JoeMastro Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Can anyone tell me if they know what happened to Tomek Zaleska, Frank Wiecek's alleged partner in the murder of a Chicago policeman? The story shows how a newspaper man gets an innocent Frank Wiecek released after 11 years in prison. I've seen this movie half a dozen times, but I don't remember it being shown if Tomek Zaleska, who also had to be innocent, ever got released. Anyone know anything on this topic? Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 they didn't show it in the movie, wanda skutnick was so ugly she could scare criminals straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 The character of Tomek Zaleska was based upon Theodore Marcinkiewicz. Marcinkiewicz was released in 1950, on grounds he did not receive a fair trial. In 1965, he was awarded $35,000 from the state of Illinois for wrongful imprisonment. He changed his name to Teddy Marcin and worked as a truck driver in Los Angeles. Incidentally, the original script for the film contained a final scene which was cut. After the shot of Jimmy Stewart and the closing narration, the camera was to move up the penitentiary wall until we see Tomek Zaleska peering downward. The narration then continues “But Tomek Zaleska is still in prison. As recently as March 15, 1947, application for parole was denied. Yet, he was convicted in the same trial, and on the same testimony which sent Frank Wiecek to prison. Is he guilty? Or should he, like Frank Wiecek, be adjudged innocent? Only he knows – he and perhaps Wanda Skutnik!” 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingFan Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Thanks for the additional information about this movie and its background. Call Northside 777 is a favorite in our house, a film that we watch every year or two (along with a few other semi-semi-documentary-style crime dramas like The Naked City). I've often wondered what happened to Frank's co-defendant, and I'm glad to hear that justice was eventually done for the real person. I wonder, though, why the movie omitted that final scene, which might have helped produce a faster resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 15 hours ago, NipkowDisc said: they didn't show it in the movie, wanda skutnick was so ugly she could scare criminals straight. Don't you think she was lovely on the The Honeymooners? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Some additional info: Joseph Majczek (the Frank Wiecek character) eventually remarried the wife he had divorced while in prison. He later worked as an insurance broker. In 1979, he suffered severe head injuries in a car accident and was confined to a sanitarium, where he died in 1983. Here is Majczek embracing his mother: Theodore Marcinkiewicz's eyesight failed later in life, and fearing he would be placed in a convalescent home, he committed suicide in 1982, Here is Marcinkiewicz embracing his mother: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 31 minutes ago, BingFan said: Thanks for the additional information about this movie and its background. Call Northside 777 is a favorite in our house, a film that we watch every year or two (along with a few other semi-semi-documentary-style crime dramas like The Naked City). I've often wondered what happened to Frank's co-defendant, and I'm glad to hear that justice was eventually done for the real person. I wonder, though, why the movie omitted that final scene, which might have helped produce a faster resolution. No idea why that scene was never filmed. I got that information from a contemporaneous newspaper account, which did not speculate on why the scene was dropped. That same article also contained an interview with the real-life reporter whom Stewart portrayed. The film has also been one of my favorites; I first saw it on television with my Dad, probably in the early 1960s, and was hooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 36 minutes ago, Swithin said: Don't you think she was lovely on the The Honeymooners? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 53 minutes ago, scsu1975 said: I guess that's my favorite episode of the series, and she has the best lines! Ralph is lucky that she didn't stab him with a fork. Btw, Ms. Garde also created the role of Aunt Eller in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma! Betty Garde stabbing Hope Emerson with a fork in Caged (1950) Betty Garden (center) in Oklahoma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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