Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.
Acting
Hackman's death row monster, all snarl and sudden fragility
Direction
Foley lets scenes curdle in uncomfortable silence
Production
Gas chamber set so authentic you'll hold your breath
Director
James Foley
Chris O'Donnell
Adam Hall
Gene Hackman
Sam Cayhall
Faye Dunaway
Lee Cayhall Bowen
Robert Prosky
E. Garner Goodman
Lela Rochon
Nora Stark
Bo Jackson
Sgt. Clyde Packer
Millie Perkins
Ruth Kramer
David Marshall Grant
Gov. David McAllister
Raymond J. Barry
Rollie Wedge
Nicholas Pryor
Judge Flynn F. Slattery
Richard Bradford
Wyn Lettner
Harve Presnell
Attorney General Roxburgh
Josef Sommer
Phelps Bowen
Jane Kaczmarek
Dr. Anne Biddows
Seth Isler
Marvin B. Kramer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The gas chamber scenes were filmed at the real Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, using the decommissioned execution chamber.
Released the same year as A Time to Kill, this was part of a brief 90s Hollywood fascination with Mississippi legal thrillers that let white audiences feel brave about confronting racism.
US
