Mississippi Burning
Encyclopedia
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi
in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents (portrayed by Gene Hackman
and Willem Dafoe
) who investigate the murders. Hackman's character (Agent Rupert Anderson) and Dafoe's character (Agent Alan Ward) are loosely based on the partnership of FBI agent John Proctor
and agent Joseph Sullivan
.
The film also features Frances McDormand
, Brad Dourif
, R. Lee Ermey
, and Gailard Sartain
, and was written by Chris Gerolmo
and directed by Alan Parker
. It won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Hackman), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(McDormand), Best Director
, Best Film Editing
(Gerry Hambling
), Best Picture
and Best Sound.
where the real murders took place). The two agents take completely different approaches: Agent Alan Ward (Dafoe), a young liberal
northerner, takes a direct approach to the investigation; Agent Rupert Anderson (Hackman), a former Mississippi sheriff who understands the intricacies of race relations in the South, takes a more subtle tack.
It is very hard for the two to work in the town, as the local sheriff's office is linked to a major branch of the Ku Klux Klan
, and the agents cannot talk to the local black community, due to their fear of Klan retaliation. Slowly but steadily, relations between the FBI and the local Jessup County sheriff's office deteriorate, as do relations between Ward and Anderson. Things boil over when the bodies are found and the deputy sheriff, Clinton Pell, realizes that his wife gave their locations to Anderson, and he assaults her. When Anderson sees her in the hospital, he storms off to confront Pell but is stopped by Ward. After a brief scuffle, the two agree that they will work together and bring down the Jessup County branch of the Ku Klux Klan using Anderson's as yet untried approach.
The new tactics begin when the mayor is abducted. He comes around in a remote shack, alone except for a black man (played by Badja Djola
) wearing a rudimentary mask, similar to those used by KKK members in the film. Relating a story of how a young black man was castrated by the KKK, he implies that the mayor will likewise be disfigured unless he talks by wielding a razor blade while relating the tale. In reality, the abductor is an FBI operative specially flown in to intimidate the mayor. The mayor gives the operative an acute description of the killings, including the names of those involved; although not admissible in court, this information prove invaluable to Anderson and Ward and moves the investigation forward.
Anderson uses the new information to send fake invitations to the involved KKK parties, who turn up for a meeting. They soon realize it's a set up and leave without discussing the murders. The FBI, who are eavesdropping, home in on Lester Cowens, a junior member of the outfit, as being particularly nervous and unable to stop talking. He is later picked up by the FBI and driven prominently around town to make it appear that he may be cooperating with them. He then is dropped off in colored country to "think" about some stuff.
Anderson pays a visit to the barbershop where Deputy Sheriff Pell is getting a shave with a straight razor
. Anderson slips in the place of the barber allowing him to ensure that Pell stays still while Anderson threatens him, nicking him with the razor. Anderson then brutally beats Pell, both for his role in the murders and his assault of his wife. Ward, waiting outside and unable to bear the ongoing beating, attempts to go in; he is stopped by the other FBI men Anderson has called in, and he silently remembers his pledge to do things Anderson's way. Pell is left spinning in a barber's chair, unconscious, as Anderson leaves.
A nervous Lester Cowens is at home when his window is shot out. On the lawn is a burning cross. Cowens tries to flee in his truck but is caught by three hooded men who begin to hang him. The FBI arrive, rescue Cowens, and chase the thugs to the sound of gunshots. Out of sight, the abductors remove their masks and reveal that they are also FBI agents. The ruse works. Cowens, believing his life is in danger because his KKK co-conspirators think he'll talk, does just that. The FBI now has evidence admissible in court and can prosecute the culprits. They charge them with civil rights violations to ensure they will be tried at the federal level; four of them had previously been convicted in a state court of firebombing a black man's home, only to receive five-year suspended sentences. Most are found guilty and receive sentences from three to ten years. Sheriff Stuckey is acquitted. The mayor, who was not charged with anything, hangs himself. Pell's wife returns to her home, which has been completely ransacked. She resolves to stay and rebuild her life, free of her wicked husband.
The film concludes with a Sunday morning service on the site of a destroyed house of worship, attended by both white and black churchgoers singing in unison. Ward addresses Anderson as "Rupert"; suggesting they are now on first name terms
.
docudrama
titled Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan
, depicting many of the same events as the film.
