IMDb > Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Ghosts of Mississippi
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Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) More at IMDbPro »

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Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) -- The widow of murdered civil rights leader Medger Evers and a district attorney struggle to finally bring the murderer to justice.
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   4,939 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Lewis Colick (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Ghosts of Mississippi on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 December 1996 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
In 1963 civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered in his own driveway. For 30 years his assassin has remained free. Is it ever too late to do the right thing? more
Plot:
The widow of murdered civil rights leader Medger Evers and a district attorney struggle to finally bring the murderer to justice. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations more
User Comments:
A story worth telling, well told more (46 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Alec Baldwin ... Bobby DeLaughter

James Woods ... Byron De La Beckwith

Virginia Madsen ... Dixie DeLaughter

Whoopi Goldberg ... Myrlie Evers
Susanna Thompson ... Peggy Lloyd

Craig T. Nelson ... Ed Peters

Lucas Black ... Burt DeLaughter
Joseph Tello ... Drew DeLaughter

Alexa Vega ... Claire DeLaughter

William H. Macy ... Charlie Crisco
Ben Bennett ... Benny Bennett (as Lloyd 'Benny' Bennett)
Darrell Evers ... Himself
Yolanda King ... Reena Evers
Jerry Levine ... Jerry Mitchell
James Van Evers ... Van Evers
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Ghosts from the Past (UK)
more
Runtime:
130 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Bobby DeLaughter and his new wife are in bed, she is reading "North Toward Home," a memoir by Jackson (Miss.) native Willie Morris, former editor of Harper's, who was an uncredited consultant on the movie and who later wrote about the making of the movie and its implications on Jackson. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When the DeLaughter and his investigators drive up to a gas station, the prices for gas are all under a dollar. When DeLaughter is on the phone to Myrlie Evers standing on the other side of the signs, the prices are all now over a dollar. more
Quotes:
[Addressing the jury in summation]
Bobby DeLaughter: Today, thirty years later, I'm asking you twelve ladies and gentlemen to act boldly; to hold this defendant accountable and find him guilty... simply because it is right, it is just, and Lord knows, it is time. Is it ever too late to do the right thing?
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
A story worth telling, well told, 15 July 2001
Author: Geofbob from London, England

Based on fact and directed by Rob Reiner, Ghosts recounts the investigation, and retrial in 1994 - after two mistrials in the 60s - of Byron de la Beckwith for the racist shooting in 1963 of Medgar Evers, an NAACP activist. The film has gained renewed topicality with the recent conviction of another white supremacist for the Birmingham, Alabama, Baptist Church bombing, also in 1963.

Alec Baldwin gives a solid, and sometimes stolid, performance in the central role of prosecuting DA, Bobby DeLaughter (pronounced DeLaw), himself from Mississippi's white uppercrust, whose marriage hits the rocks because of his pursuit of the case. James Woods, convincingly made up to look over 70 for most of the movie, is electrifying as the arrogant, hateful Beckwith. Whoopi Goldberg portrays Medgar's widow with a lot of dignity and even a touch of humour, but it would have been understandable if she had also displayed a little more bitterness.

The movie is possibly not as powerful as Reiner hoped, partly no doubt because he was restricted by the facts. In particular, the retrial seems to have thrown up little or no new evidence, thus making the courtroom action less dramatic than in a fictional movie. Perhaps a greater criticism is that the intense focus on Baldwin/DeLaughter, who is in almost every scene, tends to turn him into the hero of the movie; whereas it should be Medgar Evers, who as a civil rights activist in one of the most bigoted areas of the USA deserves everyone's undying admiration.

Despite the movie's flaws, it is gripping for most of its 130 minutes, and this was certainly a story worth telling.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Delaughter's Peter Pan Kids kgb383
James Woods was PHENOMENAL! motherburnside
Ghost of Mississippi II = DeLaughter goes to jail ! thoth-ibis-1
One question, about that cop GIRobotJAKE2
Bobby DeLaughter suspended by Mississippi Supreme Court mjcjnthomas
I was a featured Juror in this! msunknowncomic
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