4 Little Girls

1997 102 min ★ 7.1 Documentary, TV Movie

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

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Cast

Maxine McNair

Self - Mother of Denise McNair

Chris McNair

Self - Father of Denise McNair

Helen Pegues

Self - Denise's Aunt

Queen Nunn

Self - Neighbor of Denise McNair

Arthur Hanes Jr.

Self - Defense Attorney for Bob Chambliss

Howell Raines

Self - New York Times Editor

Harold McNair

Self - Denise's Uncle

Carole C. Smitherman

Self - Denise's Childhood Friend

Wamo Reed Robertson

Self - Carole's Aunt

Dianne Braddock

Self - Carole's Sister

Details

Director

Spike Lee

Tagline

"On that Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine"

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Production

40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

July 12, 2026

★ 7/10

At the height of the racial tensions in Alabama in 1963, the entire American nation was shocked by a bomb exploding in a church that killed four young girls. What we now see for the next hundred minutes or so is a delicately but powerfully woven story that talks to, and reminisces with, family members of the victims whilst illustrating with a plentiful and powerful selection of archive just how ge...