Plot.
Poster of Mississippi Burning

Mississippi Burning

1988 · Film · 128 min

  • Drama
  • Crime
  • Mystery
  • Thriller

Plot

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

About Mississippi Burning

Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American historical crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Chris Gerolmo. It is loosely based on the 1964 investigation into the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Neshoba County, Mississippi, which was codenamed "Mississippi Burning" (or "MIBURN"). It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI agents investigating the disappearance of three civil rights activists in rural Mississippi, who are met with hostility by the town's residents, local police, and the Ku Klux Klan. Gerolmo began writing the script in 1986 after researching the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. He and producer Frederick Zollo presented it to Orion Pictures, and the studio hired Parker to direct. The writer and director had disputes over the script, and Orion allowed Parker to make uncredited rewrites. The film was shot in locations in Mississippi and Alabama, with principal photography from March to May 1988. On release, Mississippi Burning was criticized by activists involved in the civil rights movement and the families of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner for its fictionalization of events. Critical reaction was generally positive, with praise for the cinematography and the performances of Hackman, Dafoe, and Frances McDormand. The film grossed $34.6 million in North America against a production budget of…

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cast

  • Gene HackmanAgent Rupert Anderson
  • Willem DafoeAgent Alan Ward
  • Frances McDormandMrs. Pell
  • Brad DourifDeputy Clinton Pell
  • R. Lee ErmeyMayor Tilman
  • Gailard SartainSheriff Stuckey
  • Stephen TobolowskyTownley
  • Michael RookerFrank Bailey
Images