The Loving Story (2011)

A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, set during the turbulent Civil Rights era. Long Way Home: The... See full summary »

Director:

Nancy Buirski

Writers:

Nancy Buirski, Susie Ruth Powell

Stars:

Jane Alexander, Lindsay Almond Jr., Edward L. Ayers

Cast

Credited cast:
Jane Alexander	...	Eleanor Backman - The Great White Hope (archive footage)
Lindsay Almond Jr.	...	Himself - Virginia Governor, 1958 (archive footage) (as J. Lindsay Almond Jr.)
Edward L. Ayers	...	Himself - Historian and President, University of Richmond (as Edward Ayers)
Leon M. Bazile	...	Himself - Caroline County Circuit Court (archive footage) (as Judge Leon M. Bazile)
Hugo Black	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)
William Brennan	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)
David Brinkley	...	Himself - NBC News, Washington (archive sound)
Tom Clark	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)
Bernard S. Cohen	...	Himself - ACLU Attorney (archive footage) (archive sound)
Caitlin Congdon	...	Herself
William O. Douglas	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)
Ken Edwards	...	Himself - Caroline County Deputy Sheriff (as Kenneth Edwards)
Abe Fortas	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)
Raymond Green	...	Himself - Richard's Best Friend
John M. Harlan II	...	Himself - Associate Justice (archive footage)

Storyline

A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, set during the turbulent Civil Rights era. Long Way Home: The Loving Story is a story of love and the struggle for dignity set against a backdrop of historic anti-miscegenation sentiments in the U.S. The Lovings, an interracial couple, fell in love and married at a critical time in American history, and, because of a confluence of social and political turmoil our reluctant heroes bring about change where previously no one else could. They are paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who are driven to pave the way for Civil Rights and social justice through an historic Supreme Court ruling, changing the country's story forever.

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Plot Keywords:

interracial couple | white male black female relationship | husband wife relationship | interracial marriage | bigotry | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | History | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

I istoria ton Loving

Filming Locations:

Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Augusta Films, National Endowment for the Humanities, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Lovings were a real life interracial married couple who were criminally charged under a Virginia statute banning miscegenation. By counsel of and with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Lovings brought a suit which sought to overturn the law. In 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lovings, striking down the Virginia law, and all state anti-miscegenation laws, as unconstitutional per the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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Quotes

(uncredited man on street in archive footage): Some of my best friends are niggers, if I got in to trouble, I think th... the niggers would come to me as quick as anybody else in the world. I'll give you a little instance, I was standing down on the street with a gentleman from another city last Saturday, and I recon that fifteen or twenty negros passed, and I spoke to 'em "Good morning John, how you gettin' along?" "Very well thank you Mr. Wall, gettin' on fine." And that went on for fifteen or twenty uh negros in less than fifteen minutes...

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Connections

Edited from The Great White Hope (1970)

User Reviews

Moving Documentary About the Wills of Two Brave (and Eponymously Named) Souls Who Helped Change American Life

This documentary is about the 1967 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case striking down anti-miscegenation statutes as unenforceable under the Fourteenth Amendment.

I read about Loving v. Virginia in law school and marveled at the bravery of the couple in question (a white man and black woman) who were prosecuted for leaving their home state of Virginia to marry in D.C. and then returning to Virginia where they were harassed by law enforcement and ultimately prosecuted as felons for miscegenation.

The documentary (which consists almost entirely of contemporaneous black and white footage) offers (and needs) little narration as the Lovings and their attorneys describe the events that led to the historical legal ruling.

While interracial marriage attracts little notice in most populous areas of America today, at the time the Lovings were prosecuted (1958) 21 states had anti-miscegenation statutes on their books. (Indeed, notwithstanding the 1967 decision, the last state to repeal its anti-miscegenation law was Alabama in 2000.) I saw the film at the Tribeca Film Festival tonight and as a wonderful bonus, the Lovings' youngest child, Peggy Loving Fortune, appeared and shared her personal feelings and recollections. (Her parents are deceased; Mrs. Mildred Jeter Loving died of pneumonia in 2008, and Mr. Richard Loving died in a automobile accident in 1975.) The film was made in part by HBO, so perhaps HBO will air it at some point.