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The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

Play trailer Poster for The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till PG-13 Released Aug 17, 2005 1h 10m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
This documentary presents a sobering reminder of the racial tensions that gripped America not so long ago. In Mississippi during the '50s, a black teenager named Emmett Louis Till, who is from Chicago and visiting his great-uncle, whistles at a white woman in public. Not too long afterward, he is kidnapped and murdered. The filmmakers revisit the public outrage that follows, revealing Till's family as being particularly brave for standing up to white racism when it was clearly unsafe to do so.

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The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

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Critics Consensus

Without sensationalism or flinching from the brutality of the crime, this documentary is an eye-opening call for justice.

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Critics Reviews

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Terry Lawson Detroit Free Press Beauchamp, who worked on his film for nine years, dutifully reinterviews the surviving witnesses, and more effectively than any previous documentary or return look at the case, re-creates the atmosphere of a 1950s Mississippi. Rated: 3/4 Feb 17, 2006 Full Review Richard Nilsen Arizona Republic This well-focused, short (75 minute) film will be an eye opener for those who didn't live through the era. For those who did, it will be all too familiar. Rated: 3.5/5 Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer Potent and searing. Rated: 3/4 Dec 2, 2005 Full Review Brian Costello Common Sense Media Eye-opening docu on horrific '50s murder has graphic images. Rated: 4/5 Mar 3, 2019 Full Review Kam Williams BlackFilm.com Features some sweet moments of reflection by the late Mamie Till during which she wistfully reminisces about the intelligent, curious and animated son taken away from her so brutally and senselessly. Rated: 4/4 May 31, 2007 Full Review Maria Garcia Film Journal International In his retelling of the events, Beauchamp reconstructs the legacy of diaspora. Mar 1, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member What did I think of The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till? Check out my full review below: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qHfZ7ckMSaXfw6Y1cXMYr?si=tccegXKkQ72Te9HHnuzYJg Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member You know the story, it makes me sick. My heart aches for his poor mother....thankfully he is finally in her arms once again.....very in depth and informative..make sure you have a strong stomach. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member I never heard of this story until I was looking up another child abuse case and I was mortified at what I read. My husband said they watched this DVD and looked about it in school. I never did but I really wanted to see this and it's just so unreal how cruel and heartless people can be. It was a great documentary though. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member i want to see this movie because i feel like im going to learn alot about emmet till then what ive learned at school Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member I read the story of Emmett Till a few years back when I was messing around on wikipedia. I couldn't not watch this documentary after what I read.... In 1955 Emmett Louis Till who was 14 years old, was brutally beaten and tortured to death for whistling at a white woman. He had been visiting family in Money, Mississippi when it had occured. A few days after he whistled 2 men came to his uncle's home and took the boy with them. Witness' said they heard the boy being murdered in a barn and had seen one of the 2 men walking out of the barn. He was a brother in law to the woman who was whistled at, and the second man was her husband. His body was pulled out of a river 3 days later with barbed wire tied around his neck on one end and the other tied to a big fan to help him sink. His body was so damaged he was only identified by a ring on his finger which bared his initials. One of his eyes had been gouged out and he had a bullet wound in his head. His skull had been split with and axe as well as all of his teeth but two knocked out. All for whistling at a white woman. This was a young boy! Children were not even safe thanks to Jim Crow and his segregation of whites and blacks in the south. To top it off the two men accused were found not guilty thanks to the white jury who admitted to making it seem like they were having trouble deciding but really just drug on time by drinking beer. Not only that the twp men were later on trial for kidnapping not long after, and they were still found not guilty even though the whole family was there and watched the two men take the boy. That trial was only about half hour! To add insult to injury... the two men one year later confessed and sold their confessions to a magazine for 4000 dollars. You think they would have been nabbed because of this, right?....no....because of the "Double Jeopardy" law they were not aloud to be tried twice for the same crime. Disgusting isn't it? there is so much more that came of this as well. Emmett Till is looked at as a martyr in a way because this led to the civil rights movement not long after. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Can't believe this was only a few decades ago. A good doc about injustice and racism. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

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Movie Info

Synopsis This documentary presents a sobering reminder of the racial tensions that gripped America not so long ago. In Mississippi during the '50s, a black teenager named Emmett Louis Till, who is from Chicago and visiting his great-uncle, whistles at a white woman in public. Not too long afterward, he is kidnapped and murdered. The filmmakers revisit the public outrage that follows, revealing Till's family as being particularly brave for standing up to white racism when it was clearly unsafe to do so.
Director
Keith Beauchamp
Producer
Keith Beauchamp
Distributor
ThinkFilm
Rating
PG-13 (Some Violent Images)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 17, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 13, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$202.5K
Runtime
1h 10m
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