This dramatized documentary, drawn verbatim from transcripts, combines the intrigue of a murder mystery with a revealing look at racial, religious, and class prejudices early twentieth century America.

Originally from New York, Leo Frank was the manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta in 1913, when he was accused and convicted in the rape and murder of a worker, thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan. The case, which was fueled by a Southern resentment of so-called educated northern industrialists, is widely regarded as a miscarriage of justice and was a key factor in the development of the Anti-Defamation League.

The trial occupied the front page of every American newspaper and captivated public attention across the globe. Shortly after Frank’s conviction, new evidence emerged that cast doubt on his guilt. When the governor altered his death sentence to life imprisonment, riots erupted in Atlanta. After a populist newspaper urged that Frank not be allowed to escape “justice,” Frank was kidnapped from the state prison and lynched by a mob in Phagan’s hometown.

"The lessons of the Frank case are as clear today as they were 90 years ago: the diversity that makes America unique is too often used as a scapegoat in difficult times."
‒Abraham H. Foxman, Director, Anti-Defamation League

"Fascinating history well presented. . . The biases and divisions brought to the surface by the Frank case are still easy to find today. So are people who specialize in fear- mongering and fanning small fires into big ones.”
‒The New York Times

"Transports the viewer to a tragic chapter of a region then proudly calling itself ‘the New South’… as the film documents painfully, the scars still haven’t healed.”
‒The Washington Post

“The Frank case was more than about racism and antisemitism. It was also about the perceptions of the nation’s haves and have-nots.”
‒The Los Angeles Times