Mrs. Soffel

Based on a true story, Mrs. Soffel is set in Pittsburgh near the dawn of the 20th century. Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann) is the warden of a top security prison, and his wife Kate (Diane Keaton) often comes by to read the Bible aloud to the inmates, despite her fragile health. While making her rounds, she makes the acquaintance of the Biddle Brothers, Ed (Mel Gibson) and Jack (Matthew Modine), who are sentenced to death for murder and robbery. Ed has become something of a celebrity thanks to his letter-writing campaign, in which he appeals in the letter-to-the-editor columns of the popular press to stay the execution of his brother and himself. His good looks, intelligence, and charm make a strong impression on Kate, whose marriage offers her little excitement. In time, Kate finds herself falling in love with Ed, and she discovers that she’s unexpectedly receptive to his suggestion that she help him escape. Mrs. Soffel was the first American film from noted Australian filmmaker Gillian Armstrong., Diane Keaton is the prison warder’s wife who falls for the lethal charms of handsome, high-profile murderer Mel Gibson. Can she rescue him from the noose?, Diane Keaton is the prison warder’s wife who falls for the lethal charms of handsome murderer Mel Gibson. Based on a true story., Fact-based account of a warden’s wife who abets the escape of two brothers on death row, stunning 1901 Pittsburgh., Wife and mother Kate Soffel (Keaton) chafes within the confines of her repressive life and yearns for something more than her proper, boring husband can offer. She devotes her free time to reading to the inmates of the county prison–where she meets and falls in love with handsome, charming, murderer Ed Biddle (Gibson). Now, her passion leads Kate to abandon her husband, her children and her place in society to help Ed escape from prison and join him in a desperate, doomed, romantic dash for freedom across the border in Canada.