Neither production gave the real names of the murderers, due to legal considerations, and Mississippi Burning does not mention the victims (who are referred to as "the Boys") by name in the film. In the film credits they are simply identified as "Goatee," based on Michael Schwerner
, played by Geoffrey Nauffts; "Passenger," based on Andrew Goodman
, played by Rick Zieff; and "Black Passenger," based on James Chaney
, played by Christopher White.
The film presents Clinton Pell's wife as the informant. The identity of the real informant, known in history as "Mr. X.," was a closely held secret for forty years. In the process of reopening the case, journalist Jerry Mitchell and teacher Barry Bradford discovered his real name. The mysterious black associate of Rupert Anderson who threatens to castrate the mayor while he is bound to the chair is based on Colombo crime family
capo and FBI informant Gregory Scarpa Sr. The character "Frank Bailey," played by Michael Rooker
, is based on Alton Wayne Roberts
, Stephen Tobolowsky
as "Clayton Townley" based on Samuel Bowers and Pruitt Taylor Vince
as "Lester Cowens" based on Edgar Ray Killen
.
, for its alleged fictionalization of history. Parker defended his film by reminding critics that it was a dramatization, not a documentary. However, critics complained about the film as though it were purporting to be a historical reconstruction rather than a work of drama broadly inspired by events.
According to Zinn: While FBI agents are portrayed as heroes who descend upon the town by the hundreds, in reality the FBI and the Justice Department
only reluctantly protected civil rights workers and protesters and reportedly witnessed beatings without intervening. It was also criticized due to its portrayal of southern African Americans as passive victims. The image of African Americans as passive also shapes the film's reenactment of the assassinations; New York Times film reviewer wrote that the film's alleged distortions amounted to a "cinematic lynching" of history.
According to the testimony of Colombo crime family
contract killer Gregory S. Scarpa Jr., the cinematic version may have come closer to the truth than the official FBI story out of Washington, D.C.
His story has been supported in several news accounts by unnamed FBI agents purported to have worked on the MIBURN case, as well as Scarpa's own FD-209 reports, which were released and made public after his death. Gregory S. Scarpa Jr. has said that his father, Colombo crime family capo
and Top Echelon FBI informant Gregory Scarpa Sr.
, offered his services in the case to his FBI handler, Anthony Villano. He made a three-day trip to Mississippi where, posing as a member of the national Ku Klux Klan himself, he and an FBI helper kidnapped a local appliance salesman and Ku Klux Klan member who was viewed by the FBI as a potential weak link in the case. They took the man to a remote location, tied him to a chair, and interrogated him. The first two times he told the story, the agent and Scarpa believed that the man was lying. On the third try, Scarpa pulled his gun on the suspect. "He said he took a gun and put in the guy's mouth and said: For the last time, where are the bodies or I'll blow your head off", Gregory S. Scarpa Jr. testified. Events similar to Scarpa Jr.'s story are reenacted in the film. The KKK member finally confessed to the location of the bodies, Scarpa Jr. said.
One such report, written in January 1966, states that Scarpa was later used as a "special" — the FBI term for a nonagent working for the Bureau in the murder of Vernon Dahmer
, the head of the NAACP office in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
. Dahmer's house was torched by the Ku Klux Klan, and the memo states that Scarpa Sr. was sent to Hattiesburg to work on the case. However, evidence from journalist Jerry Mitchell and Illinois high school teacher Barry Bradford contradicts this account. They claim that the informant who revealed the location of the bodies was highway patrolman Maynard King, who gave the information willingly to FBI agent Joseph Sullivan. The similarity between Scarpa's account and the film may be best explained by the fact that Scarpa's testimony was recorded some years after the film was released. Both the Justice Department and the FBI have officially declined to comment on any role Gregory Scarpa Sr. may have played in the MIBURN. In Cartha DeLoach
's account of the MIBURN case in his memoir, Hoover's FBI, he does not mention Scarpa. It does say that a squad of COINTELPRO
agents were sent to interview members of the Ku Klux Klan and that "many of them were big, bruising men, highly trained in the tactics of interrogation."
Cartha "Deke" DeLoach's official version is that the FBI paid for its first big break in the case, which was the location of the bodies. In his memoirs, he describes the men only as "a minister and a member of the highway patrol." DeLoach does not say how the two men knew that the three civil rights workers had been buried under twelve feet of dirt in an earthen dam on a large farm a few miles outside Philadelphia, Mississippi
, but he did say that the FBI paid $30,000 for the piece of crucial information.
