Otto Preminger’s grappling with rural Georgia during the civil rights movement—an adaptation by Thomas C. Ryan and Horton Foote of K.B. Gilden’s southern gothic novel—might seem hopelessly dated in its depiction of decadent whites and noble blacks. In fact, it seemed hopelessly dated when it was released in 1967, though this doesn’t prevent it from having an enjoyable over-the-top quality at various junctures (catch Jane Fonda performing fellatio on Michael Caine’s alto saxophone, for instance). The last of Preminger’s overblown adaptations of best-sellers (his later films became smaller-scale and much weirder), this may have a lot more juice than sustenance, but at least Preminger keeps the juices flowing. With Rex Ingram, Diahann Carroll, Burgess Meredith, John Phillip Law, Robert Hooks, and Faye Dunaway.
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