The Liberation of L.B. Jones

A surprisingly tough-minded adaptation of Jesse Hill Ford's novel of Southern racism, with co-scriptwriter Stirling Silliphant eschewing the easy options of his earlier In the Heat of the Night for a grim demonstration of the inadequacies of liberal compromise over the institutional conflicts of class and colour. Wyler's final film, set in Tennessee, finds its catalyst in the divorce action brought by middle class black undertaker Browne, in which a white cop (Zerbe) is named as co-respondent.