vip in the city

Lonely Hearts

After a screening of Lonely Hearts, the little seen film based on the real-life notorious duo of Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, 1940s serial killers who came to be known in the press as “The Lonely Hearts Killers.”

Director-screenwriter Todd Robinson, who was interviewed by Scott Siegel after our screening, is the grandson of Long Island detective Elmer C. Robinson, credited with apprehending Beck and Fernandez — both of whom were eventually executed for their crimes. Elmer is portrayed in the film by John Travolta. In another bit of Hollywood glamorizing, Beck – whose weight the press estimated to be anywhere from 200 to over 300 pounds – was played by Salma Hayek.