A Time To Kill | 1996

Joel Schumacher films another John Grisham legal thriller following the success of 1994's The Client.

Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L Jackson) guns down two men accused of brutally raping his young daughter, and it's down to lawyer Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) to keep him from the gas chamber as the Klan takes a disturbing interest in the case.

The small-town Southern setting in the book is ‘Clanton’ but by filming in the Mississippi town of Canton, about 35 miles north of Jackson, which seemed perfect, removing the redundant ‘l’ meant that there was no need to painstakingly change the signage.

The picturesque town was also seen in O Brother Where Art Thou? and My Dog Skip.

The courthouse, at the centre of the story and in the centre of the town square is the 1855 Greek Revival Madison County Courthouse. It's not been used as a courthouse for some time but plans have been approved to turn it into a museum.

That's not the real interior we see in the film, though. With so much of the film taking place in the courtroom, it was recreated in a 43,000 sq ft purpose-built facility west of town at 123 Watford Parkway Drive, which has since gone on to become Mississippi Film Studios.

Some locations have disappeared – the Brigance house was a set which was burned down for the film, the old grocery store at the opening burned down since, and the ‘Municipal Building’ used as the film’s jail, which stood on the northeast corner of Canton’s main square, has been demolished.

The much better news is that Brigance’s office above the coffee house not only remains but has been preserved as a movie museum with original props, parts of the set and memorabilia from the film.

It’s 218 West Center Street at North Union Street on the northwest corner of the town square. You can get tickets from the Movie Museums, at the Canton Welcome Center, 147 North Union Street on the north side of the town square.

On the square's east side you'll find the office of DA Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey), which is the Elks' Lodge, 3338 North Liberty Street, now housing Sulm’s Gifts.

The church where Brigance faces the press is just a little further east – Grace Episcopal Church, 161 East Peace Street.

As threats mount, Jake's wife and daughter depart for safety from what is now Jackson-Evers International Airport, 100 International Drive, Jackson.

The white-pillared home of the ominously named Justice Noose (Patrick McGoohan), who turns down Brigance’s request have the trial moved to another town, is the Mosby House, 61 East Center Street. Canton’s most imposing antebellum house was begun by planter Wiley Lyons in 1852. Remaining unfinished when the Civil War began, it was bought by the owners of Mosby Drug Store in 1878, who completed the building and became its first residents. It's a private home and not open to visitors.

‘Claude’s’, the restaurant to which the hungover Brigance takes Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock) for breakfast-lunch in “a black neighbourhood” was created in 280 West Peace Street, now women’s clothing store Love Story.

The jury at Carl Lee’s trial, forbidden to discuss the case, talk endlessly and even take a regular show of hands in the motel where they’re sequestered. This was the Bill Will Motel and Restaurant, now renovated as the Budget Inn, 3116 South Liberty Street, just south of town on US Hwy 51 South near Interstate 55.

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