‘A Truly Unbelievable Story. The Lie Detector’
This ambitious historical account of real-life inventors, marketers, law enforcement professionals, and snake oil salesmen traces the interconnected lives of John Larson, William Marston and Leonarde Keeler in their independent efforts to detect lies and expose liars.
Documentary filmmakers are always challenged by visual collateral and material that supports their projects. This is especially true when dealing with historical topics where film and photographic evidence may be hard to find or non-existent.
For this project on the invention of the Polygraph, the producers contracted with artists Bruce Rosenbaum and Ben Cowden to combine their skills to recreate sculptures with the right aesthetic to be used in creating visual interest for the viewing audience.
The kinetic sculpture pictured above replicates the form and movement of John Larson’s device (below) first used by the San Francisco Police Dept. circa. 1926.
DETAILS: Historic gauge, battery, leather blood pressure cuff and 1920’s medical apparatus (above) were used to mimic the original lie detector equipment that would record vital signs from the suspect as they answered the interrogator’s questions.
Data lines would be recorded (below) to analyze the results and determine whether a person was telling the truth or was nervous and had something to hide.
After an early case where results of the lie detector test later proved false, law enforcement lost confidence in the equipment as a means of obtaining criminal evidence. However, William Marston, a marketer with a higher degree of showmanship, found a customer base with Hollywood film executives who sought ways to gauge and assess audience reactions.
In the 1940’s and 50’s the nation’s war on crime and racketeering cause a renewed interest by law enforcement. Leonarde Keeler coined the term “Polygraph”, which became popularized in true crime stories. Keeler’s “box shaped” lie detector machine (below) also became a hit with banks and American corporations for identifying white collar crime and fraud committed by employees.
Also worthy of mention, Bruce played his first non-speaking role in a documentary or film, operating his and Cowden’s machinery anonymously as each of the 3 inventors.
“I was a bit nervous getting in front of the camera and making our (prop) machines move and appear that they were actually working on the test subjects,” said Rosenbaum. “The Director, Rob Rapley and all of the film crew made the set feel like we were a well-oiled machine and it came off perfectly — no lie!”
