As featured in December 1996/January
1997
Righting a Wrong
Ghosts of Mississippi
Shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, an assassin's bullet ended the life of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the first field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the state of Mississippi. His killer was white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith, who was released after two trials which had resulted in hung juries within the year.
Nearly 31 years would pass before justice would
make its peace with Medgar Evers. Through perseverance and faith, his case
would be resurrected, and Mississippi-along with the world-would take a
significant step toward atonement as well as racial equality.
Ghosts of Mississippi, directed by Rob Reiner, is the true account of a murder and its trials which had a profound impact on many lives as well as the history of American racial politics. Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October, Malice), Whoopi Goldberg (Oscar winner for Ghost), and James Woods (Salvador, Nixon) star in the Castle Rock Entertainment film, which is produced by Reiner, Frederick Zollo, Nicholas Paleologos, and Andrew Scheinman, and written by Lewis Colick (Unlawful Entry). Jeffrey Stott and Charles Newirth are the executive producers.
Alec Baldwin stars as assistant district attorney Bobby DeLaughter, a young lawyer who would summon the courage and dedication to reopen a notorious case considered impossible to win. Whoopi Goldberg stars as Myrlie Evers, a widow victimized by hatred whose undaunted pursuit of justice would bind her closely with DeLaughter to finally bring Byron De La Beckwith (played by James Woods) face-to-face with his crime and its consequences.
Bobby DeLaughter would eventually drive a wedge into his marriage, jeopardize his career, and put his family at risk in order to right a wrong suffered many years ago by a fallen hero and the cause he died to advance. After he is assigned to reopen the case by District Attorney Ed Peters (Craig T. Nelson), DeLaughter enlists the aid of investigators Charlie Crisco (William H. Macy) and Benny Bennett (playing himself) in uncovering evidence once thought impossible to reclaim. Throughout a journey filled with self-doubt and public criticism, he pursues not only justice for Medgar Evers, but also proof that Mississippi can change for the better as well.
Craig T. Nelson, William H. Macy, Diane Ladd, and Virginia Madsen head a strong supporting cast that also includes Susanna Thompson, Michael O'Keefe, Bill Smitrovich, and Wayne Rogers among others, as well as Medgar Evers' three children, Darrell Evers and Van Evers (who portray themselves), plus Reena Evers (who chose to play a juror, as her good friend Yolanda King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., plays Reena in the film).
"I felt a tremendous responsibility to make this film as accurate as possible," says director Rob Reiner, who has found substantial success as a filmmaker with such diverse box-office hits as The American President, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, and others. "We haven't deviated one iota from what happened in this case. Perhaps people will think we made it up, as it is so astounding. But since many people now get their history through movies, I wanted to portray the characters in this film as honestly as we possibly could."
The idea of making a major feature film around the Medgar Evers case was initiated by producer Frederick Zollo, who also produced the film Mississippi Burning in Jackson, Mississippi. On a visit to Jackson during the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, Zollo attempted to attend the trial verdict but could not due to its overflow crowds. However, his friend Willie Morris, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Jackson resident, witnessed most of the proceedings and suggested to Zollo that the story of the trials would make an uplifting motion picture.
"It is an incredible 31-year journey from this horrible act of violence to redemption. Not only for the individuals involved, but for the state of Mississippi and the country," said Zollo.
Castle Rock Entertainment assigned screenwriter
Lewis Colick to travel to Jackson and compile an exhaustive history of the
murder case and its three trials. Colick initially wavered on the length
of the investigation trip to Jackson, as he was the father of a two-year-old
son and wasn't looking to be away from home. "But the more you learn
about Medgar Evers, the more you are tempted to spend time in the past and
uncover his story through its many phases," says Colick.
Medgar Evers, in life, was a true hero. One of the lone voices against oppression in the early days of civil rights activism in his home state of Mississippi, Evers was appointed the first field secretary for the NAACP in November 1954, shortly after being refused entry into the University of Mississippi Law School due to his color. For nearly a decade, he fought against racial injustice and took up the causes of its victims, often at his own peril. At his side were his wife, Myrlie, and his brother, Charles, both of whom would eventually work for the NAACP and champion his beliefs long after his death (Myrlie was elected chair of the NAACP board of directors).
By June 1963, Medgar Evers was a marked man. His position as a leader of the Mississippi black population was bolstered by his growing presence in the media as a spokesman for his people. He and his family were soon the target of hate crimes and harassment by white organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, in which Byron De La Beckwith was a member. An outspoken racist, Beckwith championed the causes of white supremacy and was often involved in nefarious crimes against local blacks and their sympathizers during the volatile early 1960s, when President John F. Kennedy spoke strongly against racial inequality in America. As more black people registered to vote, Medgar Evers became a man of power. And, in the eyes of Byron De La Beckwith, a dangerous enemy of white society.
On the evening of June 11, 1963, Beckwith made a 97-mile journey from his hometown of Greenwood in the Delta area of Mississippi to Jackson. He positioned himself in a thicket 200 yards from Evers' front door, armed with a 30.06 Enfield rifle with a powerful Golden Hawk scope, and waited for Evers to return home for the night.
Just after midnight, Medgar Evers rolled into his driveway and was shot once in the back while stepping out of his car. He crawled nearly 40 feet to his back door, where his wife and three small children held him as he lay dying.
His death caused a national furor of public and political outrage. His body was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, with heads of state in attendance. Meanwhile, evidence was gathered linking Byron De La Beckwith to the crime and he was soon brought to trial. Two all-white male juries could not find him guilty or innocent, and he was a free man in 1964. Since both trials ended in hung juries, it would be possible to retry Beckwith in the future, as there is no statute of limitations on murder.
