Mississippi Burning (1988)
Willem Dafoe: Agent Alan Ward
Photos
Quotes
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Ward : Where does it come from? All this hatred?
Anderson : You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old negro farmer that lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was... well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. My daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always kidding him that they saw Monroe out plowing with his new mule, and Monroe was going to rent another field now he had a mule. One morning, that mule showed up dead. They poisoned the water. After that, there wasn't any mention about that mule around my daddy. It just never came up. One time, we were driving down that road, and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He just packed up and left, I guess, he must of went up north or something. I looked over at my daddy's face. I knew he done it. He saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and said, If you ain't better than a nigger, son, who are you better than?
Ward : You think that's an excuse?
Anderson : No it's not an excuse. It's just a story about my daddy.
Ward : Where's that leave you?
Anderson : My old man was just so full of hate that he didn't know that bein' poor was what was killing him.
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[the mayor has hung himself]
Agent Bird : I don't understand why he did it. He wasn't in on it. He wasn't even Klan.
Ward : Mr. Bird, he was guilty. Anyone's guilty who lets these things happens and pretends like it isn't. No, he was guilty all right. Just as guilty as the fanatics who pulled the trigger. Maybe we all are.
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Deputy Pell : You got no right to be here. This is a political meeting.
Ward : Doesn't smell that way to me, Deputy.
Deputy Pell : It's a damn political meeting, Hoover Boy.
Ward : Oh, it looks like a political meeting, but smells more like Klan to me... with or without the Halloween costumes.
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[Anderson and Ward leave the house after talking with Deputy Clinton Pell and Mrs. Pell]
Ward : Tell me, Mr Anderson. How does a woman like that end up with...
Anderson : [nods toward the Pell house] With shithead in there? You know what these small towns are like. A girl spends all her time in high school lookin' for the guy she's gonna marry, and spends the rest of her life wonderin' why.
Ward : Something's wrong. He's too confident.
Anderson : Did you see the wedding photograph? His three pals, the ushers, had their thumbs hooked in their belts, with their three fingers pointing down.
Ward : So what is that? Some sort of Masonic thing?
Anderson : [holds up three fingers] No! "K-K-K."
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Ward : Good morning. My name is Allen Ward. I'm with the FBI.
Deputy Pell : [mockingly] Oooh. The Federal Bureau of Integration? In that getup, you ain't exactly undercover, are ya?
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Ward : What's wrong with these people?
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Deputy Pell : It's a goddamn political meeting, hoover boy.
Ward : Oh, it looks like a political meeting but it smells more like Klan to me, with or without the Halloween costumes.
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Ward : Good morning. My name is Alan Ward. I'm with the FBI.
Deputy Clinton Pell : Federal Bureau of Integration?
[laughs]
Deputy Clinton Pell : That getup you ain't exactly undercover, are you now?
Ward : We're here to see Sheriff Stuckey.
Deputy Clinton Pell : Sheriff's right busy now. You'll have to wait or come back some other time.
Ward : [Smiling] We'll wait.
Anderson : [Approaches Deputy Pell] Listen to me you backwoods shitass you. You got about two seconds to get the Sheriff out here or I'm gonna kick the God damn door in. OK?
[Smiles]
