Actor says timing of documentary on former president's assassination attempt 'might seem interesting'
Sara Jane Moore, would-be assassin of President Gerald Ford, tells a version of the story in "Suburban Fury," a documentary with executive producer Patrick Warburton.
American actor and film producer Patrick Warburton is leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions about the sanity of Sara Jane Moore, would-be assassin of former President Gerald Ford, while observing the recently released documentary "Suburban Fury."
The documentary, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, follows a lone and formerly incarcerated Moore and details the circumstances leading up to her failed attempt to assassinate Ford in 1975.
"Her agreement with Rob was that she would be the only person that would be interviewed," Warburton, executive producer and investor of "Suburban Fury," told Fox News Digital during a video interview.
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Two shots rang out on Sept. 22, 1975, when Moore fired at Ford in an attempt to end his life outside the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore was responsible for the second attempt on the Republican’s life in a month.
On Sept. 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, tried to kill Ford with a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol. Fromme received life in prison but was released on parole in August 2009.
Robinson Devor, film director of "Zoo," "Pow Wow" and "The Woman Chaser," which Warburton also produced, adapted Moore’s story inside 15 years, according to the "The Emperor's New Groove" voice actor.
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"The timing of it might seem interesting," Warburton said of the documentary’s release less than one month after the second attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life.
"The story is significant wherever it falls into the timeline of whatever is going on politically or in this country," Warburton said. "It's still every bit as fascinating or pertinent whether we have assassination attempts going on or not. We've had them since the beginning of our independence."
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was the first to be assassinated.
The "Rules of Engagement" actor said it’s up to "Suburban Fury" audiences to perceive Moore’s degree of rationale, narcissism or psychotic tendencies.
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"I think people who are truly crazy, half the time, you just don't know," Warburton said. "They're really good. They’re smart. They can present themselves as being quite normal."
After scaling a 12-foot prison fence in 1979, three years after her incarceration began, Moore and another inmate escaped before being captured by police shortly thereafter. She was jailed again in 2019 for violating the terms of her parole.
"She seemed normal to me," he added.
Warburton said that Moore, a former FBI informant turned leftist radical, "played both sides" and is "seemingly not remorseful" for her unsuccessful murder attempt.
At 1 hour and 55 minutes, "Suburban Fury," a compilation of archival footage amid present day storytelling, takes viewers along a version of events with Moore.
"I believe that it's absolutely worth every moment," Warburton said. "At the end, I think she comes across as sort of sad and lost, in a sense."
"You have to figure out what you think is cute or spot on, as opposed to what are fabrications or what's her perspective on something, as opposed to what actually happened here," Warburton said. "There's just so much to piece together."
Despite having known little about Moore, other than the "obvious," Warburton said he jumped at the opportunity to work with Devon and credits his "artistic approach" to film production for his eagerness.
"Rob doesn't ask for a lot," Warburton said of the $500,000-budgeted documentary. "He takes very little in regard to financing and makes a lot out of that."