Murder in Mississippi

I like to watch this move as a prelude to Mississippi Burning. Great beginning.

It's a TV docudrama about three voting registration workers set in Meridian and Neshoba County, Mississippi, from April to June 1964. James Chaney (Blair Underwood) is a local African American Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) worker who has been active since age 15. He is initially suspicious of a Northern Jewish student couple set by CORE to prepare for the Freedom Summer voter registration drive. The couple, Mickey (Tom Hulce) and Rita Schwerner (Jennifer Grey), had become Civil Rights activists in New York City and were assigned to Meridian by CORE's Bob Moses (Aferno Omilamio).

"Murder in Mississippi" follows their increasing trust and efforts to register voters and establish Freedom Schools, extending into Neshoba County. Andrew Goodman (Josh Charles) was part of CORE training in Ohio and became present in Mississippi only in mid-June when an African American church burned in Neshoba County. The three men, Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman, happened to travel together to investigate the burning and disappeared.

"Murder in Mississippi" takes some liberties with history to help make its point. Goodman was a CORE trainer, not a novice, as depicted. The three men's last trip began from the Ohio training camp, not from Meridian. Obviously, the last conversation in the car was created out of whole cloth. Also, the movie makes Mickey Schwerner much more naive than he would have been when he and Rita first arrived in Meridian. This naiveté helped the storyline but made me roll my eyes.

However, "Murder in Mississippi" portrays the tensions exacerbated by young summer-only Northern liberals trying to address a generations-old problem, the dangers faced by local African Americans who took courageous steps to assert their rights, and the violent reaction by Southern whites fearing the loss of their privilege. I also learned about the courageous Rita Schwerner, who disappeared from popular history but became a lawyer several years later.

This movie is set in Mississippi in 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement. What did the civil rights workers from up North face when they went South for registration drives and other civil rights work? What kind of people were they? This gem of a movie tells the story of three civil rights workers, two from up North, who paid the ultimate price for their dedication. This movie is beautifully written and acted. It is based on a true story and was developed from a story written by Ben Stein. Since this site uses a 10 point rating system, I rate this movie a 10. I am a movie lover and this movie is on my top 25 list.

This movie should be out in video!

Mike Porter

Watched this on YouTube last night; had seen it when it first came out. It's a powerful movie and almost as good as the big-screen "Mississippi Burning" which fictionalizes the FBI investigation.

"Murder in Mississippi" I think takes some liberties with the relationship between Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney; I suspect that they weren't that antagonistic towards each other.

Tom Hulce is outstanding as Schwerner, a few years after his Oscar-nominated work in "Amadeus". Jennifer Grey is also very good as Jill Schwerner, his idealistic wife who is overwhelmed by the situation they're in.

The actors playing the racist Klansmen are uniformly convincing. The language in this movie is absolutely brutal, like a hammer hitting the viewer constantly over the head. Josh Charles plays Andrew Goodman, who comes into the story very late (Goodman had only been in Mississippi a couple of days before the murders). Charles makes the most of his late entry into the story.

All-around, it's an outstanding movie and really it should've been released on the big screen instead of TV.

I really enjoyed it. This is a wonderful movie and I like to watch it before I watch "Mississippi Burning," although I think this is the better of the two movies. I have been reading up on these murders and the only thing I noticed that was off, was that the film created a friction between Mickey & James that never existed.