Ghosts of Mississippi

1996 film by Rob Reiner

Ghosts of Mississippi

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Rob Reiner
Written by| Lewis Colick
Produced by|

* Nicholas Paleologos
* Rob Reiner
* Andrew Scheinman
* Frederick M. Zollo
* Charles Newirth
* Jeff Stott

Starring|

* Alec Baldwin
* Whoopi Goldberg
* James Woods
* Craig T. Nelson

Cinematography| John Seale
Edited by| Robert Leighton
Music by| Marc Shaiman

Production
companies

Columbia Pictures
Castle Rock Entertainment

Distributed by| Sony Pictures Releasing

Release date

* December 20, 1996 (1996-12-20)

Running time

| 130 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $36 million[1]
Box office| $13.3 million

Ghosts of Mississippi is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The film is based on the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers.

Released on December 20, 1996, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed just $13 million against its $36 million budget. At the 69th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Woods) and Best Makeup.[2][3]

## Plot

[edit]

Medgar Evers was an African-American civil rights activist in Mississippi murdered on June 12, 1963. It was suspected that Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist, was the murderer. He had been tried twice in the 1960s and both trials ended in hung juries. Evers' widow Myrlie Evers had been trying to bring De La Beckwith to justice for over 25 years.

In 1989, emboldened by a newspaper article by Jerry Mitchell exposing jury tampering by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission in the first two trials, Myrlie Evers believed she had what it would take to bring him to trial again. Although most of the evidence from the old trial had disappeared, Bobby DeLaughter, an assistant District Attorney, decided to help her despite being warned that it might hurt his political aspirations and the strain that it caused in his marriage. DeLaughter forms a team of investigators from his office, however, the investigation suffers many setbacks.

After learning that several of the key witnesses have died, and the court transcript of their testimony from the 1960s trials is lost, the team is convinced this is a futile effort. This is reinforced when DeLaughter fails at a desperate strategy of convincing two police officers who provided De La Beckwith with an alibi in the 1960s trials to admit they lied under oath. However, their pessimism fades with two discoveries. The rifle used in the murder, thought to have been lost, was hiding in plain sight. Later, one of the investigators learns of the existence of a witness unknown to the prosecution in the 1960s trials, Delmar Dennis. Dennis was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan who agreed to be an undercover informant for the FBI. Dennis testified against the Klan in the Mississippi Burning case, and once mentioned having met De La Beckwith. The investigation turns to finding Dennis, who was living in hiding since turning state's evidence on the KKK, to see what he knows of the case.

Once confirming that Dennis indeed had met De La Beckwith, the team is optimistic they have enough to secure a new indictment. As knowledge becomes public that the district attorney's office has re-opened the case, white supremacist elements threaten DeLaughter and his children, having by this time separated from his wife. After committing to Myrlie that he will try De La Beckwith again, Myrlie, initially skeptical of DeLaughter, reveals that she has a court certified transcript of one of the 1960s trials in her possession. DeLaughter had long sought such a transcript to be able to read testimony from deceased witnesses to the jury for the new trial. DeLaughter mostly presents the same case as was presented in the 1960s trial, with the addition of Dennis and two other witnesses who supported Dennis's testimony. Detective Lloyd Bennett reads the testimony of his father, Detective LC Bennett, the officer who found the murder weapon while searching the crime scene, to the jury.

In 1994, De La Beckwith was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The film ends with Myrlie tearfully rejoicing to the assembled crowd at the courthouse that she never gave up in the fight for justice for Medgar.

## Cast

[edit]

* Alec Baldwin as Bobby DeLaughter
* Whoopi Goldberg as Myrlie Evers
* James Woods as Byron De La Beckwith
* Diane Ladd as Caroline Moore, Dixie's mother
* Bonnie Bartlett as Billie DeLaughter, Bobby's mother
* Bill Cobbs as Charles Evers, Medgar's older brother
* William H. Macy as Charlie Crisco
* Virginia Madsen as Dixie DeLaughter, Bobby's first wife
* Michael O'Keefe as Merrida Coxwell
* Susanna Thompson as Peggy Lloyd, Bobby's second wife
* Craig T. Nelson as Ed Peters
* Brock Peters as Walter Williams, Myrlie's second husband
* James Pickens Jr. as Medgar Evers, Myrlie's first husband
* Bill Smitrovich as Jim Kitchens
* Lloyd "Benny" Bennett as Benny Bennett
* Ramon Bieri as James Holley
* Jerry Hardin as Barney DeLaughter, Bobby's father
* Jerry Levine as Jerry Mitchell
* Margo Martindale as Clara Mayfield
* Jim Harley as Delmar Dennis
* Terry O'Quinn as Judge Hilburn
* Andy Romano as Hardy Lott
* Lucas Black as Burt DeLaughter, Bobby & Dixie's first son
* Alexa Vega as Claire DeLaughter, Bobby & Dixie's daughter
* Joseph Tello as Drew DeLaughter, Bobby & Dixie's second son
* Sky Rumph as Jared Lloyd, Peggy's son
* Darrell Evers as Darrell Evers, Myrlie & Medgar's first son
* G. Ja'ron Henderson as Darrel (age 11)
* Yolanda King as Reena Evers, Myrlie & Medgar's daughter
* Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly as Reena (age 10)
* James Van Evers as Van Evers, Myrlie & Medgar's second son
* Curtis Tyler Haynes as Van (age 3)
* Richard Riehle as Tommy Mayfield, Clara's husband
* Rex Linn as Martin Scott
* Wayne Rogers as Morris Dees
* Early Whitesides as Ross Barnett

