Ghosts of Mississippi

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Ghosts of Mississippi Sidney Baldwin/Castle Rock

How does this happen? A Hollywood dramatization of a true story, one that involves one of our society's flash points, and it's curiously short on drama. But there's no shortage of melodramatic sermonizing, especially by the film's hero, Bobby DeLaughter (Baldwin), who even has second thoughts about singing “Dixie” to his young daughter. As the prosecuting attorney in the Medgar Evers murder case, DeLaughter works diligently to bring justice and closure to the victim's family, which has been waiting 30 years for a conviction of racist murderer Byron De La Beckwith (Woods), who got off in two earlier trials. Goldberg, in an uncharacteristicly dignified role, shows a quiet nobility as Evers's widow.