wraps them around her neck and eyes. He takes a picture of Charlie, much like the real Alcala did with his victims.
That’s the last time the movie shows Charlie.
At the end of the film, a postscript over a shot of Charlie’s ceiling window reads: “For over a decade Alcala had been reported to law enforcement by survivors and other private citizens without consequence.”
Charlie is most similar to Cornelia Crilley, one of Alcala’s victims in the ’70s
As detailed in an episode of “20/20,” the real Alcala had repeated brushes with law enforcement before and after appearing on “The Dating Game.” While on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, Alcala was a fugitive for three years. During that time, he attended NYU under the alias John Berger.
While in New York City in the 1970s, Alcala met Crilley, who grew up in Queens and wanted to be a Trans World Airlines (TWA) stewardess. After getting the job, Crilley moved into an apartment on the Upper East Side with some of her stewardess friends.
On June 24, 1971, Crilley, 23, was found dead in her apartment. She was raped and strangled to death with nylon stockings. She also had bite marks on her breast.
At the time, Crilley was new to the building and there were no suspects or leads. Alcala went on to be a camp counselor in New Hampshire.
Crilley’s case went unsolved for decades. Then in 2010, cold case detectives linked Alcala to the murders of Crilley and an heiress named Ellen Hover.
In 2013, while on death row in California, Alcala pleaded guilty to the two murders and was sentenced to 25 years to life.
California placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019 and Alcala died of natural causes in July 2021 at age 77. According to the Associated Press, authorities estimated that Alcala might have killed 130 people across the US, but the true number is unknown.
