The Murder of Emmett Till (2003) 1st watched 6/22/2003 - 8 out of 10(Dir-Stanley Nelson): Chilling & disturbing account of the murder of a 14 year old black boy visiting Mississippi from Chicago. This is a straight-forward no nonsense account that just tells the story the way it happened according to the killers themselves(because of the account they sold to a magazine) and the victims(the entire black race). It's amazing that this story is just now turned into a documentary for the whole world to see when it's obvious that this had a major impact on black society and their outrage that started the civil rights movement. The more it's watched the more disturbing it is which is why I consider this a well done documentary.
5 Reviews
At times difficult to watch--but an important show to watch nevertheless.
planktonrules3 April 2013
If you watch this episode of "The American Experience", you are bound to become angry and a bit sad. If you don't, then that is awfully sad. The story is about a black teenager who was brutally murdered in 1955 by a groups of whites. The subsequent reaction of the country as well as the white Mississippi community it occurred are discussed in the film using modern interviews with survivors, archive footage and narration. The bottom line is that this senseless killing fortunately led to a good thing--black America deciding enough is enough.
Like all the episodes of the series, this one is exceptionally constructed from start to finish. It's top-notch and makes its case very well. I recommend it and all the episodes of "The American Experience".
By the way, be forewarned that the show has some VERY gruesome pictures of Emmett Till's corpse. You might wish to speed past them or at least prevent younger kids from watching the show.
Like all the episodes of the series, this one is exceptionally constructed from start to finish. It's top-notch and makes its case very well. I recommend it and all the episodes of "The American Experience".
By the way, be forewarned that the show has some VERY gruesome pictures of Emmett Till's corpse. You might wish to speed past them or at least prevent younger kids from watching the show.
The Murder Of Emmett Till
a_baron22 July 2014
Although this documentary takes some liberties with the truth about lynching, from a purely historical perspective, it is for the most part an accurate and shameful cataloguing of one of the most notorious murders in 20th Century America.
There is much archive footage including of the victim's mother, who almost half a century on, also speaks to the cameras as do many others – black and white – who were part of the case. In fact, Mamie Till died two weeks before this documentary was released.
Arguably more outrageous than the acquittal of her son's murderers was the question put to her by the defense. Till's body had been delivered to his mother in a sealed casket with instructions that it was not to be opened. In view of its condition, this was reasonable, and indeed it would be mandatory in many jurisdictions all things considered. She had though ordered the casket opened, and exhibited the body at his funeral in the Chicago church. On the witness stand it was put to her that the body concerned was not her son, and that she had conspired with the NAACP to perpetrate a hoax. Her son, it was suggested, was very much alive back home in Chicago – and undoubtedly laughing up his sleeve.
These sort of tactics are guaranteed to alienate even the most biased of juries, but not this one, which acquitted the two accused in an hour, and that only because they didn't want to be seen returning with undue haste.
It is possible that if the authorities had not pursued the death penalty the verdict might have been different, but let's not kid ourselves. To add insult to injury, a few months after the trial the two perpetrators sold their story to a national magazine for $4,000. Donald Hume did the same thing in England after being cleared of the murder of his partner-in-crime Stanley Setty, but he had at least spent 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge following a hung jury.
It remains to be seen if the resulting so-called civil rights movement was a fitting legacy for Emmett Till, most of its proponents seem unable to distinguish between forced integration and justice, which at the end of the day is the only thing that is ever warranted.
There is much archive footage including of the victim's mother, who almost half a century on, also speaks to the cameras as do many others – black and white – who were part of the case. In fact, Mamie Till died two weeks before this documentary was released.
Arguably more outrageous than the acquittal of her son's murderers was the question put to her by the defense. Till's body had been delivered to his mother in a sealed casket with instructions that it was not to be opened. In view of its condition, this was reasonable, and indeed it would be mandatory in many jurisdictions all things considered. She had though ordered the casket opened, and exhibited the body at his funeral in the Chicago church. On the witness stand it was put to her that the body concerned was not her son, and that she had conspired with the NAACP to perpetrate a hoax. Her son, it was suggested, was very much alive back home in Chicago – and undoubtedly laughing up his sleeve.
These sort of tactics are guaranteed to alienate even the most biased of juries, but not this one, which acquitted the two accused in an hour, and that only because they didn't want to be seen returning with undue haste.
