Down here rattlesnakes don't commit suicide.

Description: Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

Cast:
Anderson: Gene Hackman
Ward: Willem Dafoe
Mrs. Pell: Frances McDormand
Deputy Pell: Brad Dourif
Mayor Tilman: R. Lee Ermey
Sheriff Stuckey: Gailard Sartain
Townley: Stephen Tobolowsky
Frank Bailey: Michael Rooker
Lester Cowens: Pruitt Taylor Vince
Agent Monk: Badja Djola
Agent Bird: Kevin Dunn
Eulogist: Frankie Faison
Judge (as Tom Mason): Thomas B. Mason
Goatee: Geoffrey Nauffts
Passenger: Rick Zieff
Black Passenger: Christopher White
Hattie: Gladys Greer
Mose: Jake Gipson
Waitress: Dianne Lancaster
Hollis: Stanley W. Collins
Fennis: Daniel Winford
Floyd Swilley: Marc Clement
Earl Cooke: Larry Shuler
Wesley Cooke (as Stephen Wesley Bridgewater): Stephen Bridgewater
Curtis Foy: Bob Penny
Barber: James F. Moore
Connie: Park Overall
Beauty Parlor Woman 1: Georgia F. Wise
Beauty Parlor Woman 2: Lois Allen
Choctaw Man: Barry Davis Jim Sr.
Television Commentator: Dan Desmond
Aaron Williams: Darius McCrary
Vertis Williams: Lou Walker
Mrs. Williams: Billie Jean Young
Church Soloist: Barbara Gibson
Pell Maid: Pat Funderburk
Interviewee: James Arnold Mayes
Farmer: George Mason
Interviewer & Reporter: Charles Franzen
SNCC Interviewer: Harry Franklin
SNCC Interviewee: James Lloyd
Pecan Vendor: Jesse Merle Speaks
Obie Walker: Simeon Teague
Mrs. Walker: Tonea Stewart
Doctor (as Rev. Harry Quick): Harry Quick
Lawyer: Zeke Davidson
Cameraman: Robert F. Colesberry
Reporter: Frederick Zollo
Neighbor Woman: Judy Sasser
Fire Bomber: James Eric
Trooper: Paul Savelis
T.V. Commentator #2: John P. Fertitta
Reporter #3: Ron De Roxtra
Reporter #4: Doug Jackson
Reporter #5: Gary Moody
Reporter #6: Robert Erickson
Reporter #7: John Brook
Agent Stokes: Tobin Bell
Agent MacMillan: Daniel Chapman
Agent Brodsky: Rick Washburn
Agent Nash (as Bob Glaudini): Robert Glaudini
Agent Reilly (as Kenneth Magee): Ken Magee
Agent Tubbs (as E.A. Thrall): Everett Thrall
Grieving Mother: Bernice Poindexter
Mrs. Cowens: Brenda Dunlap
Gospel Singer: Lannie Spann McBride
Baseball Announcer (voice): Jack Buck
Deputy Sheriff: Major Combs
Willie: Ralnardo Davis
Pedestrian on the Square: Betty Lucille DeJournette
Local #1: Paul Henderson
Angry Reporter on Bridge: W. Mitchell Morgan
Peckerwood: Ralph Pruitt Vaughn
Man in Car: James Lowell Turnham

Written by: Chris Gerolmo

Director: Alan Parker

Production: Orion Pictures

Release date: 27 Jan 1989

Box Office: $34,603,943