This is, though entertaining, far from a good movie. It comes across as a long television show. And no wonder! The director did mostly TV. At the time, star Richard Chamberlain was known primarily for his Dr. Kildare series.
The supporting cast is lots of fun. It runs the gamut from -- OK, ready? Pat Butram .... to Joey Heatherton ... to Claude Rains. Yes, in the middle of this tale of a poor low class kid (Nick Adams, suitably confused looking) caught in the midst of a class-conscious small Southern town, Rains is the patriarchal retired lawyer. Yes, Claude Rains.
He looks frail and certainly doesn't seem especially Southern. But here was a man who never turned in a bad performance.
Chamberlain is good, too, and Jeanette Nolan is touching as the wife of the man Adams is accused of murdering.
The supporting cast is lots of fun. It runs the gamut from -- OK, ready? Pat Butram .... to Joey Heatherton ... to Claude Rains. Yes, in the middle of this tale of a poor low class kid (Nick Adams, suitably confused looking) caught in the midst of a class-conscious small Southern town, Rains is the patriarchal retired lawyer. Yes, Claude Rains.
He looks frail and certainly doesn't seem especially Southern. But here was a man who never turned in a bad performance.
Chamberlain is good, too, and Jeanette Nolan is touching as the wife of the man Adams is accused of murdering.