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ACLU-TN Goes to the MoviesACLU-TN has compiled a list of movies that illustrate prominent civil liberties issues. So settle into the couch, grab the popcorn, and enjoy! Access to Information/Freedom of the Press Employees' Rights Internment of Japanese-Americans
Access to Information/Freedom of the PressAll the President’s Men (1976) - This Academy Award-winning film, based on the book of the same name, dramatizes the investigation into the Watergate scandal by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford star. On September 30, 1972, the ACLU passed a resolution calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon based on six civil liberties grounds, including covert surveillance tactics used against political opponents. Network (1976) - This film satirizes the business of the press, telling the story of an aging anchorman who becomes a cult hero when he goes on the air and “tells it like it is” after he is fired by his network. Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, William Holden, and Robert Duvall star. Dunaway and Finch won Oscars for their performances.
Criminal JusticeMurder in the First (1994) - This film dramatizes the true story of a petty thief jailed in solitary confinement at Alcatraz for many years after attempting to escape. When he finally emerges, he is a madman and exacts his revenge, prompting his rookie lawyer to put the prison on trial for its brutal treatment of his client. Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon star. Gideon’s Trumpet (1980) - This TV movie is based on Gideon v. Wainwright, in which an indigent inmate petitioned for the right to an attorney paid for by the state. Gideon’s hand-written suit reached the Supreme Court, where the high court decided that assistance of counsel at criminal trials was a fundamental element of the right to a fair trial. Henry Fonda, Jose Ferrer and Fay Wray star. Dead Man Walking (1995) - Based on the book of the same name, this movie dramatizes the true story of Sister Helen Prejean, a progressive nun who agrees to serve as a death row inmate’s spiritual advisor. Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for her portrayal of Prejean. Sean Penn also stars. 12 Angry Men (1957) - Based on the play of the same name, this Oscar-nominated film tells the story of a jury charged with determining the guilt or innocence of a Spanish-American man accused of killing his father. Henry Fonda, Ed Begley, E. G. Marshall and Jack Klugman star. A 1997 television remake is also available starring Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, Hume Cronyn and Jack Lemmon. Monster’s Ball (2002) - This recent release tells the story of a Georgia corrections officer who administers death by electrocution to an inmate, only to fall in love with the executed man’s widow. Halle Berry won an Oscar for her portrayal of the widow. Billy Bob Thornton, Sean Combs and Heath Ledger also star.
DiscriminationMr. and Mrs. Loving (1996) - This made-for-TV movie dramatizes the true story of an interracial couple (played by Timothy Hutton and Lela Rochon) who are forced to leave their home state of Virginia or face jail time for violating the state’s anti-miscegenation law. The Lovings, represented by ACLU, challenged the statute. In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that the anti-miscegenation laws in Virginia and 15 other Southern states were unconstitutional. Mississippi Burning (1988) - This Academy Award-winning film is based on the true story of three civil rights workers murdered in 1960s Mississippi. Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe star as the FBI agents sent to investigate the tragedy. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this film tells the story of a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. The movie stars Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of attorney Atticus Finch. An interesting side note: Harper Lee’s novel about tolerance is, according to the American Library Association, one of the most frequently challenged books of the 1990s. Storm Warning (1951) - Ginger Rogers and Ronald Reagan star in this tale of a woman who witnesses a KKK murder while visiting her sister and Klansman brother-in-law. American History X (1998) - This film tells the disturbing story of a violent skinhead who tries to shed his racist tendencies after serving jail time for a racially motivated shooting. Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for his role. Edward Furlong and Beverly D’Angelo also star. The Long Walk Home (1990) - This movie is a dramatization of the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, told from the perspective of an African-American housekeeper who walks to work in solidarity with the movement despite the respectful treatment she receives from her white employer. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek. The Hurricane (1999) - This Oscar-nominated film is based on the true story of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who was wrongly convicted of murdering three white men and spent two decades in prison struggling to prove his innocence. Denzel Washington won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Carter. Liev Schreiber and Dan Hedaya also star. Glory (1989) - This Civil War film is based on the true story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first African-American companies in the United States Armed Forces. Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his portrayal of a regiment solider. The movie also stars Matthew Broderick as Robert G. Shaw, the abolitionist officer who organized the regiment. The Defiant Ones (1958) - This fugitive drama tells the story of two escaped convicts who must overcome their racist hatred of each other in order to survive. Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis star in Oscar-nominated performances. A Soldier’s Story (1984) - After an unpopular African-American solider is killed at a Southern army base, a military attorney is sent to investigate. Howard Rollins, Denzel Washington and Patti LaBelle star is this adaptation of Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier’s Play. Miss Evers’ Boys (1997) - This made-for-TV movie dramatizes the true story of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study of the 1930s, in which black men participating in a government study were deceived by physicians and purposely not treated for syphilis in order to observe the natural progression of the disease. Alfred Woodward, Laurence Fishburne, and Ossie Davis star.
