The Chamber
The Chamber movie poster
Directed by	James Foley
Produced by	John Davis Brian Grazer Ron Howard
Written by	John Grisham (novel) William Goldman (screenplay) Chris Reese (screenplay)
Starring	Chris O'Donnell Gene Hackman
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Ian Baker
Editing by	Mark Warner
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	October 11 1996
Running time	113 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Chamber is 1996 drama/thriller film based on the John Grisham novel of the same name. The film is directed by James Foley and stars Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell. John Davis is the name of several persons: John Davis (1550?-1605), an English navigator and explorer. ... Brian Grazer (born July 12, 1951, in Los Angeles, California) is a Jewish-American film and television producer who founded Imagine Entertainment with partner Ron Howard. ... Ron Howard on the set of Ransom. ... John Ray Grisham Jr. ... William Goldman (born August 12, 1931) is an American novelist, playwright and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Gene Hackman Eugene Alden Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Carter Burwell (born November 18, 1955, in New York) is a composer of film soundtracks. ... Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Virginia and a member of the Democratic Party. ... Universal Studios Theme Parks. ... October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years). ... This is a list of film-related events in 1996. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ... Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience. ... John Ray Grisham Jr. ... The Chamber (1994) is a legal/suspense novel by noted American author John Grisham. ... Gene Hackman Eugene Alden Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Synopsis

Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's (Hackman) only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall (O'Donnell) seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks (exactly 28 days) before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi state prison which has held him since the crime in 1980 (16 years ago). The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide, to mitigate the secret shame he has always felt for the genetic fluke which made this man his grandfather, and to bring closure -- one way or another -- to the suffering the old man seems to have brought to everyone he has ever known. But, would mercy soften his grandfather's heart? Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally in 1922. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area  Ranked 32nd  - Total 48,434 sq mi (125,443 km²)  - Width 170 miles (275 km)  - Length 340 miles (545 km)  - % water 3  - Latitude 30°13N to 35°N  - Longitude 88°7W to 91°41W Population  Ranked 31st... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

Cast

• Chris O'Donnell - Adam Hall
• Gene Hackman - Sam Cayhall
• Faye Dunaway - Lee Cayhall Bowen
• Robert Prosky - E. Garner Goodman
• Raymond J. Barry - Rollie Wedge/Donnie Cayhall
• Bo Jackson - Sgt. Clyde Packer
• Lela Rochon - Nora Stark
• David Marshall Grant - Gov. David McAllister
• Nicholas Pryor - Judge Flynn F. Slattery
• Harve Presnell - Atty. Gen. Roxburgh

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Gene Hackman Eugene Alden Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Faye Dunaway at Cannes, 2001 Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941, in Bascom, Florida) is an Academy Award-winning actress. ... Robert Prosky (born on 13 December 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) is an American character actor who has appeared in such films as Christine, The Natural, Broadcast News, Green Card, Hoffa, Rudy and Dead Man Walking. ... Raymond J. Barry (b. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lela Rochon (born on 17 April 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American actress best known for her role as Robin Stokes in the movie Waiting to Exhale. ... David Marshall Grant (born June 21, 1955) is an American actor. ... Harve Presnell (born September 14, 1933, Modesto, California) is an American actor. ...

Trivia

• The execution scene was filmed in the actual gas chamber at Parchman Penitentiary.
• Ron Howard was originally set to direct the film, but left the project to direct Ransom (1996). He stayed on as Executive Producer on the film.
• Brad Pitt was committed to playing Adam Hall, but left the project when Ron Howard left to direct Ransom (1996).
• William Goldman, who wrote the early drafts, was reportedly unsatisfied with the re-writes and never saw the finished movie
• During the execution scene at the end of the film, one of the members of the crowd cheering and holding scenes at the prison holds up a cardboard sign reading, "suck gas, evildoer". This is the trademark battle cry of Darkwing Duck, from the Disney TV series about a duck superhero who uses a gas weapon against criminals.
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Sam Cahall states that the new law allowing him to opt for lethal injection applied only to inmates convicted after 1984. Actually it was just the opposite: Those convicted after 1984 could only have lethal injection. Before 1984 convicts could choose between lethal injection and the gas chamber.

Ron Howard on the set of Ransom. ... Ransom is a thriller film released in 1996, starring Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, and Gary Sinise and directed by Ron Howard. ... William Bradley Brad Pitt (born December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ... William Goldman (born August 12, 1931) is an American novelist, playwright and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. ... Darkwing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured an eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck with the alter ego Drake Mallard (voiced by Jim...

External Links

• The Chamber on the Internet Movie Database
• The Chamber on the All Movie Guide

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