Ghosts from the Past (1996)
"Ghosts of Mississippi" (original title)

The widow of murdered civil rights leader Medger Evers and a district attorney struggle to finally bring the murderer to justice.

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

Lewis Colick

Stars:

Alec Baldwin, James Woods, Virginia Madsen

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

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

Storyline

Ghosts of Mississippi is a drama covering the final trial of Byron De La Beckwith (Woods), the assassin of the 1960s civil rights leader Medgar Evers. It begins with the murder and the events surrounding the two initial trials which both ended in hung juries. The movie then covers District Attorney, Bobby De Laughter's (Baldwin) transformation and alliance with Myrlie Evers (Goldberg), the widow of Medgar Evers, as he becomes more involved with bringing Beckwith to trial for the third time 30 years later. Some of the characters are played by the actual participants in this story.

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Plot Keywords:

trial | widow | civil rights | murder | 1960s | 

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Taglines:

In 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was gunned down in front of his wife and children. In 1994, the time was right for justice.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a strong scene of violence and for racial dialogue

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fantasmas del pasado

Filming Locations:

Greenwood, Mississippi, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$36,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 233,067,000 (Italy) (28 February 1997)

Gross:

$13,052,741 (USA) (14 March 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gillian Anderson and Faith Ford both tested for the role of Dixie.

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Goofs

Although the film begins in 1989 and ends in 1994, the same child actors portraying Bobby DeLaughter's children are used from the beginning of the movie until the end, showing no signs of aging.

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Quotes

[Quoting Medgar Evers]
Myrlie Evers: I don't know if I'm going to heaven or to hell, but I'm going from Jackson.

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Connections

Referenced in 30 Rock: 100: Part 1 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"I Will Live My Life For You"
Written by Henri Salvador (as Henry G. Salvador) and Marcel Stellman
Performed by Tony Bennett
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Not bad -- but we've been here before

I've seen this movie several times on the pay channels (the joys of modern television!). Overall the film is pretty good, and doesn't seem to take great license with history, which is refreshing. My only serious beef about this movie is the same as with Mississippi Burning and other films about the civil-rights struggle: Why do all of these movies insist on providing a white male central character, out to do good for the oppressed black people? Why not do this movie from the POV of Evers' widow, or brother? Because the (white male) power structure in Hollywood feels that audiences won't relate to stories without having a WASP in the middle of the action. This is not to minimize Bobby DeLaughter's role in bringing Byron de la Beckwith to justice; it's just to say that DeLaughter came along very late in the overall history of this case.

So, as to be expected, we're shown that DeLaughter braves ostracism, family conflict, and a death threat (probably a lot of them in real life). All very true, but we lose the fact that the Evers family went through all of this and more in 30 years of keeping the flame alive.

There are some good performances in here, especially James Woods, who had to be having a blast playing de la Beckwith, a mental midget and virulent racist in real life too. Baldwin is okay as DeLaughter but as bland as he normally is, even while affecting the Delta accent. Whoopi Goldberg is very good as the contemporary Myrlie Evers Williams, but ridiculous as the young widow in the flashback sequences. She's obviously too old, and it leaves you wondering if they were just too cheap to pay another actress or if Goldberg's ego is so large that she wouldn't allow it. The actor who played Evers' brother is so outstanding in such a small amount of screen time, you have to wonder why they didn't do more with him.

It's not a bad movie by any stretch, and it does give us a chance to see a little of what Medgar Evers was all about. I only wish that the film had been more about Medgar and Myrlie and much less about DeLaughter. As one other reviewer commented, this feels more like a made-for-TV movie than a theatrical release.