The statement made by "Mayor Tilman" to the FBI agents is paraphrased from a quote by U.S. Senator James Eastland
, who reportedly said that when the three civil rights workers (Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman) went missing in Mississippi on June 21, 1964, "the incident is a hoax and there is no Ku Klux Klan in the state; the three have gone to Chicago," and that it was staged by the three young men to call attention to their cause. J. Edgar Hoover
, who was being pressured by President Lyndon B. Johnson
, was determined to break the case. He flew to Mississippi just before the first anniversary of the disappearance, which was officially regarded as a "kidnapping" to justify the FBI's involvement.
was not only one of the few high-profile cases about a hate crime
perpetrated by African Americans against whites but also led to a landmark
decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a state may consider whether a crime was committed or initially considered due to an intended victim's status in a protected class
. The case became thereby an important precedent
pertaining to First Amendment
free speech arguments for hate crime legislation.
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents (portrayed by Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
and Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
) who investigate the murders. Hackman's character (Agent Rupert Anderson) and Dafoe's character (Agent Alan Ward) are loosely based on the partnership of FBI agent John Proctor
John Proctor (FBI agent)
John Proctor was an American FBI agent most famous for his role in the investigation of the 1964 Mississippi civil rights workers murders. An Alabama native, Proctor had been stationed by the FBI in Meridian, Mississippi where he cultivated contacts with local law enforcement, the Ku Klux Klan,...
and agent Joseph Sullivan
Joseph Sullivan (FBI)
Joseph Aloysius Sullivan was a Major Case Inspector for the FBI. Born in Montreal, Wisconsin, he grew up in Hurley, Wisconsin. He was involved in a number of highly publicized cases in the sixties and seventies including the Martin Luther King, Jr...
.
The film also features Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
, Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
, R. Lee Ermey
R. Lee Ermey
Ronald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
, and Gailard Sartain
Gailard Sartain
Gailard Sartain is an American comedic and serious actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He is also an accomplished and successful painter and illustrator.-Early years and education:...
, and was written by Chris Gerolmo
Chris Gerolmo
Chris Gerolmo is an American writer, director, and singer best known for writing the screenplay for the film Mississippi Burning and co-creating the FX Networks military drama series Over There. He also wrote and directed the acclaimed made-for-TV movie Citizen X, about the Ukrainian serial killer...
and directed by Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
. It won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Hackman), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(McDormand), Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
(Gerry Hambling
Gerry Hambling
Gerry Hambling is a British film editor whose work is credited on 49 films; he has also worked as a sound editor and a television editor...
), Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Sound.
Plot
The story is loosely based on the real-life murders of civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. After the three are reported missing, two FBI agents are sent to investigate the incident in rural Jessup County, Mississippi (modeled after Neshoba CountyNeshoba County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 28,684 people, 10,694 households, and 7,742 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 11,980 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
where the real murders took place). The two agents take completely different approaches: Agent Alan Ward (Dafoe), a young liberal
Modern American liberalism
Modern American liberalism is a form of liberalism developed from progressive ideals such as Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism, Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. It combines social liberalism and...
northerner, takes a direct approach to the investigation; Agent Rupert Anderson (Hackman), a former Mississippi sheriff who understands the intricacies of race relations in the South, takes a more subtle tack.
It is very hard for the two to work in the town, as the local sheriff's office is linked to a major branch of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and the agents cannot talk to the local black community, due to their fear of Klan retaliation. Slowly but steadily, relations between the FBI and the local Jessup County sheriff's office deteriorate, as do relations between Ward and Anderson. Things boil over when the bodies are found and the deputy sheriff, Clinton Pell, realizes that his wife gave their locations to Anderson, and he assaults her. When Anderson sees her in the hospital, he storms off to confront Pell but is stopped by Ward. After a brief scuffle, the two agree that they will work together and bring down the Jessup County branch of the Ku Klux Klan using Anderson's as yet untried approach.
The new tactics begin when the mayor is abducted. He comes around in a remote shack, alone except for a black man (played by Badja Djola
Badja Djola
Badja Medu Djola was an American actor. D’jola appeared in 47 films and TV shows during his career. His best role was as Leon Isaac Kennedy’s cellmate in the movie "Penitentiary." D’jola played the bad guy character "Half Dead." He showed exceptional acting talent in the movie, which lead to more...
