Fact or fiction? We're diving into the true story behind "Woman of the Hour" and separating reality from Hollywood drama. From Sally Field's appearance on "The Dating Game" to Rodney Alcala's chilling past, we're uncovering what the film got right and where it took creative liberties.
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00:00I saw your bachelors backstage. You got a good batch.
00:02Oh really? What are they like?
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at what's fact and what's fiction in Woman of the
00:10Hour. There will be several spoilers. The whole thing was crazy.
00:15They showed me on stage, the lights went on, and here we go.
00:19Yeah.
00:22Number 10. Sally Field was on the dating game.
00:25Right. Desperate for work, Cheryl Bradshaw, portrayed here by Anna Kendrick, books a gig
00:30on the dating game. Although Bradshaw has reservations, her agent insists it'll be good
00:35exposure, citing Sally Field as a former contestant who went on to bigger things.
00:40She's not totally wrong. But still, it just feels...
00:46Beneath you?
00:47Between starring in the short-lived sitcom Gidget and the more successful The Flying
00:51Nun, Field did appear on the dating game in 1966. Although she initially didn't realize it,
00:57one of the bachelors was a surf instructor on Gidget and another dated Field in high school.
01:02Two gentlemen out of your past.
01:04Who can you have? There's no one else left.
01:07Oh yes, there's number three back there with his cream of wheat.
01:10Ironically, Field wound up selecting the bachelor she hadn't met before.
01:13Field is far from the only person who found fame after the dating game,
01:17which featured the likes of Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
01:22Well, let's see if you understand this. Playing around.
01:25Playing around with what?
01:27My goodness. We might have to take a little time with you.
01:32Number nine. Host Ed Burke. Wrong.
01:35You're an intelligent girl. Anyone can see that. When you get on that stage, though,
01:38I don't want you to play so smart. All right? The guys are getting intimidated. You know,
01:43boys, they're babies.
01:44Right.
01:45That's right. I just need you to laugh and smile just over and over.
01:48Arriving on set, Bradshaw immediately finds herself at odds with the host of the dating
01:53game, Ed Burke. More concerned with what she's wearing rather than what's on her mind,
01:57Burke instructs Bradshaw to smile and ask simple questions. When she goes rogue,
02:02Burke has some vulgar words for her.
02:04You think I went too far?
02:07I think he thinks you went too far.
02:08Burke is a fictional character, standing in for Jim Lang,
02:11who hosted the show throughout its original run.
02:14While they may have glasses and hairdos in common,
02:16Lang wasn't mean-spirited or condescending toward female guests like Burke. When Lang
02:21started his career in local radio, he recalled the higher-ups wanting a man to cover sports
02:26and a woman to cover dance. Lang described this as, quote,
02:29very sexist, sounding like the opposite of Ed Burke.
02:33Well, Gloria Steinem would be proud.
02:34You're being a little hard on the boys, aren't you, Cheryl?
02:36Oh, I think we're all having fun.
02:37Of course we are.
02:38Number eight. Another bachelor was suspicious of Alcala. Right.
02:43Careful with that.
02:44All right, thank you, gentlemen. We have some very fine parting gifts for you right out this way.
02:48The film depicts Rodney Alcala clashing behind the scenes with fellow contestant Arnie Aslan.
02:53Bachelor number two was actually named Jed Mills,
02:56an actor who went on to appear in movies like Casino and shows like Twin Peaks.
03:00Meanwhile, the crude Arnie is said to be a furniture designer.
03:04While Arnie Aslan isn't meant to resemble Jed Mills,
03:07neither would want to be left alone with Alcala.
03:09Mills found Alcala to be, quote, creepy,
03:12especially when they were in the green room and he said, quote, I always get my girl.
03:17He might not have warned Bradshaw, as Arnie does in the film,
03:20but Mills was right to be skeptical of Alcala.
03:23Of course, Mills couldn't have realized that he was sitting next to a serial killer.
03:27When I think about what he said, I always get my girl. He kills him.
03:32That's what he's talking about.
03:33Number seven. Bradshaw wrote challenging questions.
03:37At first, Bradshaw complies with Burke's request to play nice and stick to the script.
03:41Receiving encouragement from her makeup artist,
03:44Bradshaw comes up with wittier questions that'll put the three bachelors to the test.
