Murder in Mississippi (1965)

Director:

Joseph P. Mawra

Writer:

Herbert S. Altman

Release Date:

October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Sheila Britt	...	Carol Lee Byrd (as Sheilla Britton)
Sam Stewart	...	Phil Loving
Derek Crane	...	Sheriff Engstrom (as Derrek Crane)
Lew Stone	...	Luther Barnes
Martin St. John	...	Tyrone Carver
John Steel	...	Deputy Sheriff Bob Engstrom
Wayne Foster	...	Andy Loving
Richard Towers	...	Dick Byrd (as Dick Stone)
Otis Young	...	Paul Jackson
Irv Seldin	...	Bernie Meyers
Frank Philadelphia	...	Assistant U.S. Attorney
Millie Moran	...	Guitar Player
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lisa Donzell	...	Prostitute
Peter Hall	...	Agent Hahn
Alma Hubbard	...	Mrs. Moore
Barbara Johnson	...	Federal Commissioner
Tina Lewis	...	Sally Jones
Ella Washington	...	Emma Taylor
Larence Watson	...	Henry Taylor

Directed by
Joseph P. Mawra		(as J.P. Mawra)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Herbert S. Altman

Produced by
Herbert S. Altman	....	producer
Joseph P. Mawra	....	producer (as J.P. Mawra)
Art Raymond	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Joseph Lesko

Cinematography by
William Rose		(as Werner Rose)

Film Editing by
Joseph P. Mawra		(as J.P. Mawra)

Production Management
Herb Coleman	....	production manager

Art Department
Bruce G. Sparks	....	set designer (as Bruce Sparks)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Bailin	....	assistant camera (as Bob Baylin)

Editorial Department
Joanna Alexander	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Barbara Riley	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Tiger Productions

Distributors

• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2006) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Tiger Productions

Special Effects

• Technical Film Studios

Other Companies

• Magno Sound  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"Murder Mississippi" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Tiger Productions

Terrible production values, but still a very daring film.

I read the other review and I guess I just see this film a bit differently--though at least when it comes to the production values, we do agree. This film, to put it charitably, is about as amateurish a film as you can find in many ways. The camera-work is extremely poor and it is true that the black characters are so black in the film it's hard to distinguish their faces at times. The actors are clearly not professionals and while some do a good job, others are just awful--such as the old lady on the porch who is being quizzed on the Constitution. In some scenes, film clips are re-used due to a brain-addled editor! Plus, sometimes actors clearly flub their lines or talk over the other actors. Heck, Ed Wood could have done a better job when it came to the production values!

But, at the same time, I really did admire this film. It is one of the very first to really deal with race in the United States--and I am NOT talking about a sanitized film about race like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". It dares to fictionalize the murder of several civil rights workers in Mississippi--a recent crime that still hadn't been solved as of 1965. Yes, too much time is spent focusing on the woman who may or may not get raped, but for the time, it was a very dangerous thing to make a film this blunt and unflinching in addressing bigotry in all its ugliness.

So, yes, the film DOES suck technically. But, it is still a very important, very interesting and brave little super-low budget film--and well worth seeing despite its deficiencies.