## Music

[edit]

The soundtrack of the film, with a score by Marc Shaiman, featured two versions of the Billy Taylor composition "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" – one sung by Dionne Farris and the other by Nina Simone – as well as numbers by Muddy Waters, Tony Bennett, Robert Johnson and B.B. King.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

Ghosts of Mississippi received mixed reviews from critics, though the performances of Goldberg and Woods were praised.[5][6][7] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "James Woods is convincing as a white supremacist, but everything else rings false in this courtroom drama, which examines a weighty subject from the least interesting perspective."[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[9]

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film two thumbs down, with both commenting that the film should have focused more on the story of Medgar Evers instead of Baldwin's character.[10]

The film was not a financial success, making less than half of its budget back.[11] Later, Alec Baldwin referred to the film as "tepid": "In ’96, I did The Edge and Ghosts of Mississippi. And that’s when you hear the sound of the wheels of the train screeching to a halt. The Edge and Ghosts of Mississippi were my last shots at the arcade, so to speak. Both movies were out in ’97. They bombed.”[12][13]

### Accolades

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Nominee(s)  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | James Woods | Nominated  | [14]
Best Makeup | Matthew W. Mungle and Deborah La Mia Denaver | Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | James Woods  | Nominated  | [15]
Critics Choice Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated  | [16]
Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Nominated  | [17]
Heartland Film Festival | Truly Moving Picture  | Rob Reiner | Won  |
NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture | Whoopi Goldberg  | Nominated  |
Online Film & Television Association Awards  | Best Supporting Actor  | James Woods  | Nominated  | [18]
Political Film Society Awards  | Human Rights | Won  |
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards  | Best Supporting Actor  | James Woods  | Runner-up  | [19]

## See also

[edit]

* Civil rights movement in popular culture
* Culture of Mississippi

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) - Financial Information".
2. ^ "Oscar night: Fashion world's moment in sun". The Orlando Sentinel. March 25, 1997. p. 4\. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ 1997|Oscars.org
4. ^ Steve McDonald, "Marc Shaiman: Ghosts of Mississippi", AllMusic Review.
5. ^ FILM REVIEW -- 'Mississippi' a Burning Drama on Evers Murder / Goldberg, Woods superb in story spanning 30 years - SFGate
6. ^ Roger Ebert.com
7. ^ EW.com
8. ^ "Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
9. ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
10. ^ Evita, Beavis & Butt-Head Do America, One Fine Day, My Fellow Americans, Scream, Ghosts of Mississippi, 1996 — Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews
11. ^ "Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
12. ^ "Alec Baldwin: 'I was staring off a cliff'". The Guardian. 2013-11-16. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
13. ^ Parker, Ian (2008-09-01). "Why Me?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
14. ^ "The 69th Academy Awards (1997) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
15. ^ "1988-2013 Award Winner Archives". Chicago Film Critics Association. January 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
16. ^ "The BFCA Critics' Choice Awards :: 1996". Broadcast Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008.
17. ^ "Ghosts of Mississippi – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
18. ^ "1st Annual Film Awards (1996)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
19. ^ "1996 SEFA Awards". sefca.net. Retrieved May 15, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Ghosts of Mississippi at IMDb
* Ghosts of Mississippi at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Rob Reiner

* Unrealized projects

* This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
* The Sure Thing (1985)
* Stand by Me (1986)
* The Princess Bride (1987)
* When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
* Misery (1990)
* A Few Good Men (1992)
* North (1994)
* The American President (1995)
* Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
* The Story of Us (1999)
* Alex & Emma (2003)
* Rumor Has It (2005)
* The Bucket List (2007)
* Flipped (2010)
* The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
* And So It Goes (2014)
* Being Charlie (2015)
* LBJ (2016)
* Shock and Awe (2017)
* Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023)
* Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template