Due ProcessAbsence of Malice (1981) - Paul Newman and Sally Field star in this story of a man whose life is turned upside down after a reporter prints a story based on a false lead. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) - This documentary chronicles the events of the 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, through footage from the events, the subsequent congressional hearings, and from technology, religion and psychological experts. The documentary theorizes that the Branch Davidians were not a “cult,” but a legitimate religious group practicing their First Amendment freedoms. The Siege at Ruby Ridge (Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy) (1996) - This TV movie dramatizes the 1992 raid by federal agents at the Idaho home of white supremacist and militia member Randy Weaver. Randy Quaid, Laura Dern, and Kirsten Dunst star. After the raid, the ACLU, in coalition with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other groups, called upon President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno to reexamine criminal justice guidelines and spoke out about the rights abuses involved in the raid. The Oxbow Incident (1943) - This Oscar-nominated movie tells the story of two cowboys in the 1880s who try to calm a lynch mob seeking justice against cattle rustlers. The movie stars Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan.
Employees' RightsNorma Rae (1979) - Sally Field, in an Oscar-winning performance, stars as a Southern textile worker who works to unionize her mill. Beau Bridges also stars. Matewan (1987) - This film tells the story of 1920s West Virginia coal miners struggling to form a union. Based on an actual incident, the movie stars James Earl Jones, Chris Cooper and Mary McDonnell.
Freedom of AssociationThe Front (1976) - Woody Allen stars as a writer who serves as a “front” for blacklisted scriptwriters during the McCarthy era. Zero Mostel and Danny Aiello also star. This is one of the few Woody Allen movies that Allen did not write or direct. The Majestic (2001) - This film, set during the McCarthy era, tells the story of a Hollywood writer struggling with amnesia and the power of the blacklist. Jim Carrey and Martin Landeau star. Guilty by Suspicion (1991) - This movie involves a successful movie director who is forced to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. The film stars Robert DeNiro, Annette Bening, George Wendt and Patricia Wettig.
Free SpeechThe People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) -Woody Harrelson stars as controversial porn king Larry Flynt, whose publications have faced numerous obscenity challenges in court. The movie also stars Courtney Love and Edward Norton. Norton portrays the ACLU lawyer that defended Flynt against obscenity charges in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dirty Pictures (2000) - This TV movie dramatizes the 1990 trial of Cincinnati museum curator Dennis Barrie, who faced obscenity charges after his museum exhibited sexually graphic works by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. James Woods and Craig T. Nelson star. This is What Democracy Looks Like (2000) - This documentary, shot by 100 amateur photographers, records the protests at the 1999 Seattle summit of the World Trade Organization. The ACLU of Washington filed two lawsuits in response to the city of Seattle’s establishment of a “No Protest Zone” around the summit. The first was filed during the summit and sought - unsuccessfully - to nullify the “No Protest Zone.” The second was filed in March 2000 on behalf of seven citizens whose free speech and protest rights were violated during the summit. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - Based on Ray Bradbury’s 1951 novel, this film tells the story of a society in which reading material is banned and all books are burned. The film, director Francois Truffaut’s only English-language movie, stars Oskar Werner and Julie Christie. Ironically, Bradbury’s book on censorship was censored in California public schools in 1992.
Internment of Japanese-AmericansCome See the Paradise (1990) - This film tells the story of a man who falls in love with and marries a Japanese-American woman in the 1930s. Their relationship is tested when the man’s wife and daughter are sent to an internment camp during World War II. Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita star. Both the ACLU of Northern California and the ACLU of Washington State represented Japanese-Americans in challenges to WW II internment orders. In 2001, the ACLU honored these individuals, Gordon Hirabayashi and Fred Korematsu, with the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty award. Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) - Based on David Guterson’s award-winning novel, this movie tells the story of a Japanese-American man accused of murder and the lingering anti-Japanese sentiment left behind after World War II. The movie stars Ethan Hawke, Youki Kudoh, Rick Yune and Max von Sydow. An interesting side note: According to the American Library Association, Snow Falling on Cedars was one of the most frequently challenged books of 1999.