03:48Sorry, I'm on a diet. Bachelor number one,
03:50how's that theory of special relativity coming along?
03:53Groovy. Keep at it. Bachelor number three,
03:55what's the difference between a boy and a man?
03:57Alcala is the only one who isn't caught off guard,
04:00knowing what Bradshaw and the audience want to hear.
04:03The real Cheryl Bradshaw didn't conceive her own questions on the spot. Rather,
04:07she asked more traditional dating game questions,
04:10keeping things upbeat and lighthearted, at least on the surface.
04:13Bachelor number one, I am serving you for dinner.
04:20What are you called and what do you look like?
04:26For the film, Anna Kendrick suggested that Bradshaw take control of her surroundings
04:30and have some fun. While Bradshaw rebels against the sexism on set,
04:34her actions ironically bring her closer to a date with Alcala.
04:37What are girls for?
04:39Yeah, that's right.
04:42I guess I'd have to say that that's up to the girl.
04:47That's a very good answer. Oh yeah, we love that.
04:50Number six, Bradshaw had acting experience. Right.
04:54Woman of the Hour establishes Bradshaw as a young actress struggling to make it in Hollywood.
04:58Following her dating game guest spot, she leaves LA in the rearview mirror.
05:02Right now, MGM is looking for an unknown brunette for this big thriller they've got,
05:07and they do want to see a swimsuit photo before you can audition.
05:09Yeah, I'm not gonna do that.
05:11Well, so you think you make an exception?
05:12No, not just this audition, just all of it.
05:15Although based on a real person, Kendrick has acknowledged that Bradshaw is, quote,
05:19the most fictionalized piece of the movie, as there isn't much public information about her.
05:24To reflect this, the film changes the spelling of her first name from Cheryl with a C to Cheryl
05:29with an S.
05:29I always knew that I wasn't really interested in, like, hyper-detailed accuracy. You know,
05:36the dress I'm wearing is nothing like the dress that Cheryl was wearing,
05:40and those things really didn't matter to me.
05:42For all the liberties taken, Bradshaw did come from an acting background.
05:46During her dating game appearance, Bradshaw was set to be a drama teacher originally from
05:50Phoenix, Arizona. Bradshaw eventually moved on from California,
05:54the dating game being her most notable screen credit.
05:56Right now.
05:58Right now, anytime. Right here in front of everybody, huh?
06:01Now's the best time.
06:03Anytime, huh?
06:04Number 5. Alcala was Bachelor Number 3.
06:08Wrong. While Alcala did indeed appear on The Dating Game,
06:11Woman of the Hour restructures several elements regarding his episode.
06:15Namely, the film implies that Alcala was Bachelor Number 3,
06:18when in reality, he was Bachelor Number 1.
06:21Number 1, would you say hello to Cheryl, please?
06:24We're gonna have a great time together, Cheryl.
06:26From a dramatic standpoint, it makes sense for the film to introduce
06:29the other two bachelors before revealing Number 3,
06:32who we already know is a cold-blooded killer.
06:34The film also leaves out some of Alcala's more unsettling moments from the actual episode.
06:39Come on, over here.
06:41Answering Bradshaw's questions, Alcala said that his favorite time was night,
06:45since that's when, quote,
06:46"...it really gets good."
06:48He also compared himself to a banana, asking Bradshaw to peel him.
06:54Later, Bachelor 1, later.
06:56It sounded playful at the time,
06:58but Alcala's answers carry a more sinister sentiment now.
07:01Number 4. Alcala took photos of victims.
07:05Right. Woman of the Hour doesn't cover everything,
07:08but its depiction of Rodney Alcala is mostly accurate.
07:11Alcala attended New York University, taking Roman Polanski's class.
07:15He's the short guy who directed Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby.
07:20Are those movies, or?
07:21What do you mean? You're killing me. I'm trying to name drop here.
07:23Drop away, man!
07:24No, because you don't know who I'm talking about, so it's not as impressive.
07:28Moving to the West Coast, Alcala had a short stint at the Los Angeles Times,
07:33although he worked as a typesetter and not a photographer.
07:36However, Alcala did convince many people that he took photos professionally.
07:40He even showed his co-workers photos of young girls,
07:42claiming their moms asked him to take them.