) wearing a rudimentary mask, similar to those used by KKK members in the film. Relating a story of how a young black man was castrated by the KKK, he implies that the mayor will likewise be disfigured unless he talks by wielding a razor blade while relating the tale. In reality, the abductor is an FBI operative specially flown in to intimidate the mayor. The mayor gives the operative an acute description of the killings, including the names of those involved; although not admissible in court, this information prove invaluable to Anderson and Ward and moves the investigation forward.
Anderson uses the new information to send fake invitations to the involved KKK parties, who turn up for a meeting. They soon realize it's a set up and leave without discussing the murders. The FBI, who are eavesdropping, home in on Lester Cowens, a junior member of the outfit, as being particularly nervous and unable to stop talking. He is later picked up by the FBI and driven prominently around town to make it appear that he may be cooperating with them. He then is dropped off in colored country to "think" about some stuff.
Anderson pays a visit to the barbershop where Deputy Sheriff Pell is getting a shave with a straight razor
Straight razor
A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors.Although straight razors were once the principal method of manual shaving, they have been largely overshadowed by the safety razor, incorporating a disposable blade...
. Anderson slips in the place of the barber allowing him to ensure that Pell stays still while Anderson threatens him, nicking him with the razor. Anderson then brutally beats Pell, both for his role in the murders and his assault of his wife. Ward, waiting outside and unable to bear the ongoing beating, attempts to go in; he is stopped by the other FBI men Anderson has called in, and he silently remembers his pledge to do things Anderson's way. Pell is left spinning in a barber's chair, unconscious, as Anderson leaves.
A nervous Lester Cowens is at home when his window is shot out. On the lawn is a burning cross. Cowens tries to flee in his truck but is caught by three hooded men who begin to hang him. The FBI arrive, rescue Cowens, and chase the thugs to the sound of gunshots. Out of sight, the abductors remove their masks and reveal that they are also FBI agents. The ruse works. Cowens, believing his life is in danger because his KKK co-conspirators think he'll talk, does just that. The FBI now has evidence admissible in court and can prosecute the culprits. They charge them with civil rights violations to ensure they will be tried at the federal level; four of them had previously been convicted in a state court of firebombing a black man's home, only to receive five-year suspended sentences. Most are found guilty and receive sentences from three to ten years. Sheriff Stuckey is acquitted. The mayor, who was not charged with anything, hangs himself. Pell's wife returns to her home, which has been completely ransacked. She resolves to stay and rebuild her life, free of her wicked husband.
The film concludes with a Sunday morning service on the site of a destroyed house of worship, attended by both white and black churchgoers singing in unison. Ward addresses Anderson as "Rupert"; suggesting they are now on first name terms
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
.
Cast
- Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
as Agent Rupert Anderson - Willem DafoeWillem DafoeWillem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
as Agent Alan Ward - Frances McDormandFrances McDormandFrances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
as Mrs. Pell - Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
as Deputy Clinton Pell - R. Lee ErmeyR. Lee ErmeyRonald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
as Mayor Tilman - Gailard SartainGailard SartainGailard Sartain is an American comedic and serious actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He is also an accomplished and successful painter and illustrator.-Early years and education:...
as Sheriff Ray Stuckey - Stephen TobolowskyStephen TobolowskyStephen Harold Tobolowsky is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, as well as portraying Commissioner Hugo Jarry in Deadwood for nine episodes and Bob Bishop in Heroes for eleven episodes over the second and third seasons...
as Clayton Townley - Michael RookerMichael RookerMichael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
as Frank Bailey - Pruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
as Lester Cowens - Badja DjolaBadja DjolaBadja Medu Djola was an American actor. D’jola appeared in 47 films and TV shows during his career. His best role was as Leon Isaac Kennedy’s cellmate in the movie "Penitentiary." D’jola played the bad guy character "Half Dead." He showed exceptional acting talent in the movie, which lead to more...
as Agent Monk - Kevin DunnKevin DunnKevin Dunn is an American actor who has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films since the 1980s. His roles include Colonel Hicks in the 1998 version of Godzilla, Sam Witwicky's father in Transformers, and Oscar Galvin, the primary antagonist in the 2010 action thriller...
as Agent Bird
Historical background
Mississippi Burning was based on the historical events surrounding the murders of three Mississippi civil rights workers. The story was first turned into a 1975 televisionTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
titled Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan is a 1975 two-part television movie, which dramatised the events following the 1964 disappearance and murder of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi...