LGBT/HIV/AIDSPhiladelphia (1993) - Tom Hanks won his first Academy Award for his portrayal of an attorney terminated from his powerful law firm after they discover he has AIDS. Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen and Joanne Woodward also star. If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) - This HBO feature tells the stories of three lesbian couples who live in the same house over three different decades. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Michelle Williams, Chloe Sevigny, Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone. All God’s Children (1996) - This short documentary features prominent social leaders speaking about the need for religious groups to support equal rights for all, including gay men and lesbians. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, and Professor Cornel West are featured. Out of the Past: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights in America (1998) - This docudrama intersperses the modern-day story of a young woman starting a gay/straight club at her high school with stories of others who have fought for gay and lesbian rights throughout American history. Gwyneth Paltrow, Cherry Jones, and Edward Norton star. Boys Don’t Cry (1999) - This film is based on the true story of Teena Brandon, a young woman who lived for several years in rural Nebraska as the male “Brandon Teena” and who was brutally murdered as a result. Hilary Swank won an Academy Award for her performance. Chloe Sevigny also stars in an Oscar-nominated performance. The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief in Teena’s case. PrivacyThe Siege (1998) - After September 11, this thriller takes on an eerier tone...In the film, New York City is reeling from a series of terrorist bombings perpetrated by a militant Arab group. As the government intensifies its search for the terrorists, martial law is implemented and Arab-Americans are detained in prison camps. Denzel Washington and Annette Benning star. Brazil (1985) - This Orwellian tale centers on a futuristic society in which a paperwork error leads to the arrest of the wrong man, and attempts to correct the mistake only make the situation worse. Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro and Katherine Helmond star in this film written and directed by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame. Enemy of the State (1998) - When an attorney is unknowingly given evidence in the assassination of a Congressman, special agents use all the surveillance technology available to capture him. The film stars Will Smith and Gene Hackman. 1984 (1956) - Based on George Orwell’s classic novel, this movie tells the story of a dystopian society where Big Brother watches everything and free thought and free speech are prohibited. Edmond O’Brien, Jan Sterling and Michael Redgrave star. Gattaca (1997) - In this futuristic film, humans are discriminated against based on their genes. Individuals predisposed to disease are blocked from important careers and powerful positions in society. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law star.
Religious FreedomInherit the Wind (1960) - A must see for Tennesseans! Starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York, Donna Anderson, and Claude Akins, the film is based on one of the most famous cases in ACLU history: the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. In 1925, ACLU Cooperating Attorney Clarence Darrow came to Rhea County to defend educator John T. Scopes against charges he had violated Tennessee’s anti-evolution statute by teaching evolution in public schools. The film has been re-made for television three times (in 1965, 1988 and 1999) and is based on the play of the same name. The Crucible (1996) - This movie, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, and Joan Allen, is an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s allegorical drama about the Salem Witch Trials in colonial Massachusetts. Miller wrote the play in response to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) - This film is based on Margaret Atwood’s novel about a late 20th century society where religious fundamentalists control everything, including women and their bodies. The film stars Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall and Aidan Quinn. An interesting side note: According to the American Library Association, The Handmaid’s Tale was one of the most frequently challenged books of the 1990s.
Reproductive FreedomIf These Walls Could Talk (1996) - This HBO movie tells the story of three different women who seek abortions when faced with unwanted pregnancies. Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, and Anne Heche star. Citizen Ruth(1996) - This film satirizes both sides of the abortion debate as a drug-addicted mother is caught between pro-life fundamentalists and pro-choice liberals when she becomes pregnant again. The movie stars Laura Dern, Mary Kay Place, Swoosie Kurtz and Burt Reynolds. The Cider House Rules (1999) - This Academy Award-winning film tells the story of an orphan whose mentor, the orphanage physician, provides safe but illegal abortions. John Irving adapted the script from his novel of the same name. Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine and Charlize Theron star. Jane: An Abortion Service (1996) - This documentary centers on “Jane,” a Chicago-based underground abortion service that operated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This women’s health group provided roughly 12,000 safe but illegal abortions, which were performed by women with no formal medical training. Interviews with Jane members and their clients provide an important look at this service for which few records exist—most were destroyed to protect the anonymity of the clients. Soldiers in The Army of God (2000) - This HBO documentary offers a look inside one of the most extreme anti-abortion groups operating in the United States: The Army of God. The group has claimed responsibility for the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama, abortion clinic that killed a security guard and critically wounded a nurse. Eric Robert Rudolph, who pled guilty to the bombings of abortion clinics in Alabama and Georgia and to the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, is believed to have a connection with the group.
