Film

When they met in the 1950s, Linda was a pneumatic looker trolling for a husband; Burt was an ambulance-chasing shyster who showed her a good time but neglected to tell her he was married. She stuck around awhile after finding out, but dumped him when the divorce he promised didn’t materialize. In 1959 she found a new fiancé, whereupon Burt hired thugs to throw lye in Linda’s face, which, in addition to blinding and disfiguring her, ended her engagement.

Sentenced to hard time in Attica, Burt continued to obsess about Linda, writing her florid love letters pleading for another chance. When she told him to put some money where his mouth was, he began selling his legal skills to fellow inmates and sending her his earnings. Paroled in 1974, he soon prevailed in his campaign to woo her back, and the couple recently celebrated their 33rd anniversary.

Though undeniably a freak show, Crazy Love plays more like smart social history than fodder for Jerry Springer, offering in its own strange way as much food for thought about the evolving meanings of marriage as last year’s 51 Birch Street.