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Movies Filmed in Vaiden
Where is Vaiden, Mississippi?
Ode to Billy Joe -- 1975
Vaiden Sawmill
Tallahatchie River
Bridge
Southwestern View
of Location Depicted in Movie Where Billy Joe Jumped In
Rising Sun, MS Location of the Bridge Used in the Movie
Glynnis O'Connor
Links to Ode to Billy Joe
Mississippi
Burning --
1988
Links to Mississippi
Burning
Mississippi Burning
-- Selected Bibliography from UC Berkeley Library
Filming the Movie in Vaiden
One More -- Gene Hackman's Signature
When Mr. Hackman had stopped
signing autographs, we asked for "one more." This is what we got.
Photos of the Filming of Mississippi Burning
Scenes Filmed in the Vaiden Courthouse for Mississippi
Burning
"Mississippi
Burning" -- The Book By Joel Norst
Director Alan Parker's Commentary About
the Vaiden Courthouse
From the Mississippi Burning DVD
"We
found this courthouse, again, we looked all over Mississippi, looking
for exactly the right place. I mean, there's a feel to it and, that is, uh, I
suppose, fits the rest of the film. Way I remember, it was, uh, quite a drive
from Jackson.
This is an overnight stay, this courthouse. It's very difficult to find one
close enough to Jackson
just to drive everyday. So, uh, this one was a couple of hours away."
. . . .
"The black onlookers
in the gallery was really, uh, from [Chris] Gerolmo's
original script."
Editors
Note About Alan Parker’s Mississippi Portrayal
It
was a joy to watch the filming of the movie Mississippi Burning in Vaiden. I do have a
few comments, however. They are as follows:
[1] All
Mississippians are NOT rednecks. We are NOT trailer trash. All of us are not
illiterate. These feelings applied in 1964, as well as today. While it is
true that a part of Mississippi
was against desegregation and wanted to instill hatred to non-Arian races,
all of us were NOT that way.
[2] All of us
were NOT supportive of the Ku Klux Klan. Most of us never affiliated with the
Klan or its members in any way. When I was a kid, the Klan would ride by and
toss the "newsletters," "updates," or whatever they
called them into our driveways. These little "tidbits" of
information on Klan activity always came in handy, because, since we were
allowed to burn our garbage back then (in 55 gallon drums), they made great
"kindlin'" for the fire. I never opened
ONE of them. I had better things to do.
[3] Most of
us DID NOT hate coloreds, blacks, negroes, African Americans, or whichever
name was "politically correct" at the time. We didn't go around
calling them by the derogatory names such as Nig**r, Darkie, C**n, or
whichever of those terms was "popular." We left that up to the
rednecks and Klan. When I was growing up, I had great friends that were
black. I still do. I realized then what a lot of us don't know now. My
friends were people too.
[4] In the
movie Mississippi Burning, whether you saw
it at the theater, or saw/purchased it on VHS or DVD, there is NO MENTION
WHATSOEVER of the name Vaiden,
Mississippi, or any other town
the movie was filmed in. It is amazing how Hollywood can come to a small town and film
a movie and, after 10 minutes of end credits (telling who the director's
dog's water-boy was), they can't be gracious or
thankful enough to simply mention the names of the towns used in the film.
Vaiden was paid $ 5,000.00 for the use of the courthouse in Mississippi Burning. You'd think that,
with all the money they saved, they could mention the name of the town. The
movie ends with the following:
"We would especially like to thank:
Governor Ray Mabus
John Horn
Maida Morgan
The Mississippi Film Commission
The Alabama Film Commission
and the people of Mississippi and Alabama for
their kind cooperation in the making of this film."
You would
think that, with all of the credits, the movie-makers could have taken just a
few minutes to list all of the towns in Mississippi
and Alabama, that were used in their films.
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