American Experience - Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

Studio: Pbs Release Date: 05/04/2009 Run time: 90 minutes

The notorious case of the "Scottsboro Boys"--in which the legal battles of nine African American youths charged with rape galvanized America in the 1930s--is brilliantly chronicled in this documentary, a PBS IAmerican Experience/I episode that was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar®. After two women accused the young men of raping them aboard a freight train in 1931, the men were locked up and put on trial in Scottsboro, Alabama. To no one's surprise they were convicted, but eventually the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the defendants did not receive adequate legal representation and granted them a new trial. A prominent and flamboyant New York attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, then took on their case and began to make legal history. The plight of these particular defendants in the American South became known around the world, with protesters as far away as Moscow demanding their release. This film effectively illustrates, with period photos, interviews with historians, and the recollections of people who knew some of the main characters, how the legal battles ground on for years. Eventually the men were set free, but their lives had been ruined. With understated drama this film shows how American attitudes about race and justice were changed forever by the case of the nine young men who stood accused in Scottsboro. I--Robert J. McNamara/I