I saw this movie at a very young age and was very moved. I never saw anything hostile about Donny. Sure, it was just a movie, but no one that he encountered, even white, detected any mean streak. While I have deep sympathy for both Earline and Ernestine's family's, If you have not lived the criminal LIFE, such as prostitution you don't exactly know what these women were willing to do to get money. Then, you have someone that cannot communicate at all, other than to indicate what I am willing to pay you and what I want from you. If, perhaps they were not accepting of what was being offered, and demanded more than could be understood, he very well could be a murderer. But, that was the life they chose, for whatever reason. It's like trying to communicate to a child or an animal. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!!! His communication skills were very limited..... Very limited........ The problem may have been that his family denied teaching him skills. MAYBE, he didn't even know that killing is wrong....Black or White and deaf & dumb, what more could society do????????

Hollywood does tend to bend the facts. In his book "Dummy" Tidyman has case details that are not present in the movie. Lang literally admits to both murders, in the only way he knows how, by showing police the location of the murders and the even one of the weapons that he used. In the case with Ernestine Williams, Lang was not convicted due several errors in the justice systems; which are more common than you think for minorities. Read the book "Dummy" if you want better case information. In addition, I believe the point of the Movie is to question the policies of law enforcement when it relates to suspects that have physical disabilities that hinder their ability to communicate. How can you validate a confession by a deaf mute? The original intentions of "Dummy" was to agitate readers/viewers in order to make them think about the moral implications of a criminal system that discriminates against minorities and people with special needs.This movie can in "no way" validate the fact that Donald Lang was guilty of his crimes. He was tried twice and released once on error (Williams) then finally convicted, when months later he convicted the same crime. Lang was a serial killer and well known in "his" neighborhood for having sinister motives when it came to "women of the night." My family knew Lang intimately because he was finally convicted of murdering my grandmother Earline Brown. Earline would probably still be alive to this day if Lang's case with Ernestine Williams had been handled effectively; however, it was not. Maybe because Ernestine and Earline had been prostitutes. Or, it might have been handled poorly because they were black women. Would there have even been a question of Lang's guilt or innocence if Ernestine or Earline had been white, upstanding, citizens? Lang never served his time appropriately for their murders, thanks to Hollywood. My grandmother was a struggling single parent. She had no education, nor any support system. She often took care of her children without welfare benefits, using the only skill she had been trained in; prostitution. Everyone, in that neighborhood that new her, loved her. She was kind and often gave to women that were less fortunate, like my father's mother who had twelve children. The unfortunate part of crime is always the victims. My mother lost her mother at seventeen, and my uncle was only twelve. Hollywood does not show the victims, only the sensational murderer. It is what people want to pay to see that matters. Isn't it?? Ann Brown

Obituary for Lowell Jack MyersLowell J. Myers, 76: Deaf Lawyer and Advocate for Deaf PeopleLowell J. Myers, who lost his hearing at a young age but found in himself a strong, unwavering voice as a champion for the deaf , the bullied and the underdog, even arguing 17 cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, died Nov. 7, 2006 of a brain aneurysm. He was 76.Mr. Myers was born in Los Angeles in 1930 to deaf parents and educated in Chicago. He had some hearing until age 10, when he, too, became deaf. That setback, and the adversity faced by his deaf parents, fueled a two-fisted determination to succeed, that resulted in him attending both Roosevelt University (BA) and the University of Chicago (MA) at the same time in order to receive his education.After graduating with college degrees from two universities simultaneously, he applied to the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. But the dean refused to admit him, saying he feared Mr. Myers, as a deaf person, would not be able to keep up, much less graduate. Were Mr. Myers able to do so, the dean suggested, he would not be able to pass the Illinois Bar Exam, or, if that obstacle was overcome, to practice law in a courtroom.The dean relented to allow Mr. Myers to attend the law school for one semester - as a trial period. In a foreshadowing of what was to come, Mr. Myers did well at this trial; he went on to graduate second in his class of 80 students, the first deaf student to graduate from the school and one of the first to graduate from law school in the country.Mr. Myers was also a CPA and worked in the tax law department with Sears, Roebuck & Co. for 30 years, but it was his compassionate work outside of this arena that earned him acclaim.In his most famous case, he defended a deaf man accused of murder who did not know sign language and could not communicate with anyone. A book about the case, Dummy, was published by the "Book of the Month Club," selling more than 100,000 copies. It was later turned into a TV movie, starring actor LeVar Burton as the deaf defendant.But it was not only deaf and hard of hearing people that Mr. Myers became an advocate for. He also viewed himself as a voice of reason in defense of those he felt were being bullied or taken advantage of. He successfully sued the Chicago Police Department for the shootings of deaf people, and his efforts resulted in the department instituting training to help officers more effectively work with the deaf.He argued cases before the Illinois Supreme Court 17 times - and never lost! In one of those cases, he represented a group of taxpayers who had been overcharged by the government, and his pleas were so impassioned and his work so extensive in the case, the justices later awarded him legal fees of $90,000, nine times the $10,000 fee he requested.Mr. Myers used his influence as a legal advocate for the deaf community to write laws to help deaf people that are still being used throughout the United States. His book, The Law and the Deaf, also became a model used by others in foreign countries. A second book detailed how to handle legal cases of police brutality. He also wrote and self-published a student version of The Law and the Deaf that was widely used in high schools for the deaf. The Illinois State Bar Association honored him in 2006 as a "Senior Counselor" for 50 years of service to the profession.Recently, Mr. Myers moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to be closer to his daughter, Lynda Rae Myers, a deaf social worker, and his grand-daughter, Ariana Myers (deaf), of Takoma Park, MD. In addition to them, he is also survived by his son, Nathan Benjamin Myers of Chicago, who followed his father into law; and two sisters, Jean Markin and Dorothy Doyle of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

i saw this film a very long time ago and its impact was tremendous. so much so that although i had long forgotten the title i had not forgotten the film. only since i have been on the internet have i been able to trace the name of the film and subsequently look out for it on british tv or sky. so far though i have not come across it again. this film is more than worthy of a reshowing and i, for one, would be very pleased to see it again. i would go as far as to say that this film has haunted me for all this time.