Falsely accused

I avoid Halloween. Even when Halloween falls on a bell rehearsal night the rehearsal gets canceled because so many mothers need to be home for the festivities. So Halloween for me is movie night. I caught a 5:00 show (7 people in the audience) then went to a restaurant for supper (5 tables in use). I got home a bit after 8:30. A neighbor still had is bonfire going so I stopped by. He said there aren’t many kids in the neighborhood these days – perhaps 7 stopped by.

The movie I saw was Marshall, about one of the pivotal cases litigated by Thurgood Marshall, the guy who became the first African-American on the Supreme Court. At the time of the story Marshall is the only lawyer for the NAACP. He goes around the country representing black people who have been falsely accused of crimes. The one at the center of this movie takes place in Bridgeport, CT in the 1940s. A white woman has accused the family’s chauffeur, a black man, of rape. Marshall isn’t a local, so is barred from speaking in court, though he is allowed to sit at the defense table and guide the local lawyer. That guy doesn’t want to be there because his specialty is civil disputes, not criminal trials. However, he is Jewish and knows a bit about discrimination. Marshall teaches him the rest.

I thought it was very well done and quite the intricate plot. I recommend it. I enjoyed the many bits of Marshall reversing the black/white roles – such as telling the white lawyer to handle his luggage. There was a sweet touch at the end, though I learned how sweet when I looked up the movie on IMDB. In the last scene Marshall is off to another case, a young man wrongly accused. Marshall is met at the train station by the parents of the accused, played by Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. I didn’t recognize those names, though I do recognize this one: in real life they are the parents of Trayvon Martin.