...tick... tick... tick...

"John Little" (George Kennedy) is the white sheriff of a small town in Colusa County, Mississippi who has just lost his position to a black man named "Jimmy Price" (Jim Brown) in a local election. Although most of the black people in the county are jubilant the white people residing there are horrified and to show their displeasure try to make it as difficult for the new sheriff as possible. On that note, they are also contemptuous of John Little because he gave up his position without a fight. In any case, Sheriff Price soon realizes that his new job is almost impossible without the help of the white community and things become even more heated when he arrests a white man for manslaughter. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a fairly good film made interesting in large part due to the racial tensions prevalent in the South during this particular time in American history. That being said, I thought that the director (Ralph Nelson) managed to capture some of the fear and hostility that definitely existed and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly above average.