It would take 25 years until the specter of the Medgar Evers case would rise again in Jackson. Due in part to a local newspaper's revelation that recently released files of the state-run Sovereignty Commission revealed possible jury tampering, a decision was made by the Hinds County District Attorney's office to reopen the case after repeated requests from Myrlie Evers and others in 1989.
Bobby DeLaughter, an assistant district attorney
in his mid-thirties, was assigned to the case. Although he was just 11 when
Medgar Evers was shot, DeLaughter soon found himself totally immersed in
finding the new evidence the case would need. He also developed a bond with
Myrlie Evers, who was instrumental in supporting the case and supplied a
transcript of the original trial that was thought to have been lost. Once
the murder weapon was located and new witnesses agreed to testify, Bobby
DeLaughter was ready to face not only Byron De La Beckwith, but the public
criticism and political grandstanding that had surrounded the trial since
the case was reopened in 1989.
"I think it's important to make this film now because so many people, in Mississippi and around the world, don't remember who Medgar Evers was," says Frederick Zollo. "I don't think people know the background of the story or how compelling it is. Heroism occurred here on several levels. Racism is still a serious problem in our country, and I think seeing a state like Mississippi try to rid itself of its racist past is heroic indeed."
"For years I wanted to make a film that dealt with race relations," adds Rob Reiner. "But I didn't feel I had the right to tell the stories of people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or even Medgar Evers, for that matter. But I felt I had the right to tell the story of a white person facing these issues and what he learns about himself. Bobby DeLaughter was my way into this subject matter."
The filmmakers often consulted with Myrlie Evers who gave them her insight as well as her support. Although Bobby DeLaughter evolved into the focus for the screenplay, it was the presence of Medgar Evers' widow, Myrlie, and her children Darrell, Van, and Reena which gave the production its important clarity.
"Myrlie Evers is a remarkable woman," says Reiner. "It was a very tough part for Whoopi to play and I think she felt an enormous pressure carrying the mantle of Myrlie Evers."
Whoopi Goldberg and Evers had met before. She was one of the actress' most admired figures. "Myrlie Evers is definitely powerful," says Goldberg. "She has a huge presence when she enters a room, much like other incredible women such as Shirley Chisholm or Coretta King.
"One of the things Myrlie instilled in me was that she and her children celebrated Medgar," Goldberg continues. "They kept him alive by celebration. People only die if you forget them. She loved her husband with every fiber of her being and she is able in the film to pass the idea that justice is real to Bobby DeLaughter. When Myrlie talks to me about Bobby in real life, she glows. They really changed the judicial system in Mississippi. The power shifted thanks to Myrlie, Bobby, and Ed Peters."
Since the actress needed to play her role at two
different ages, 30 years apart, she took special care to research her character.
"Myrlie and I are from two separate eras," explains Goldberg.
"Her cadence and her manner are so vastly different from mine. I had
to get into her from the 1960s forward as an adult, as I was a kid in the
'60s. Playing a real character as opposed to a fictional one carries with
it a responsibility, and luckily for many of us, our characters were set
visitors during the filming."
One actor who did not want to meet his real-life counterpart was James Woods, who plays the assassin Byron De La Beckwith. Even though the convicted murderer was jailed inside the Hinds County Courthouse and only a short distance from actual filming there, Woods chose not to come close to Beckwith.
"I had no desire to meet the man himself," says Woods, who has memorably played real-life killers before in films such as The Onion Field. "For one thing, he shot somebody else in the back in front of his wife and kids. There is no reason that could ever justify that kind of horrible behavior. So why would I want to meet him? I also didn't want to further glorify his inflated sense of himself. I wouldn't want to breathe the same air."
Great care was also given by the filmmakers to shoot as many of the exterior scenes in their actual locations as possible. They secured such locations as the actual Evers home at 2332 Guynes Street in northwest Jackson and the Hinds County Courthouse in downtown Jackson.
While shooting the assassination at night at the former Evers residence, several visitors to the set brought an uncanny realism to the production. Charles Evers, older brother of Medgar, appeared as a bystander and silently watched the filming, keeping to himself. Many of the neighbors on the block were living there in 1963, some offering advice as to what would be the most accurate version of the events following the murder. Participants such as Bobby DeLaughter and district attorney's investigator Charlie Crisco also attended, blending in with the hushed crew.
"In the film, Medgar Evers is assassinated
on the exact spot he was standing that night in 1963," says Frederick
Zollo. "The actual interiors of the Evers house were used, including
the same room Mrs. Evers was in during that night. Even when we went inside
to shoot interiors in Los Angeles, those details were keenly observed and
reproduced. The authenticity of this film became Rob's tough standard."
The interior of the Hinds County Courthouse courtroom, as well as the District Attorney's offices, were built on sets at Culver Studios in California. The company finished shooting there after six initial weeks in Jackson, Mississippi, (as well as other Mississippi communities such as Natchez, Yazoo City, and Port Gibson). Some private homes, such as the DeLaughter and present-day Evers' residences, were recreated at homes in Southern California. But overall, the aim was to shoot as much on actual location as possible with many of the actual participants either on-screen or off-camera.
"I think Rob Reiner has really done a good job and I sense that he has a lot of integrity for our story," says Darrell Evers, who portrayed himself on leave from his position at a Santa Monica, California, software design company. The now 43-year-old Evers, who was 9 at the time of his father's death, was impressed with the care and passion with which the director approached his father's story. "Justice is a word that can be overused, but I feel that justice has been done. It's a great feeling. And to have a film made about our story is an added boost. It is something we never expected."
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