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ATTACK ON TERROR: THE FBI VS. THE KU KLUX KLAN, PART 2 OF 2 (TV)

Summary

Continued from T81:0098. This two-part made-for-television film is a fictionalized account of the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi and the FBI's pursuit of justice, based on the book by Don Whitehead. After some scenes from the first half, the second installment opens as the three bodies are examined and Dr. Wheeler reports that they all died from gunshot wounds, though Ryder refuses to comment on their informant or any potential suspects. Tuttle gives an interview of his own and does not claim any part in the deaths of the "Communist revolutionaries," suggesting that they were killed by their own comrades, not unlike President Kennedy. Mrs. Gilmore is stunned to receive a personal phone call from President Johnson, and as the FBI searches the dam for clues, Foster investigates Deputy Thompson, whose alibi does not seem to hold up. J. Edgar Hoover orders the FBI to infiltrate the Klan and use informants to find the killers. At a Klan rally, Tuttle again mentions the case and concedes that it might have been a "hasty act" by some members, but remains determined in their cause. Foster meets with his friend Roy Ralstop, whom he knows to be a secret Klan member, and asks him to become their spy, pointing out that he objects to their violent actions. Ralstop later talks with Tuttle and with Reverend Greg at a picnic, and overhears Harry Dudley talking about a few "brothers," Dee Malcom and Dave Keene among them, who left town quickly after the activists' disappearance.

At the same time, black militants protest against the FBI, feeling that they are not truly fighting the Klan, and Ralstop tells Foster about Malcom and Keene. Foster urges him to get close to the talkative Dudley and support him in the upcoming Klan elections, though Ralstop feels that he is being "underhanded." Foster next appeals to Greg, who is distressed at the idea of being a "traitor," and convinces him to act as a spy as well. In October, the FBI eventually tracks down Keene, who at first denies everything but then describes how he and the others chased Jacobs, Bronson and Gilmore in their cars after they left the prison. He states that he was waiting on the road and heard the fatal shots, but does not know who fired. Dudley is appointed to the position of "exalted inquisitor" and thanks Ralstop and Greg for their support, then revealing that his new job is to root out the snitches. Having been read his rights, Malcom gives in and relates his version of events, saying Thompson drove the three men to "the place" and that Keene actually fired the fatal shots along with Aaron Cord, then hiding the bodies with Thompson's help. The FBI spends a few months quietly verifying his story, and they finally arrest Thompson and others in December, though Linn Jacobs and others seem doubtful about the trial. Indeed, the preliminary hearing immediately goes badly when the defense attorney, Clay, argues that Foster's secondhand report of Malcom's is hearsay, and the judge dismisses the charges. The Klan is jubilant, and Foster reassures Rose Jackson that they will address a grand jury soon, though she calls the entire thing a "charade."

Suspected of being a "loose talker," Ralstop is summoned to a Klan "trial" and banished from the group, though some of his cop friends intervene and remove him from the scene before things turn violent. In January 1965, a grand jury indicts eighteen people in the deaths of Jacobs, Bronson and Gilmore, though Judge Davidson only allows them to be tried on misdemeanors, not felonies. The case is repeatedly delayed and the Klan continues its "diversionary tactics," burning churches and stores as the FBI attempts to turn more informants and sow further discord in the group. In 1966, Tuttle is, ironically, dragged before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, though he refuses to answer their questions. Malcom attempts to retract his confession, threatening to claim coercion and stating that no Mississippi jury will ever convict Klansmen, but Foster tells him that his sworn statement will be read either way. The trial finally begins, three years after the murders, and Ralph Paine questions Mrs. Sutton about the boys' reasonable treatment in jail, and then asks Ralstop about the Klan's policies on "eliminating" their enemies. Clay argues that Ralstop only heard rumors and points out that he was paid by the FBI for his information, stressing the idea that he betrayed his Klan friends for a price. Tuttle is disturbed when his right-hand man Greg testifies against him, saying that Thompson is indeed a Klan member, and Clay states that he too was paid a great deal and that he has violated the Klansmen's "rights" by spying on them. Paine and Clay eventually make their closing arguments, and Foster muses over the case at home with his wife. When the verdict is read, many of the men, including Thompson and Tuttle, are found guilty, resulting in seven convictions in all. The landmark case signaled the end of the Klan's power in Mississippi, and made a significant impact on the civil rights revolution in America. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: CBS
  • DATE: February 21, 1975 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T81:0100
  • GENRE: Drama, historical
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; United States - Race relations; Ku Klux Klan
  • SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1975
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Quinn Martin … Executive Producer
  • Russell Stoneham … Supervising Producer
  • Philip Saltzman … Producer
  • Bernard R. Goodman … Associate Producer
  • Marvin J. Chomsky … Director
  • Calvin Clements … Writer
  • Don Whitehead … Based on the book by
  • William Conrad … Narrator
  • Mundell Lowe … Music by
  • Ned Beatty … Cast, Deputy Sheriff Ollie Thompson
  • John Beck … Cast, George Greg
  • Billy Green Bush … Cast, Dave Keene
  • Dabney Coleman … Cast, FBI Agent Paul Mathison
  • Andrew Duggan … Cast, Insp. Ryder
  • Ed Flanders … Cast, Ralph Paine
  • George Grizzard … Cast, Attorney Clay
  • L.Q. Jones … Cast, Roy Ralstop
  • Geoffrey Lewis … Cast, Ed Duncan
  • Marlyn Mason … Cast, Jean Foster
  • Wayne Rogers … Cast, FBI Agent Dan Foster
  • Peter Strauss … Cast, Ben Jacobs
  • Rip Torn … Cast, Glen Tuttle
  • Mills Watson … Cast, Dee Malcom
  • James Hampton … Cast, Harry Dudley
  • Sheila Larken … Cast, Linn Jacobs
  • Andrew Parks … Cast, Steve Bronson
  • Hilly Hicks … Cast, Charles Gilmore
  • Luke Askew … Cast, Aaron Cord
  • John McLiam … Cast, Jailer Sutton
  • Martine Bartlett … Cast, Bea Sutton
  • Logan Ramsey … Cast, Thurston Carson
  • Taylor Lacher … Cast, Luke Sheerer
  • Rosalind Miles … Cast, Rose Jackson
  • Arch Whiting … Cast, Carl Rick
  • Johnny Haymer … Cast, Reporter Poole
  • Hal Riddle … Cast, Reporter Josephs
  • Paulene Myers … Cast, Mrs. Gilmore
  • Roy Applegate … Cast, John Worden
  • Virginia Gregg … Cast, Commissioner Muller
  • Don Keefer … Cast, Dr. Wheeler
  • Richard Eastham … Cast, Investigator
  • Peter Hobbs … Cast, Judge Davidson
  • Herb Armstrong … Cast, Court Clerk
  • James Ball … Cast, Militant Black
  • Guich Koock … Cast, Darby