07:45Now look right into the lens, right here, and give me that look you just gave me.
07:50Come on. There she is.
07:54Look at you. One more.
07:55You know, Farrah Fawcett, she's got nothing on you.
07:57While some found this odd, the pictures told a deadlier story than anticipated.
08:02After the authorities caught up to Alcala,
08:04they released 120 of his photos, hoping to identify victims.
08:08As the film portrays, Alcala would often strangle and revive victims before killing them.
08:13Whether it's for a minute or for an hour,
08:17I'd like to sit relatively close to a special girl whenever I get the chance.
08:23Number three. A victim's friend was in the audience.
08:26Wrong. Nicolette Robinson plays Laura, a dating game audience member
08:30who recognizes Alcala as the man who sexually assaulted and murdered her friend.
08:36Laura attempts to tell a security guard and the police, but nobody takes her seriously.
08:41George Elliott. He's an executive producer on the dating game.
08:45Do you know where I could find him? It's very important that I speak with him.
08:50I doubt that very much.
08:52Why?
08:56Because I'm George Elliott.
08:57Although many can relate to Laura's frustrating experience,
09:00the character is fictional. It's also worth noting that before moving to California,
09:04Alcala had already been arrested multiple times,
09:07made the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, and was incarcerated for over a year.
09:13He was hired by the Los Angeles Times to work as a typesetter. He took photos at weddings,
09:17and he was a registered sex offender during all of that, and nobody ever checked.
09:22This made it all the more shocking that Alcala not only landed a spot on the dating game,
09:27but his appearance did little to raise his criminal profile.
09:30Even if somebody had recognized Alcala from his episode,
09:33they might have hit the same roadblocks as Laura.
09:35I did. I did file a report in December of last year.
09:40And I don't know what else to tell you. This man, he was on national television.
09:44Look, I don't know who you spoke with.
09:47I don't know who I spoke with either. How many times...
09:52Number 2. The Teenage Hitchhiker.
09:54Right. It's been theorized that Alcala claimed as many as 130 lives.
09:59The film highlights several victims, including a teenage runaway modeled after Monique Hoyt.
10:04Named Amy here, the character is seduced by Alcala, who proceeds to sexually assault her.
10:09Woman of the Hour switches around some of the locations and doesn't depict all of the
10:13atrocities that Alcala put Hoyt through. That said, Hoyt did suffer at Alcala's hands.
10:19I'm gonna take a leak. You want something?
10:22I'm okay.
10:22As shown in the film, Hoyt gave Alcala the slip at a gas station and alerted the authorities.
10:28Alcala would be arrested, although his mother bailed him out.
10:31This allowed Alcala to kill at least two more individuals before being apprehended again.
10:35This time, Alcala would be put away for good, dying behind bars in 2021.
10:40Alcala was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders in California between 1977 and 1979.
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11:05Number 1. Bradshaw went on a date with Alcala.
11:08Wrong. Although Bradshaw ultimately chose Alcala, Woman of the Hour adds another chapter.
11:14I guess I'll see you in Carmel.
11:16I mean, do you want to go somewhere now?
11:20After the show's taping, Alcala asks Bradshaw out for drinks. Bradshaw is initially charmed
11:25by the Bachelor, but it doesn't take long for her to realize something is off.
11:29So I guess this means we're not really meeting up in Carmel anymore?
11:36Yeah, I'm not going anywhere with you.
11:38Alcala attempts to corner her in the parking lot. Once several witnesses arrive on the scene,
11:42Bradshaw manages to get away unharmed. While it makes for a more intense final act,
11:47the real Bradshaw immediately got, quote,
11:50weird vibes from Alcala after meeting him face-to-face.
11:53Despite winning tennis lessons, Bradshaw called contestant coordinator Ellen Metzger,
11:58saying she wasn't comfortable going on a date with this, quote,
12:01very strange man. Metzger sympathized with Bradshaw, whose instincts about Alcala
12:06likely saved her life.
12:07The question beneath the question remains the same.
12:13All right, what's the question?
12:16Which one of you will hurt me?
12:17Which true crime stories do you think would make interesting movies? Let us know in the comments.
12:22I felt looked at.
12:26How do you feel right now?
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