The Murder of Emmett Till 

A documentary examining the 1955 murder of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago while visiting relatives in Mississippi, and the broad impact of his death, his funeral, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his white killers.

Director:

Stanley Nelson

Writers:

Marcia Smith (as Marcia A. Smith), David C. Taylor (contributing writer)

Stars:

Andre Braugher, Pat Antici, Oudie Brown

1 win.

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Andre Braugher	...	Narrator
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Antici	...	Kidnapper
Oudie Brown	...	Self
Harry Caise	...	Self - Mortician
Magnolia Cooksey-Mathious	...	Self - Emmett Till's Classmate
Tony Czech	...	Kidnapper
Clara Davis	...	Self - Mississippi Resident
Warren Hampton	...	Self - Mississippi Resident
Richard Heard	...	Self - Emmett Till's Classmate
John Herbers	...	Self - Journalist
Rose Jourdain	...	Self - Journalist
Mamie Till Mobley	...	Self
Moses Newson	...	Self - Journalist
Wheeler Parker	...	Self - Emmett Till's Cousin
Betty Pearson	...	Self - Mississippi Resident

Storyline

A documentary examining the 1955 murder of a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago while visiting relatives in Mississippi, and the broad impact of his death, his funeral, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his accused killers.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | crime episode | segregation | racial discrimination | racism | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | History

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User Reviews

At times difficult to watch--but an important show to watch nevertheless.

If you watch this episode of "The American Experience", you are bound to become angry and a bit sad. If you don't, then that is awfully sad. The story is about a black teenager who was brutally murdered in 1955 by a groups of whites. The subsequent reaction of the country as well as the white Mississippi community it occurred are discussed in the film using modern interviews with survivors, archive footage and narration. The bottom line is that this senseless killing fortunately led to a good thing--black America deciding enough is enough.

Like all the episodes of the series, this one is exceptionally constructed from start to finish. It's top-notch and makes its case very well. I recommend it and all the episodes of "The American Experience".

By the way, be forewarned that the show has some VERY gruesome pictures of Emmett Till's corpse. You might wish to speed past them or at least prevent younger kids from watching the show.

Details

Official Sites:

PBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2003 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Firelight Media Inc., WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Color:

Color