4 Little Girls (1997)

Director:

Spike Lee

Release Date:

9 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Tagline:

Birmingham, 1963. A single explosion rocked a community and awakened a sleeping nation.

Plot:

A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.

Plot Keywords:

Civil Rights | Church | Civil Rights Movement | Bombing | Birmingham Alabama

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Maxine McNair	...	Herself - Mother of Denise McNair
Chris McNair	...	Himself - Father of Denise McNair
Helen Pegues	...	Herself - Denise's Aunt
Queen Nunn	...	Herself - Neighbor of Denise McNair
Arthur Hanes Jr.	...	Himself - Defense Attorney for Bob Chambliss
Howell Raines	...	Himself - New York Times Editor
Harold McNair	...	Himself - Denise's Uncle
Carole C. Smitherman	...	Herself - Denise's Childhood Friend (as Carole C. Smitherman Esq.)
Wamo Reed Robertson	...	Herself - Carole's Aunt
Dianne Braddock	...	Herself - Carole's Sister
Carolyn Lee Brown	...	Herself - Carole's Childhood Friend
Alpha Robertson	...	Herself - Mother of Carole Robertson
Wyatt Tee Walker	...	Himself - Former Executive Director of SCLC
Fred Lee Shuttlesworth	...	Himself - Pres. of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (also archive footage)
Florence Terrell	...	Herself - School Teacher
Gwendolyn White	...	Herself - School Teacher
Doris Lockhart	...	Herself - Neighbor of Cynthia Wesley
Gerald Colbert	...	Himself - Cynthia's Childhood Neighbor
Freeman Hrabowski III	...	Himself - Cynthia's Childhood Friend (as Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III)
Shirley Wesley King	...	Herself - Cynthia's Sister
Carolyn M. McKinstry	...	Herself - Cynthia's Childhood Friend
David J. Vann	...	Himself - Former Mayor of Birmingham
Bill Baxley	...	Himself - Former Attorney General of Alabama
Albert Boutwell	...	Himself - Former Mayor of Birmingham (archive footage)
Andrew Young	...	Himself - SCLC (as Rev. Andrew Young)
Taylor Branch	...	Himself - Author
Nadean S. Williams	...	Herself - Music Teacher
Janie Gaines	...	Herself - Addie Mae's Sister
Rhonda Nunn Thomas	...	Herself - Denise's Childhood Friend
James Bevel	...	Himself - SCLC (also archive footage) (as Rev. James Bevel)
Tommy Wrenn	...	Himself - SCLC
George Wallace	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Nicholas Katzenbach	...	Himself - Former US Attorney General (also archive footage)
Billie Harris	...	Herself - Funeral Home Director
Ricky Powell	...	Himself - Denise's Childhood Friend
Lillie Brown	...	Herself - SCLC
Ossie Davis	...	Himself - Actor and Playwright
Mahalia Jackson	...	Herself - During March on Washington (archive footage)
Barbara Nunn	...	Herself - Denise's Childhood Friend
John Cross	...	Himself - Former Pastor of 16th St. Baptist Church (as Rev. John Cross)
Barbara Cross	...	Herself - Daughter of Reverend Cross
Morris Marshall	...	Himself - 16th Street Baptist Church Member
Junie Collins	...	Herself - Addie Mae's Sister
Diane Nash	...	Herself - SCLC
Faye Davis	...	Herself - Carole's Childhood Friend
Coretta Scott King	...	Herself
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself - Special Correspondent CBS News
Bill Cosby	...	Himself - Educator
Jesse Jackson	...	Himself - Founder of the Rainbow Push Coalition (as Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.)
Reggie White	...	Himself - Green Bay Packers (as Rev. Reggie White)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Abernathy	...	Himself - with Martin Luther King (archive footage) (uncredited)
David Brinkley	...	Himself - Reports on Chambliss Trial (archive footage) (uncredited)
Eugene 'Bull' Connor	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
James Farmer	...	Himself - with Freedom Riders (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Spike Lee	...	Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Spike Lee

Produced by
Michele Forman	....	associate producer
Jacqueline Glover	....	coordinating producer
Spike Lee	....	producer
Daphne McWilliams	....	line producer
Sheila Nevins	....	executive producer
Samuel D. Pollard	....	producer (as Sam Pollard)

