4 Little Girls (1997)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Little Girls is a documentary film which premiered in 1997. It is about an act of terrorism committed in the city of Birmingham in the state of Alabama:

 

On Sunday 15 September 1963, four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb in the 16th Street Baptist Church. The bomb was placed under the staircase and set set to explode as members of the congregation were entering the church.

 

Four little girls were killed and more than 20 others were injured when the bomb exploded. Hence the title of the film.

 

In this film, we learn what happened before and after this act of terrorism. This film covers the historical background as well as the consequences of this event.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Spike Lee (born 1957)

** Distribution: HBO

** Run time: 102 minutes   

 

In 1983, Spike Lee decided that he wanted to make a movie about this dark chapter of American history. He contacted Chris McNair, the father of one of the four victims, because he wanted to be sure that the relatives could accept this plan. However, Chris McNair could not accept his plan. He said he was not ready for this.

 

In the following years Spike Lee made other films, but he did not forget his original plan. From time to time, he contacted Chris McNair and ten years later, in 1993, Chris McNair said he was ready to accept his plan.

 

Now Spike Lee could get to work on his project.

 

At first, he had planned to make a reconstruction, a docudrama. But after a while he decided that it was better to make a documentary film.

 

Interviews took place in and around 1995, more than thirty years after the horrible event took place. Many people are interviewed in the film. To offer clarity, I have divided them into five categories, depending on their connection with the case.

 

VICTIM # 1

DENISE MCNAIR (1951-1963)

** Chris McNair – father

** Maxine McNair – mother

** Helen Pegues – aunt

** Harold McNair – uncle

** Queen Nunn – neighbour

** Carole C. Smitherman – childhood friend

** Rhonda Nunn Thomas – childhood friend

** Barbara Nunn – childhood friend

 

VICTIM # 2

CYNTHIA WESLEY (1949-1963)

** Shirley Wesley King – sister

** Doris Lockhart – neighbour

** Gerald Colbert – neighbour

** Freeman Hrabowski – childhood friend

** Carolyn McKinstry – childhood friend

 

VICTIM # 3

CAROLE ROSAMOND ROBERTSON (1949-1963)

** Alpha Robertson - mother

** Dianne Braddock - sister

** Wamo Reed Robertson – aunt

** Carolyn Lee Brown – childhood friend

** Paye Davis – childhood friend

 

VICTIM # 4

ADDIE MAE COLLINS

** Janie Gaines – sister

** Junie Collins – sister

 

CATEGORY # 5

OTHER PARTICIPANTS

** Bill Baxley (born 1941) – attorney general of Alabama 1971-1979

** James Bevel (1936-2008) – reverend - SCLC

** Taylor Branch (born 1947) - author

** Little Brown - SCLC

** Bill Cosby (born 1937) - actor

 

** Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) – CBS News

** John Cross – pastor – 16th Street Baptist Church

** Barbara Cross – daughter of John Cross

** Ossie Davis (1917-2005) - actor

** Arthur Hanes – attorney for Robert “Bob” Edward Chambliss

 

** Billie Harris – director of a funeral home

** Jesse Jackson (born 1941) – the Rainbow Coalition

** Nicholas Katzenbach (1922-2012) – US attorney general 1965-1966

** Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) – wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

** Morris Marshall – member of the congregation – the Baptist Church

 

** Howell Raines – reporter – editor of The New York Times

** Fred Lee Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) – reverend – leader of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (founded in 1956)

** Florence Terrell – school teacher

** David J. Vann (1928-2000) – mayor of Birmingham 1975-1979

** Wyatt Tee Walker (1928-2018) – pastor - SCLC

 

** Gwendolyn White – school teacher

** Reggie White (1961-2004) – Green Bay Packers

** Nadean S. Williams – school teacher

** Tommy Wrenn - SCLC

** Andrew Young – reverend – SCLC

 

Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to supplement the statements made by the people who are interviewed.

 

Archive footage includes clips with Eugene “Bull” Connor (1897-1973) and Robert “Bob” Edward Chambliss (1904-1985).

 

Eugene “Bull” Connor was in charge of public safety in Birmingham for many years. He ordered the police to use dogs against demonstrators; and he ordered the fire brigade to use high pressure water hoses against demonstrators.

 

Four members of the Ku Klux Klan were suspected of being responsible for the bomb attack on the 16th Street Baptist Church. Robert “Bob” Edward Chambliss was one of them.

 

In 1977, he was tried in a court of law where he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in 1985. The other three suspects were never charged.

 

What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

78 percent = IMDb

76 percent = Meta (the audience)

88 percent = Meta (the critics)

89 percent = Rotten tomatoes (the audience)

100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 400 global ratings and reviews. The average rating is 4.7 stars (which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent).

 

As you can see, the ratings are very good. The professional critics tend to go higher than the general audience, but both groups are positive.

 

I understand the numerous positive reviews. This film covers an important topic – a dark chapter of US history – and it does so very well. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

 

PS # 1. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 is a historical drama which premiered in 2013. It is based on a book which was published in 1995. It is a fictional story placed in a real historical context.

 

The Watsons travel to Birmingham in 1963 where they witness the bombing of the Baptist Church.

 

For detailed information about this movie, see my review on Amazon UK (posted in 2019). I offer 3 of 5 stars.

 

PS # 2. For more information about events in Birmingham during the 1960s, watch the following items:

 

** Mighty Times: The Children’s March (2004)

** The Barber of Birmingham (2011)

 

*****

 

 A memorial plaque for the four victims

of the bombing of the Baptist Church

in Birmingham in 1963

*****