Road to Memphis: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the face of the Civil Rights movement when he was murdered in Memphis in 1968. Based on Hampton Sides' recent book Hellhound on His Trail, this PBS-aired American Experience documentary examines the motives and methods of King's assassin, James Earl Ray, while also chronicling the international manhunt to track the gunman down. Born into poverty, Ray was a petty criminal who escaped from a Missouri prison and quickly slipped off the radar, constantly changing identities and traveling back roads. Gradually he became entranced with segregationist George Wallace and became fixated on the murder of King as a path to fame and fortune. Emmy Award–winning director Stephen Ives shifts between King's efforts to plan a poor people's march on Washington while also dealing with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, and Ray's stalking of his victim. Commentators such as Dan Rather describe what's known about Ray's shadowy activities, while King associates recall the violence-plagued marches in Memphis and the civil rights leader's growing suspicion that he would meet an early death. Road to Memphis also depicts the rioting and despair in the wake of King's assassination, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's vigorous pursuit of Ray, and the killer's desperate hope to find sanctuary in white-supremacist Rhodesia. A habitual liar, Ray initially confessed after capture, then spent the rest of his life denying involvement. DVD extras include an interview with Sides. A perceptive and even suspenseful historical account of a national tragedy, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)