, depicting many of the same events as the film.
Neither production gave the real names of the murderers, due to legal considerations, and Mississippi Burning does not mention the victims (who are referred to as "the Boys") by name in the film. In the film credits they are simply identified as "Goatee," based on Michael Schwerner
Michael Schwerner
Michael Henry Schwerner , was one of three Congress of Racial Equality field workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to their civil rights work, which included promoting voting registration among Mississippi African Americans...
, played by Geoffrey Nauffts; "Passenger," based on Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman was one of three American civil rights activists murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.-Early life and education:...
, played by Rick Zieff; and "Black Passenger," based on James Chaney
James Chaney
James Earl "J.E." Chaney , from Meridian, Mississippi, was one of three American civil rights workers who were murdered during Freedom Summer by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia...
, played by Christopher White.
The film presents Clinton Pell's wife as the informant. The identity of the real informant, known in history as "Mr. X.," was a closely held secret for forty years. In the process of reopening the case, journalist Jerry Mitchell and teacher Barry Bradford discovered his real name. The mysterious black associate of Rupert Anderson who threatens to castrate the mayor while he is bound to the chair is based on Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
capo and FBI informant Gregory Scarpa Sr. The character "Frank Bailey," played by Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
, is based on Alton Wayne Roberts
Alton Wayne Roberts
Alton Wayne Roberts was a Klansman convicted of depriving slain activists Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney of their civil rights in 1964. He personally shot two of the three civil rights workers before his accomplices buried their bodies in a dam.-External links:...
, Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, as well as portraying Commissioner Hugo Jarry in Deadwood for nine episodes and Bob Bishop in Heroes for eleven episodes over the second and third seasons...
as "Clayton Townley" based on Samuel Bowers and Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
as "Lester Cowens" based on Edgar Ray Killen
Edgar Ray Killen
Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen is a former Ku Klux Klan organizer who conspired in the murders of three civil rights activists—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—in 1964....
.
Critical reaction
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 274 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The film has been criticized by many, including historian Howard ZinnHoward Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
, for its alleged fictionalization of history. Parker defended his film by reminding critics that it was a dramatization, not a documentary. However, critics complained about the film as though it were purporting to be a historical reconstruction rather than a work of drama broadly inspired by events.
According to Zinn: While FBI agents are portrayed as heroes who descend upon the town by the hundreds, in reality the FBI and the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
only reluctantly protected civil rights workers and protesters and reportedly witnessed beatings without intervening. It was also criticized due to its portrayal of southern African Americans as passive victims. The image of African Americans as passive also shapes the film's reenactment of the assassinations; New York Times film reviewer wrote that the film's alleged distortions amounted to a "cinematic lynching" of history.
According to the testimony of Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
contract killer Gregory S. Scarpa Jr., the cinematic version may have come closer to the truth than the official FBI story out of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
His story has been supported in several news accounts by unnamed FBI agents purported to have worked on the MIBURN case, as well as Scarpa's own FD-209 reports, which were released and made public after his death. Gregory S. Scarpa Jr. has said that his father, Colombo crime family capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
and Top Echelon FBI informant Gregory Scarpa Sr.
Gregory Scarpa Sr.
Gregory Scarpa, Sr. also known as "The Grim Reaper" and "The Mad Hatter", was a capo for the Colombo crime family and an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 80s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer for Colombo boss Carmine Persico...
, offered his services in the case to his FBI handler, Anthony Villano. He made a three-day trip to Mississippi where, posing as a member of the national Ku Klux Klan himself, he and an FBI helper kidnapped a local appliance salesman and Ku Klux Klan member who was viewed by the FBI as a potential weak link in the case. They took the man to a remote location, tied him to a chair, and interrogated him. The first two times he told the story, the agent and Scarpa believed that the man was lying. On the third try, Scarpa pulled his gun on the suspect. "He said he took a gun and put in the guy's mouth and said: For the last time, where are the bodies or I'll blow your head off", Gregory S. Scarpa Jr. testified. Events similar to Scarpa Jr.'s story are reenacted in the film. The KKK member finally confessed to the location of the bodies, Scarpa Jr. said.
One such report, written in January 1966, states that Scarpa was later used as a "special" — the FBI term for a nonagent working for the Bureau in the murder of Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Sr. was an American civil rights leader and president of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.-Early life:...
