Development
In 1985, screenwriter Chris Gerolmo discovered an article that excerpted a chapter from the book Inside Hoover's F.B.I., which chronicled the FBI's investigation into the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner.[11] While writing a draft script, Gerolmo brought it to producer Frederick Zollo, who worked with him on Miles from Home (1988).[12] Zollo helped Gerolmo develop the original draft before they sold it to Orion Pictures.[13]
The studio then began its search for a director. Filmmakers Miloš Forman and John Schlesinger were among those considered.[12] In September 1987, Alan Parker was given a copy of Gerolmo's script by Orion's executive vice president and co-founder Mike Medavoy.[13] When Parker traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to act as a juror for the 1987 Tokyo International Film Festival, his colleague Robert F. Colesberry began researching the time period, and compiled books, newspaper articles, live news footage and photographs related to the 1964 murders.[14][15] Upon returning to the United States, Parker met with Colesberry in New York and spent several months viewing the research.[13][15] The director also began selecting the creative team; the production reunited Parker with many of his past collaborators, including Colesberry, casting directors Howard Feuer and Juliet Taylor, director of photography Peter Biziou, editor Gerry Hambling, costume designer Aude Bronson-Howard, production designer Geoffrey Kirkland, camera operator Michael Roberts, and music composer Trevor Jones.[13][16]
Writing
Gerolmo described his original draft script as "a big, passionate, violent detective story set against the greatest sea-change in American life in the 20th century, the civil rights movement".[11] For legal reasons, the names of the people and certain details related to the FBI's investigation were changed.[7] On presenting Clinton Pell's wife as an informant, Gerolmo said, "... the fact that no one knew who Mr. X, the informant, was, left that as a dramatic possibility for me, in my Hollywood movie version of the story. That's why Mr. X became the wife of one of the conspirators."[7] The abductor of Mayor Tilman was originally written as a Mafia hitman who forces a confession by putting a pistol in Tilman's mouth. Gerolmo was inspired by Gregory Scarpa, a mob enforcer allegedly recruited by the FBI during their search for Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner.[17]
After Parker was hired to direct the film, Gerolmo had completed two drafts.[13] Parker met with Gerolmo at Orion's offices in Century City, Los Angeles, where they began work on a third draft script. Both the writer and director, however, had repeated disagreements over the focus of the story. To resolve the issue, Orion executives in New York gave Parker one month to make uncredited rewrites before green-lighting the project.[13]
Parker made several changes from Gerolmo's original draft. He omitted the Mafia hitman and created the character Agent Monk, a black FBI specialist who kidnaps Tilman.[7] The scene in which Frank Bailey brutally beats a news cameraman was based on an actual event; Parker and Colesberry were inspired by a news outtake found during their research, in which a CBS News cameraman was assaulted by a suspect in the 1964 murder case.[12] Parker also wrote a sex scene involving Rupert Anderson and Mrs. Pell. The scene was omitted during filming after Gene Hackman, who portrays Anderson, suggested to Parker that the relationship between the two characters be more discreet.[12][18] By January 4, 1988, Parker had written a complete shooting script, which he submitted to Orion executives.[13] Gerolmo did not visit the production during principal photography, due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.[14]
Casting
Parker held casting calls in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, New Orleans, Raleigh and Nashville.[13] The filmmakers did not retain the names of actual people; many of the supporting characters were composites of people related to the murder case.[7] Gene Hackman plays Rupert Anderson, an FBI agent and former Mississippi sheriff.[14] Brian Dennehy was briefly considered for the role[19] before Orion suggested Hackman.[14] As the script was being written, Parker frequently discussed the project with Hackman.[13] Hackman said that "it felt right to do something of historical import. It was an extremely intense experience, both the content of the film and the making of it in Mississippi."[18]
Orion was less resolute in terms of who they wanted for the role of Agent Alan Ward. After filming The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Willem Dafoe expressed interest in playing Ward,[14] and Parker traveled to Los Angeles, where he met with the actor to discuss the role. Dafoe was cast shortly thereafter.[13] To prepare for the role, Dafoe researched the time period and Neshoba County. He also read Willie Morris's 1983 novel The Courting of Marcus Dupree, and looked at 1960s documentary footage detailing how the media covered the murder case.[20] Frances McDormand plays Mrs. Pell, the wife of Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell. On working with Hackman, McDormand said: "Mississippi Burning, I didn't do research. All I did was listen to [Hackman]. He had an amazing capacity for not giving away any part of himself (in read-throughs). But the minute we got on the set, little blinds on his eyes flipped up and everything was available. It was mesmerizing. He's really believable, and it was like a basic acting lesson."[21]
Gailard Sartain plays Ray Stuckey, the sheriff of Jessup County – a character based on former Neshoba County sheriff Lawrence A. Rainey.[14][22] Sartain described Stuckey as "an elected official ... who has to be gregarious – but with sinister overtones".[23] Stephen Tobolowsky plays Clayton Townley, a Grand Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.[14] The character is based on White Knights leader Samuel Bowers.[24] Michael Rooker plays Frank Bailey, a Klansman involved in the murders of the three civil rights activists.[25] Pruitt Taylor Vince, who had a small role in Parker's previous film Angel Heart, plays Lester Cowens, a Klansman who unknowingly becomes a pawn in the FBI's investigation. Vince described the character as "goofy, stupid and geeky" and stated, "I never had a prejudiced bone in my body. It gave me a funny feeling to play this guy with a hood and everything. But when you're in the midst of it, you just concentrate on getting through it."[26]
