Successful New York attorney Sam Leibowitz travels to the South in 1933 to defend nine young black men accused of raping two women on an Alabama freight train. In the spring of 1931 nine black hoboes were pulled off an Alabama freight train and arrested for allegedly raping two young white women in a gondola car. Ranging in ages from twelve to twenty years, they were quickly tried and sentenced to the electric chair. News of their convictions spread and the plight of the Scottsboro Boys became a 'cause celebre' that fueled the fire of socialism worldwide, forcing an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and resulting in new trials for all nine defendants. New Yorker Samuel Leibowitz, a savvy and self-assured defense lawyer with an impressive string of courtroom victories, agreed to represent the accused at their retrials in Decatur, Alabama. His journey into the Deep South symbolized the polarity of the times and set in motion a legal battle that ultimately changed the course of American jurisprudence. The Scottsboro case was a tragic chapter in American history and a story of epic injustice. From their arrest in 1931 to the release of the last Scottsboro defendant in 1950, the rights of nine young black men were violated.

The story of nine black men accused of raping two white women in Alabama in the 1930s has been told before, in a 1976 made-for-tv movie and a more recent PBS documentary but this kind of story is always one to tell again for a new generation and it shows us how bad racism was back then and how far we have come today and how much more we must learn.Timothy Hutton is magnificent as the Jewish New York lawyer who travels to Alabama to defend the 9 black men and David Strathairn is his usual best as the the trial judge. The one performance I did not like was Leelee Sobieski as Victoria Price, the one young lady that accused the men of raping her. I felt she just didn't fit the role and seemed to force her performance making her not very believable. Besides that Director Terry Green has made a film that is as powerful as it is eye opening, he got great sets and costumes as well as some great performances from some very talented actors. Heavens Fall is not just a great film but it's one everyone should see,you could tell this was a labor of love by the director and actors. I for one enjoyed this film felt there's a good message here as well as a lesson we all could learn. The DVD contains a Behind The Scenes feature as well as a trailer. Released by Allumination FilmWorks. ***** Out Of *****