, the head of the NAACP office in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
. Dahmer's house was torched by the Ku Klux Klan, and the memo states that Scarpa Sr. was sent to Hattiesburg to work on the case. However, evidence from journalist Jerry Mitchell and Illinois high school teacher Barry Bradford contradicts this account. They claim that the informant who revealed the location of the bodies was highway patrolman Maynard King, who gave the information willingly to FBI agent Joseph Sullivan. The similarity between Scarpa's account and the film may be best explained by the fact that Scarpa's testimony was recorded some years after the film was released. Both the Justice Department and the FBI have officially declined to comment on any role Gregory Scarpa Sr. may have played in the MIBURN. In Cartha DeLoach
Cartha Deloach
Cartha "Deke" Deloach was the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States, and the third most senior official in charge of the FBI after Hoover....
's account of the MIBURN case in his memoir, Hoover's FBI, he does not mention Scarpa. It does say that a squad of COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
agents were sent to interview members of the Ku Klux Klan and that "many of them were big, bruising men, highly trained in the tactics of interrogation."
Cartha "Deke" DeLoach's official version is that the FBI paid for its first big break in the case, which was the location of the bodies. In his memoirs, he describes the men only as "a minister and a member of the highway patrol." DeLoach does not say how the two men knew that the three civil rights workers had been buried under twelve feet of dirt in an earthen dam on a large farm a few miles outside Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, but he did say that the FBI paid $30,000 for the piece of crucial information.
The statement made by "Mayor Tilman" to the FBI agents is paraphrased from a quote by U.S. Senator James Eastland
James Eastland
James Oliver Eastland was an American politician from Mississippi who briefly served in the United States Senate as a Democrat in 1941; and again from 1943 until his resignation December 27, 1978. From 1947 to 1978, he served alongside John Stennis, also a Democrat...
, who reportedly said that when the three civil rights workers (Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman) went missing in Mississippi on June 21, 1964, "the incident is a hoax and there is no Ku Klux Klan in the state; the three have gone to Chicago," and that it was staged by the three young men to call attention to their cause. J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, who was being pressured by President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, was determined to break the case. He flew to Mississippi just before the first anniversary of the disappearance, which was officially regarded as a "kidnapping" to justify the FBI's involvement.
Awards
- 1989: Academy Award for Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
: Peter BiziouPeter BiziouPeter Biziou BSC is a British cinematographer.Peter Biziou is the son of a special effects cameraman. He began his career in the mid 1960s where he worked on short films by Norman J. Warren and Robert Freeman. In 1973 he began his collaboration with director Alan Parker... - 1989: BAFTA Award for Best CinematographyBAFTA Award for Best Cinematography-Best Cinematography - Colour:* 1963 - From Russia with Love - Ted Moore** Nine Hours to Rama – Arthur Ibbetson** The Running Man – Robert Krasker** Sammy Going South – Erwin Hillier** The Scarlet Blade – Jack Asher...
: Peter BiziouPeter BiziouPeter Biziou BSC is a British cinematographer.Peter Biziou is the son of a special effects cameraman. He began his career in the mid 1960s where he worked on short films by Norman J. Warren and Robert Freeman. In 1973 he began his collaboration with director Alan Parker... - 1989: Berlin International Film Festival39th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10 to 21, 1989.-Jury:* Rolf Liebermann * Leslie Caron* Chen Kaige* Vadim Glowna* Randa Haines* Vladimir Ignatovski* Adrian Kutter* Francisco Rabal...
: Best ActorSilver Bear for Best ActorThe Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...
: Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde... - 1989: BAFTA Award for Best EditingBAFTA Award for Best EditingThe BAFTA Award for Best Editing is one of several annual awards presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . The film-voting members of the Academy select the five nominated films in each category; only the principal editor for each film are named, which excludes additional...
: Gerry HamblingGerry HamblingGerry Hambling is a British film editor whose work is credited on 49 films; he has also worked as a sound editor and a television editor... - 1989: BAFTA Award for Best SoundBAFTA Award for Best SoundThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Sound has been presented to its winners since 1968 and sound designers of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award.-Winners 1968-present:...
: Bill Phillips, Danny Michael, Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Rick Kline - 1989: British Society of CinematographersBritish Society of CinematographersThe British Society of Cinematographers was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey, 23 August 1901 - 28 February 1973, the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments.The stated objectives at the formation of the BSC were...
