Mr. and Mrs. Loving

Last updated
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
GenreBiography
Drama
Romance
Written by Richard Friedenberg
Directed byRichard Friedenberg
Starring Timothy Hutton
Lela Rochon
Ruby Dee
Isaiah Washington
Music by Branford Marsalis
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersTimothy Hutton
Susan Rose
ProducersDan Paulson
Chi-en Telemaque
Running time105 minutes
Release
Original network Showtime
Original releaseMarch 31, 1996 (1996-03-31)

Mr. and Mrs. Loving is a 1996 drama television film directed by Richard Friedenberg that aired on Showtime. It is based on a true story, but with fictionalized parts. [1]

Contents

Plot summary

A racially mixed couple live in Virginia which violates the state's miscegenation laws. Arrested on the night of their wedding, Richard Loving and Mildred “Bean” Jeter are given the option to either be imprisoned or leave the state. The couple chooses to move to Washington, D.C. The Civil Rights Movement and the fight for their marriage led to their win of the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia .

Cast

Reception

Lisa D. Horowitz, writing for Variety said, "Director-scripter Richard Friedenberg has fashioned a straightforward tale that doesn’t pull any punches. He’s a better writer than helmer, crafting some fine dialogue. But he’s blessed with an excellent cast, led by the reliably understated Hutton". [2] Scott D. Pierce of Deseret News wrote, "Showtime doesn't make a lot of movies worth watching, but Mr. and Mrs. Loving is an exception." [3]

Accolades

AssociationYearCategoryNomineeResultRef
CableACE Awards 1996 Actress in a Movie or Miniseries Lela Rochon Nominated [4]

Accuracy

According to Mildred Loving, "not much of it was very true. The only part of it right was I had three children." [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The case involved Mildred Loving, a woman of color, and her white husband Richard Loving, who in 1958 were sentenced to a year in prison for marrying each other. Their marriage violated Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which criminalized marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored". The Lovings appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which upheld it. They then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear their case.

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Philip Jay Hirschkop is an American civil rights lawyer. With fellow American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) volunteer cooperating attorney Bernard S. Cohen, the two represented Mildred and Richard Loving in several court cases to overturn the Lovings' conviction for interracial marriage in the state of Virginia. The case eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, and on April 10, 1967, Hirschkop and Cohen were permitted to share the oral argument for the Lovings. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Lovings in Loving v. Virginia, overturning their conviction and ending the enforcement of state bans on interracial marriage.

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References

  1. Brennan, Patricia (March 31, 1996). "Mr. and Mrs. Loving". Washington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  2. D. Horowitz, Lisa (March 28, 1996). "Review: 'Mr. and Mrs. Loving'". Variety. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  3. D. Pierce, Scott (March 30, 1996). "Mr. and Mrs. loving Is Shocking But True". Deseret News. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  4. "CableACE Awards (1996)". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  5. Dionne Walker (June 10, 2007). "Pioneer of interracial marriage looks back". USAToday.com. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  6. "40 years of interracial marriage: Mildred Loving reflects on breaking the color barrier". International Herald Tribune . Associated Press. June 9, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2008.