It is possible that if the authorities had not pursued the death penalty the verdict might have been different, but let's not kid ourselves. To add insult to injury, a few months after the trial the two perpetrators sold their story to a national magazine for $4,000. Donald Hume did the same thing in England after being cleared of the murder of his partner-in-crime Stanley Setty, but he had at least spent 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge following a hung jury.
It remains to be seen if the resulting so-called civil rights movement was a fitting legacy for Emmett Till, most of its proponents seem unable to distinguish between forced integration and justice, which at the end of the day is the only thing that is ever warranted.
Horrifying but a Must-See
ceebeegee10 February 2008
This is not a true documentary as it's a little short (it's part of PBS's American Experience series), but it's a good introduction to an horrific episode in American history. It's difficult for younger Americans to appreciate just how brutal the Southern way of life was for blacks before civil rights, and Mississippi was the worst. It's truly unfathomable that grown men could somehow justify kidnapping, beating and murdering a young boy, and that a jury could find them innocent despite overwhelming evidence. (The two men later confessed to Look magazine, and of course were protected by double jeopardy.) Emmett Till's murder could've been swept under the rug, but his mother decided to have an open casket viewing, and Jet magazine ran photos of the body. The pictures galvanized the world, and the spark was lit for righteous Americans of all colors to try to change the unwritten code of black persecution. As said, it's a little short on details--the PBS website has some good features that flesh the case out a little. Good interviews, and the contextual information is useful. Be warned, there are some upsetting pictures of lynchings and Emmett Till's body (which are necessary to appreciate the brutality of this system). This is a story that needs to be told over and over--we have made a great deal of progress but the lynchings of Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd demonstrate we are not there yet.
Hard to Believe This Happened Not So Long Ago
Michael_Elliott4 April 2012
The American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till (2003)
**** (out of 4)
Hard-hitting documentary taking a look at 14-year-old Emmett Till, a Chicago boy who went to Mississippi for the summer and when there he whistled at a white woman. He mutilated body was then pulled from a river a short time later and this would start an important part of the Civil Rights movement. Over a dozen people are interviewed about this historic murder and trial case that would follow and even though this runs a short 52-minute it really gives one a terrific idea of the events surrounding the murder as well as the times that all of this took place. The documentary starts off talking about what life was like for blacks in a place like Chicago and Mississippi. We learn about what type of person Till was and why his ways in Chicago simply weren't going to work where he was going. The documentary is so chilling because it has testimony from people who were actually involved with the case including someone like Richard Heard and Wheeler Parker, a friend and cousin to Till. We also get an interview with Till's mother Mamie who recalls the news of her son being killed and the hatred she received from those in the town when she showed up for the trial. It's also incredibly heart-breaking hearing her discuss seeing her son's mutilated body and explaining the various things wrong with it including the eye being out of the socket and his tongue hanging out from where he was choked. We also see graphic images of his body as well as other photos of people who were hung so these certainly are going to be unsettling for most. We also get to hear from Willie Reed, the one witness brave enough to testify at the trial. THE MURDER OF EMMITT TILL is an incredibly hard film to watch and I do wish it had gone on a bit longer but if you're interested in the case then this is a great way to get the basic information of what happened.
**** (out of 4)
Hard-hitting documentary taking a look at 14-year-old Emmett Till, a Chicago boy who went to Mississippi for the summer and when there he whistled at a white woman. He mutilated body was then pulled from a river a short time later and this would start an important part of the Civil Rights movement. Over a dozen people are interviewed about this historic murder and trial case that would follow and even though this runs a short 52-minute it really gives one a terrific idea of the events surrounding the murder as well as the times that all of this took place. The documentary starts off talking about what life was like for blacks in a place like Chicago and Mississippi. We learn about what type of person Till was and why his ways in Chicago simply weren't going to work where he was going. The documentary is so chilling because it has testimony from people who were actually involved with the case including someone like Richard Heard and Wheeler Parker, a friend and cousin to Till. We also get an interview with Till's mother Mamie who recalls the news of her son being killed and the hatred she received from those in the town when she showed up for the trial. It's also incredibly heart-breaking hearing her discuss seeing her son's mutilated body and explaining the various things wrong with it including the eye being out of the socket and his tongue hanging out from where he was choked. We also see graphic images of his body as well as other photos of people who were hung so these certainly are going to be unsettling for most. We also get to hear from Willie Reed, the one witness brave enough to testify at the trial. THE MURDER OF EMMITT TILL is an incredibly hard film to watch and I do wish it had gone on a bit longer but if you're interested in the case then this is a great way to get the basic information of what happened.
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