Mississippi Burning

Year:

1989

Duration:

128 min

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

IMDB rate:

7.8

Director:

Alan Parker

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 18 wins & 22 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1989-01-27

Filming Locations: Braxton, Mississippi, USA

Earnings

Budget: $15,000,000

Opening Weekend: $225,034 (USA) (11 December 1988)

Gross: $34,603,943 (USA)£1,750,272 (UK)

Cast

Actor

Character

Pruitt Taylor Vince

Gene Hackman

Agent Rupert Anderson

Willem Dafoe

Agent Alan Ward

Frances McDormand

Mrs. Pell

Brad Dourif

Deputy Clinton Pell

R. Lee Ermey

Mayor Tilman

Gailard Sartain

Sheriff Ray Stuckey

Stephen Tobolowsky

Clayton Townley

Michael Rooker

Frank Bailey

Badja Djola

Agent Monk

Kevin Dunn

Agent Bird

Frankie Faison

Eulogist

Thomas B. Mason

Judge (as Tom Mason)

Geoffrey Nauffts

Goatee

Rick Zieff

Passenger

Christopher White

Black Passenger

Gladys Greer

Hattie

Jake Gipson

Mose

Dianne Lancaster

Waitress

Stanley W. Collins

Hollis

Daniel Winford

Fennis

Marc Clement

Floyd Swilley

Larry Shuler

Earl Cooke

Stephen Bridgewater

Wesley Cooke (as Stephen Wesley Bridgewater)

Bob Penny

Curtis Foy

James F. Moore

Barber

Park Overall

Connie

Georgia F. Wise

Beauty Parlor Woman 1

Lois Allen

Beauty Parlor Woman 2

Barry Davis Jim Sr.

Choctaw Man

Dan Desmond

Television Commentator

Darius McCrary

Aaron Williams (as Daruis McCrary)

Lou Walker

Vertis Williams

Billie Jean Young

Mrs. Williams

Alisa R. Patrick

Church Soloist

Barbara Gibson

Church Soloist

Pat Funderburk

Pell Maid

Dawn Boyd

Interviewee

Dwight Boyd

Interviewee

Linda Fuller

Interviewee

George Isbell

Interviewee

Ethel L. Mayes

Interviewee

James Arnold Mayes

Interviewee

George Mason

Farmer

Charles Franzen

Interviewer & Reporter

Harry Franklin

SNCC Interviewer

Virginia Bennett

SNCC Interviewee

James Lloyd

SNCC Interviewee

Jesse Merle Speaks

Pecan Vendor

Simeon Teague

Obie Walker

Tonea Stewart

Mrs. Walker

Harry Quick

Doctor (as Rev. Harry Quick)

Cullen Gilliland

Lawyer

Zeke Davidson

Lawyer

Robert F. Colesberry

Cameraman

Frederick Zollo

Reporter

Judy Sasser

Neighbor Woman

Mark Jeffrey Miller

Fire Bomber

Ed Geldart

Fire Bomber

Mert Hatfield

Fire Bomber

James Eric

Fire Bomber

Paul Savelis

Trooper

John P. Fertitta

T.V. Commentator #2

Ron De Roxtra

Reporter #3

Doug Jackson

Reporter #4

Gary Moody

Reporter #5

Robert Erickson

Reporter #6

John Brook

Reporter #7

Tobin Bell

Agent Stokes

Daniel Chapman

Agent MacMillan

Rick Washburn

Agent Brodsky

Robert Glaudini

Agent Nash (as Bob Glaudini)

Kenneth Magee

Agent Reilly

Everett Thrall

Agent Tubbs (as E.A. Thrall)

Bernice Poindexter

Grieving Mother

Brenda Dunlap

Mrs. Cowens

Lannie Spann McBride

Gospel Singer

Jack Buck

Baseball Announcer (voice) (uncredited)

Ralnardo Davis

Willie (uncredited)

Paul Henderson

Local #1 (uncredited)

W. Mitchell Morgan

Angry reporter on bridge (uncredited)

Ralph Pruitt Vaughn

Peckerwood (uncredited)

James Lowell Turnham

Man in car. (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

One of Stephen Tobolowsky's heroes is his late aunt, Hermine Tobolowsky, known as the "mother of the Texas Equal Rights Amendment".

Share this

During filming of rednecks-vs-reporters scenes on a bridge over the Big Black River near Bovina, Mississippi, two extras were nearly killed by a train when they ventured from a holding area onto a tall concrete-arch railroad bridge. They narrowly escaped injury by huddling on a tiny pedestal on the bridge's edge.

Share this

Many of the extras participating in Clayton Townley's speech scene were actual members of the Klu Klux Klan and used their clan membership cards as ID (according to Stephen Tobolowsky in Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party (2005)).

Share this

Goofs

When Rupert and Ward are in the motel room and the shotgun blast occurs, the mirror on the wall cracks a split second before the window and blinds shatter.

Share this

During the opening chase, the flashing light on the roof of the police car disappears and reappears several times.

Share this

When Anderson throws Pell into the chairs at the barbershop, the stuntman has a different hairstyle (balding, with a comb-over) than Pell.

Share this

Quotes

Frank Bailey: Get this straight, you corn-holin' fucker. You tell your queer-ass nigger bosses that they ain't never gonna find those civil rightsers down here! So you might as well pack up and go back up North where you came from and...

Share this

Frank Bailey: [after kicking Aaron to the ground] You've already been told once, nigger! And we're not gonna tell you again. If you go making any more trouble by squawking them boot lips off to any of those Federal men, then we sure as hell are gonna have to put you in the ground, boy. And that's without a pine box. Do you understand ME!

Share this

Agent Ward: You wanna drive, Rupert?

Share this

Faq

Q

Why was Mrs. Pell's house all trashed out?

A

The movie doesn't explain, so viewers have offered two suggestions: (1) KKK members did it in retaliation for her talking to Anderson, and (2) the FBI searched the house and left it in that condition.

Q

Any recommendations for other movies similar to 'Mississippi Burning'?

A

High on the list of recommendations by those who liked Mississippi Burning is In the Heat of the Night (1967), in which an African-American detective from Philadelphia is asked to investigate a murder in a racist Mississippi town. Another TV movie about the murders of the civil rights workers is Murder in Mississippi (1990). Other recommended movies dealing with racism toward black Americans include: The Intruder (1962), Nothing But a Man (1964), A Time to Kill (1996), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and Rosewood (1997).

Q

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?

A

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Mississippi Burning can be found here.

Share this