Original Music by
Terence Blanchard

Cinematography by
Ellen Kuras

Film Editing by
Samuel D. Pollard		(as Sam Pollard)

Production Management
Daphne McWilliams	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Henry DeBardeleben	....	swing (as Henry Debardeleben)
Kareem Jamel Johnson	....	swing

Sound Department
Tim J. Carroll	....	stereo sound engineer: Dolby
Roy Clark	....	assistant sound engineer
Eugene Gearty	....	sound effects editor
Skip Lievsay	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Miho	....	assistant sound engineer
Rolf Pardula	....	additional sound recordist
Glenfield Payne	....	supervising sound editor
J.T. Takagi	....	sound recordist
Todd Whitelock	....	sound recording engineer
Allan Zaleski	....	assistant sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
John Bentham	....	second assistant camera
Lamont Crawford	....	key grip
Kerwin DeVonish	....	second assistant camera (as Kerwin Devonish)
Carl Johnson	....	gaffer
David Lee	....	still photographer
Susanna Virtanen	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Colin Cumberbatch	....	post-production coordinator
Peter Gonzalez	....	associate editor
Noëlle Penraat	....	negative cutter (as Noelle Penraat)
David Pultz	....	color timer

Music Department
Paula Bing	....	musician: flute
Terence Blanchard	....	conductor: score
Terence Blanchard	....	musician: trumpet
Terence Blanchard	....	score producer
Emile Charlap	....	music contractor
Troy Davis	....	musician: drums
Lawrence Feldman	....	musician: clarinet
Edward Simon	....	musician: piano (as Ed Simon)
Alex Steyermark	....	music supervisor
Alex Steyermark	....	score producer
Blair Tindall	....	musician: oboe
Reginald Veal	....	musician: bass
Maisie Weissman	....	music editor

Other crew
Julie Anderson	....	researcher
Randall Balsmeyer	....	title designer
Vasco Bjegovich	....	production assistant
Aubrey Cummings	....	production assistant
Karl Dover	....	production assistant
Michael Dykes	....	production assistant
James Hartel	....	production assistant
Michael Jimenez	....	production assistant
John Lathan	....	production assistant
Eric Moore	....	production assistant
Tjamal Noni	....	production assistant (as Tjamal K. Noni)
Audra Polk	....	production assistant
Victoria Williams	....	production assistant
Jason Lampkin	....	staff: 40 Acres (uncredited)

Thanks
Bob Adelman	....	acknowledgment: archival footage, Magnum Photos Inc.
Bruce Davidson	....	acknowledgment: archival footage, Magnum Photos Inc.
Elliott Erwitt	....	acknowledgment: archival footage, Magnum Photos Inc. (as Elliot Ermitt)
James Karakes	....	acknowledgment: archival footage provided by
Steven Kasher	....	thanks
Holly Kempner	....	thanks
Tom Langston	....	acknowledgment: archival footage provided by
Danny Lyon	....	acknowledgment: archival footage, Magnum Photos Inc.
Chris McNair	....	acknowledgment: archival footage provided by

Production Companies

• 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
• Home Box Office (HBO)

Distributors

• Direct Cinema Limited (video)
• HBO Documentary

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

One of the victims, Denise McNair, was a friend and classmate of future Secretary of State 'Condoleeza Rice'.

Quotes:

Wyatt Tee Walker:So we made the decision based on several things. Fred Shuttlesworth was fearless and courageous to the point of being almost insane; miraculously surviving a bombing of his home. Had taking his wife and two children trying to integrate a school with a mob of five or six hundred folks with chains and stuff like that; just an incredible human being in my view.

Movie Connections:

References "60 Minutes" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Birmingham Sunday

A thouroughly moving, tour de force and the best thing Spike Lee has done to date

This is an incredible documentary! How it failed to win the Oscar puzzles me, although I must confess that I haven't seen the winner. Be that as it may, Spike Lee put together a moving ad compelling tribute to four innocents. The incident covered here, ironically, probably gave much needed impetus to the civil-rights movement, particularly with people in the North, a bittersweet point not lost on many of the interviewees. See this documentary! Most highly recommended!