Kevin Dunn joined the production in February 1988, appearing in his acting debut as FBI Agent Bird.[27] Tobin Bell, also making his feature film debut, plays Agent Stokes,[28] an FBI enforcer hired by Anderson to interrogate Cowens.[14] Bell was first asked by Parker to read for the role of Clinton Pell, a role that was ultimately given to Brad Dourif.[29]
Appearing as the three civil rights activists are Geoffrey Nauffts as "Goatee", a character based on Michael Schwerner; Rick Zieff as "Passenger", based on Andrew Goodman; and Christopher White as "Black Passenger", based on James Chaney.[14][16] Producers Frederick Zollo and Robert F. Colesberry also make appearances in the film; Zollo briefly appears as a news reporter,[16] and Colesberry appears as a news cameraman who is brutally beaten by Frank Bailey.[13] While scouting locations in Jackson, Mississippi, Parker arranged an open casting call for local actors and extras.[13] He and Colesberry met music teacher Lannie McBride, who appears as a gospel singer in the film.[13]
Filming
- Location scouting
During the screenwriting process, Parker and Colesberry began scouting locations. They visited eight states based on suggestions made by the location department. The shooting script required that a total of 62 locations be used for filming.[13] In December 1987, Parker and Colesberry traveled to Mississippi to visit the stretch of road where Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were murdered.[14] The filmmakers were initially reluctant about filming in Mississippi; they expressed interest in filming in Forsyth County, Georgia, before being persuaded by John Horne, head of Mississippi's film commission.[12] Parker also met with Mississippi governor Ray Mabus, who voiced his support of the film's production.[13]
Parker and Colesberry looked at locations near Jackson, Mississippi, where they set up production offices at a Holiday Inn hotel.[13] They also visited Canton, Mississippi, before travelling to Vaiden, Mississippi, where they scouted more than 200 courthouses that could be used for filming.[13] Parker and Colesberry had difficulty finding a small town for the story setting before choosing LaFayette, Alabama, to act as scenes set in the fictional town of Jessup County, Mississippi, with other scenes being shot in a number of locales in Mississippi.[13]
- Principal photography
Principal photography began on March 7, 1988,[13] with a budget of $15 million.[12][15][30] Filming began in Jackson, Mississippi, where the production team filmed a church being burned down. The sequence required a multiple-camera setup; a total of three cameras were used during the shoot.[13] On March 8, the production team filmed a scene set in a motel where Anderson (Hackman) delivers a monologue to Ward (Dafoe).[13] On March 10, production moved to a remote corner of Mississippi, where the crew filmed the burning of a parish church.[13]
On March 11, the production filmed scenes set in a pig farm, where a young boy is confronted and attacked by three perpetrators. A night later, the crew shot the film's opening sequence, in which the three civil rights workers are murdered.[13] From March 14 to March 18, the crew filmed the burning of several more churches, as well as scenes set in a farm.[13] On March 22, the crew filmed scenes set in a morgue that was located inside the University of Mississippi Medical Center, exactly the same location where the bodies of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were transported.[13] A day later, Parker and the crew filmed a scene set in a cotton field. The art department had to dress each plant with layers of cotton, as the cotton plants had not fully bloomed.[13] The crew also filmed the abduction of Mayor Tilman (R. Lee Ermey) and his subsequent interrogation by FBI agent Monk (Badja Djola).[13] On March 24, the production moved to Raymond, Mississippi, where the crew filmed a scene at the John Bell Williams Airport.[13] Depicting Monk's departure, the scene was choreographed by Parker and the cast members so that it could be filmed in one take.[13]
The production then moved to Vaiden, Mississippi to film scenes set in the Carroll County Courthouse, where several courtroom scenes, as well as scenes set in Sheriff Ray Stuckey's office were filmed.[13][14] The production moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where the crew filmed a funeral procession. On April 11, 1988, the crew filmed a scene set in the Cedar Hill Cemetery.[13] From April 15 to April 16, the production moved to the Mississippi River valley to depict the FBI and United States Navy's search for the three civil rights workers. The art department recreated a Choctaw Indian Village on the location, based on old photographs.[13] On April 23, the crew filmed a scene depicting a Citizens' Councils rally with 750 extras. On April 25, the crew returned to Jackson, Mississippi, where an unused building was to recreate a diner that was found in Alabama during location scouting. A day later, Hackman and Dafoe filmed their opening scene, in which the characters Anderson and Ward drive to Jessup County, Mississippi.[13]
On April 27, the production moved to LaFayette, Alabama, for the remainder of filming.[13] From April 28 to April 29, Parker and his crew filmed scenes set in Mrs. Pell's home. On May 5, the production shot one of the film's final scenes, in which Anderson discovers Mrs. Pell's home trashed. On May 13, the crew filmed scenes in a former LaFayette movie theatre. The art department restored the theatre's interiors to reflect the time period.[13] Filming concluded on May 14, 1988 with the Ku Klux Klan speech scene.[13]
Music
The score was produced, arranged and composed by Trevor Jones, his second collaboration with Parker after Angel Heart.[31] In addition to Jones's score, the soundtrack features several gospel songs, including "Walk on by Faith" performed by Lannie McBride, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" performed by Mahalia Jackson and "Try Jesus" performed by Vesta Williams. A motion picture soundtrack album was released by the recording labels Antilles Records and Island Records.[32]