: Best Cinematography AwardBritish Society of CinematographersThe British Society of Cinematographers was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey, 23 August 1901 - 28 February 1973, the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments.The stated objectives at the formation of the BSC were...
: Peter BiziouPeter BiziouPeter Biziou BSC is a British cinematographer.Peter Biziou is the son of a special effects cameraman. He began his career in the mid 1960s where he worked on short films by Norman J. Warren and Robert Freeman. In 1973 he began his collaboration with director Alan Parker... - 1988: National Board of Review AwardsNational Board of Review Awards 1988The 60th National Board of Review Awards were announced on December 13, 1988, and given on February 27, 1989.-Top 10 films:#Mississippi Burning#Dangerous Liaisons#The Accused#The Unbearable Lightness of Being...
Nominations
- 1988: Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
- Best ActorAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
: Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde... - Best Supporting ActressAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
: Frances McDormandFrances McDormandFrances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996... - Best Director: Alan ParkerAlan ParkerSir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
- Best EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
: Gerry HamblingGerry HamblingGerry Hambling is a British film editor whose work is credited on 49 films; he has also worked as a sound editor and a television editor... - Best Sound: Robert J. LittRobert J. LittRobert J. Litt is an American sound engineer. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He worked on over 160 films between 1964 and 2000.-Selected filmography:* Mississippi Burning * The Shawshank Redemption...
, Elliot TysonElliot TysonElliot Tyson is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and has been nominated for three more in the same category...
, Rick KlineRick KlineRick Kline is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for eleven Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 200 films since 1978.-Selected filmography:* Terms of Endearment * Silverado * Top Gun...
and Danny MichaelDanny MichaelDanny Michael is an American sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for the film Mississippi Burning.-External links:...
- Best Picture
- 1989: Berlin International Film Festival39th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10 to 21, 1989.-Jury:* Rolf Liebermann * Leslie Caron* Chen Kaige* Vadim Glowna* Randa Haines* Vladimir Ignatovski* Adrian Kutter* Francisco Rabal...
- Golden BearGolden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
(Best Motion Picture)
- Golden Bear
- 1989: BAFTA Awards
- Best DirectionBAFTA Award for Best DirectionWinners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
: Alan ParkerAlan ParkerSir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:... - Best Film MusicBAFTA Award for Best Film MusicThe Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music is an annual award given by British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-1960s:*1968 - The Lion in Winter - John Barry...
: Trevor JonesTrevor Jones (composer)Trevor Alfred Charles Jones is a South African orchestral film score composer. Although not especially well known outside the film world, he has composed for numerous films and his music has been critically acclaimed for both its depth and emotion.-Career:At the age of five, Jones already had...
- Best Direction
- 1988: Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
- Best Motion Picture — Drama
- Best Director — Motion Picture: Alan ParkerAlan ParkerSir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
- Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
: Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde... - Best ScreenplayGolden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayThe Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
: Chris GerolmoChris GerolmoChris Gerolmo is an American writer, director, and singer best known for writing the screenplay for the film Mississippi Burning and co-creating the FX Networks military drama series Over There. He also wrote and directed the acclaimed made-for-TV movie Citizen X, about the Ukrainian serial killer...
Wisconsin v. Mitchell
The film itself shaped history when a group of African Americans got enraged after drinking and discussing the film, particularly the scene in which a white man beat a young black boy who was praying, and one of the group incited the others to beat up a passing 14-year-old white boy based on his skin color. The ensuing court case Wisconsin v. MitchellWisconsin v. Mitchell
Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476 , was a decision of the United States Supreme Court. It was a landmark precedent pertaining to First Amendment free speech arguments for hate crime legislation...
was not only one of the few high-profile cases about a hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
perpetrated by African Americans against whites but also led to a landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a state may consider whether a crime was committed or initially considered due to an intended victim's status in a protected class
Protected class
Protected class is a term used in United States anti-discrimination law. The term describes characteristics or factors which can not be targeted for discrimination and harassment...
. The case became thereby an important precedent
Precedent
In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a legal case that a court or other judicial body may apply when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts...
pertaining to First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
free speech arguments for hate crime legislation.
See also
- AakroshAakrosh (2010 film)-Awards and nominations:2011 Zee Cine AwardsNominated*Best Actor in a Negative Role - Paresh Rawal...
, an unofficial remake of Mississippi Burning.