Bringing The Dead Back To Life

Needless to say, I’m a pretty big fan of independent film. Sure, there’s little promise of red carpet receptions and interviews with Joan Rivers -- wait, does she still do that sort of thing? -- still, indie film is imbued with a passion and a purpose all its own.

Independent film allows filmmakers to seize the opportunity to take risks with their creativity and to explore subjects that are off the beaten path of popular trends which, more often than not, ends up being very entertaining and thoroughly thought provoking.

This can, without a doubt, be said about Black Scorpion Film’s production Company M: A Mob of Soldiers.

It is really amazing. For the most part, we’re dealing with characters that are based on historical figures, people who lived and loved and dreamed not too terribly far from where I’m sitting now.

As I stand by and watch talented actors breathe life into these long dead individuals, actors like Mike Pniewski, Kevin Wayne, Richard Tyson, Jim Harper, and Doug Young -- just to name a few -- I can’t help but wonder if the people who actually lived the tale had the slightest notion they would one day be portrayed on the big screen, a medium that was still in its infancy when they were alive.

That is part of the magic of filmmaking, isn’t it? Bringing the dead to life.

"Company M" brings old story to life

In 1921, their trial was “one of the greatest ever staged in the state of Alabama.” Nine soldiers from Company M of the Alabama National Guard were charged with murder in the killing of a young Walker County miner. Several, including company commander Sgt. Robert J. Lancaster, were eventually convicted, then walked free after an appeals court overturned the verdicts. Every one of those soldiers, it is said, died an untimely death.

In Company M: A Mob of Soldiers, screenwriters Kevin Wayne and Bill Barnett weave these historic events and people into a compelling story of struggle, loyalty and justice.

The idea was planted in 2003 when Wayne and his friend Clark Vines stopped at the Slick Lizard restaurant near Nauvoo, Alabama, in the heart of Walker County coal-mining country. Among the mining memorabilia and newspaper clippings decorating the walls, there was a plaque recounting a nearly forgotten incident from 1921.

In the midst of a lengthy and sometimes violent strike by coal miners, a young man had been gruesomely killed by a group of active-duty soldiers. The soldiers, Company M of the Alabama National Guard, were among several units called to quell the strike, which had attracted national attention.

The newspapers of the time called it “The Lynching of Willie Baird.” The killing outraged the pro-union populace of Walker County. Arrayed against the miners and in support of the soldiers were the industrialists and mine owners who were committed to breaking the unions.

Two trials ended in mistrial. In his third trial, Lancaster was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 18 years. Not long afterward, an appeals court threw out all the convictions and the soldiers walked free. The State of Alabama, having been through political and economic turmoil and wrenched by racial and class divisions, dropped the case and it faded into history.

Company M: A Mob of Soldiers draws from that history to bring the events and the times to life. Kevin Wayne plays Sgt. Robert J. Lancaster, commander of Company M. Steifon Passamore is Sowell “Dub” Burns, whose determination for justice frames the story.

The film is directed by Kevin Wayne and co-directed by Alex Traywick. Bill Barnett is First Assistant Director. Screenplay is by Kevin Wayne and Bill Barnett. Executive Producers are Brandon Guiles, Kevin Wayne and James Van Harper. Co-producers are Jeff Traywick and Alex Traywick.