Social ToleranceChocolat (2000) - This Oscar-nominated film tells the story of a woman and her daughter who move to a conservative French village and shake things up by opening a chocolate shop during Lent. The movie stars Juliette Binoche, Dame Judi Dench, Alfred Molina and Johnny Depp. Pleasantville (1998) - Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon star as ‘90s teenagers mysteriously inserted into a ‘50s black and white sitcom, where their attitudes agitate the status quo. The movie also stars Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy and Don Knotts. Of Mice and Men (1992) - Based on John Steinbeck’s classic novel, this film stars John Malkovich as feeble-minded but strong George and Gary Sinise as small but quick-witted Lennie, two migrant farm workers in Depression-era California.
Censored MoviesThe Tin Drum (1979) - This film, based on the novel by Gunter Grass, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. In Nazi Germany, a young boy (played by David Bennett) wills himself to stop growing in order to evade participation in the atrocities around him. While his body remains that of a child, he matures intellectually and emotionally. For example, one scene in the movie shows the boy engaged in oral sex with a teenage girl. In 1997 a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that the film was obscene. Oklahoma City police officers subsequently confiscated copies of the video, including one rented by Michael Camfield, the development director for the ACLU of Oklahoma. ACLU filed suit on behalf of Camfield, arguing that his free speech and due process rights and his right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures had been violated. A federal court later ruled that the film was not obscene. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) - Willem Dafoe stars in this interpretation of the life of Jesus Christ. The controversial film portrays Christ as a doubting Messiah unconvinced of his role as Savior. Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey and David Bowie also star. Christian groups picketed in protest of the movie’s release, causing some theaters to refuse to show the film. Natural Born Killers (1994) - Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis star as outcasts and lovers who travel the country committing serial killings. They become folk heroes when the survivors of their mayhem tell their stories to the media. Director Oliver Stone’s film has been harshly criticized for its violent content, and many have accused the film of causing “copy-cat” violence. In fact, a Louisiana convenience store clerk sued Stone and the film’s distributors after he was shot during a robbery attempt. His assailants had viewed the movie days earlier, and the victim argued that the intent of the movie was to encourage viewers to commit crimes. Additionally, Blockbuster, K-Mart and Wal-Mart have all refused to stock the Director’s Cut of the film. Other controversial and challenged films include Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita and A Clockwork Orange; Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls and Basic Instinct; and Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Also, check out films by The Hollywood Ten, ten writers and directors blacklisted in 1947 after they were accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of communist involvement. The group all received contempt of Congress citations, and all served jail time. The Ten include: Ring Lardner, Jr. (M*A*S*H); Alvah Bessie (Northern Pursuit); Herbert Biberman (The Master Race); Lester Cole (House of Seven Gables); Edward Dmytryck (The Caine Mutiny); John Howard Lawson (Cry, The Beloved Country); Albert Maltz (Two Mules for Sister Sara); Samuel Ornitz (Little Orphan Annie); Adrian Scott (Conspiracy of Hearts); and Dalton Trumbo (Roman Holiday). Just for FunThe American President (1995) - This movie is a must-see for any “card-carrying member” of the ACLU! Michael Douglas plays President Andrew Shepherd, a charismatic leader pulled into an election year character debate by political opponent Richard Dreyfuss. Among other things, the President is criticized for being a “card-carrying member” of the ACLU, and makes an impassioned speech defending his membership. This film may be one of the best recruiting tools the ACLU never paid for...memberships jumped after the movie was released! Annette Benning and Martin Sheen also star. If you are not already a proud “card-carrying member” of the ACLU, click here to join today! Easy Rider (1969) - Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper star as drugged-out bikers who take a cross-country motorcycle trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Along the way they meet a string of interesting characters, most notably the “law'er with the ACLU” played by Jack Nicholson. Beaches (1988) - Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey star as lifelong friends who struggle to cope with the illness of Hershey’s character, who is an ACLU lawyer. The ACLU: A History (1997) - This PBS documentary traces the history of the ACLU from its inception in 1920 to the present day and features commentary from personalities ranging from Molly Ivins to Oliver North. Also, check out the companion book by Diane Garey: “Defending Everybody: A History of the ACLU.” A good resource for more information on banned or challenged films is the book "Forbidden Films" by Dawn B. Sova and Marjorie Heins.
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