Overby Center to Screen Documentary on Soggy Sweat's Iconic Whiskey Speech

The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics hosted a screening Tuesday of "The Whiskey Speech: Soggy Sweat and the Power of Storytelling," a new documentary that draws on more than 50 interviews to examine one of the most celebrated pieces of political rhetoric in Mississippi history.

The 57-minute film, produced and directed by David Crews, a member of the Overby Center Board of Trustees, was followed by a discussion of the historical context and importance of the speech. The program began at 5:30 p.m. in the Overby Center auditorium on the Ole Miss campus and ran approximately 90 minutes. A reception for attendees followed. The event was cosponsored by the University of Mississippi School of Law, the Mississippi Judicial College, and the Lafayette County Bar Association.

Crews conducted more than 50 interviews for the film, including conversations with novelist John Grisham, country music legend Marty Stuart, journalist Curtis Wilkie, Emory University historian Joe Crespino, and several of Sweat's friends. The Grisham connection carries particular weight: Judge Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat was Grisham's law professor at Ole Miss. Stuart, who wrote the country classic "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore," brings a distinctive musical perspective to the project. Crews also recorded several orators recreating the speech, weaving portions of those performances into the film.

The speech itself dates to 1952, when Sweat, then a Mississippi judge, law professor, and legislator, first delivered it at the King Edward Hotel in Jackson while Prohibition was still in effect in the state. The address became legendary for the rhetorical approach in which Sweat came down emphatically on both sides of the liquor question, and the film traces its historical, political, economic, religious, personal, and linguistic dimensions.

Overby Center chairman Charles Overby participated in the program alongside Crews. The film's editor is Matthew Graves, with Claire Shelmire Crews serving as director of photography. Production was supported in part by the Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Crews brought an established track record to the project. His prior documentaries, all broadcast on PBS affiliates, include "The Toughest Job," a chronicle of Mississippi Gov. William Winter's career that won a regional Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary; "Eudora," about writer Eudora Welty; "Unrivaled," about Sewanee's undefeated 1899 football team; and "Force of Nature," a profile of a businessman and conservationist.

Free parking was available near the Overby Center at 555 Grove Loop.