MovieChat Forums > Ghosts of Mississippi (1997) Discussion > A great movie with a flaw or two

A great movie with a flaw or two

posted 19 years ago by longislandlloyd
6 replies | jump to latest

Question 1.....
What happened to DeLaughter's marriage? After 3 kids and over a dozen years together, he just let his sexy Southern belle wife walk away without much of a whimper. And he replaced her awfully quick too. How come she didn't use the typical scorned wife's line..."And to think my family put you through law school. You ungracious cotton pickin' slimeball".

2,....Also, didn't DeLaughter seize the murder weapon without so much of a search warrant?

Great movie, but Alec Balwin had more of a Massapequa accent than a Mississippi one. Was Delaughter from the deep South??

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] megmarch2003 19 years ago

I got the impression that their marriage was not a happy one and pretty much over long before the events of this movie transpired.

Since he got the gun from his mother-in-law's house, she might have been annoyed that he came in and took the gun, but she most likely would not have admitted that to the authorities. If pressed, she probably would have said that she gave him permission to search for the gun.

[–] NewHorizons37 17 years ago

I got the impression that their marriage was not a happy one and pretty much over long before the events of this movie transpired.

I agree. This was shown in an early scene where he comes home late from the office and tells her he already ate. She had kept his dinner warm in the oven and says to herself (since he had already walked out of the room) "thanks for letting me know."

They were not close, and at least as portrayed in the movie, she was holding on to racist attitudes that he found repugnant, and so his taking the case was the straw that broke the camel's back for both of them.

[–] Director-21 18 years ago

1. The movie is supposed to take place between 1989 and 1994, it just glosses over the real DeLaughter's personal life since it's not really about that.

2. Given that his father-in-law had taken it illegally what could his mother-in-law really do about it? Making a big deal about it would only serve to drag her dead husband's name through the mud for removing evidence in an "unsolved" murder for which no one had, as yet, been convicted.

As for the "deep south accent, I don't know where the real guy was from but he does mention that he loves the Mississippi delta more than anywhere else. Baldwin also did get to meet him before shooting the movie. In fact of the main actors only James Woods didn't get to meet the person he was playing. Strangely, not because of Byron De La Beckwith's wishes. "De La" wanted Woods to come visit him in jail before they shot the movie and Woods refused because he didn't want to give such a man the satasfaction.

[–] osusnowman3 17 years ago

in "the making of" the say they didn't want to get too deep into his life cause it wasn't about his life but the case.

[–] 17 years ago

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