Berton Churchill plays Buford Smythe, a man who has returned to his old home town after being gone for decades. He appears to be a successful pillar of society but it's all a front. Instead, he and his 'friends' are con-men bent on fleecing everyone in town. The only one who sees through this is the mayor...and soon folks in town grow to hate the mayor since he keeps speaking up against the big construction project proposed by Smythe.
While the film was enjoyable, it really suffered because it was obvious Smythe was a shyster. In fact, it was so obvious that you can only assume that the entire town was peopled by folks with serious brain disorders. This is a huge problem for me, as a plot requiring the viewer to turn off their sense of disbelief usually makes the film a hard sell. Additionally, seeing the mayor so hated and reviled so quickly seemed pretty hard to believe...as well as folks NOT looking into Smythe or his scheme to see if it was legitimate. All in all, an interesting idea with many logical flaws...too many to make it a must-see film. Instead, I'd put it in the time-passer category.
While the film was enjoyable, it really suffered because it was obvious Smythe was a shyster. In fact, it was so obvious that you can only assume that the entire town was peopled by folks with serious brain disorders. This is a huge problem for me, as a plot requiring the viewer to turn off their sense of disbelief usually makes the film a hard sell. Additionally, seeing the mayor so hated and reviled so quickly seemed pretty hard to believe...as well as folks NOT looking into Smythe or his scheme to see if it was legitimate. All in all, an interesting idea with many logical flaws...too many to make it a must-see film. Instead, I'd put it in the time-passer category.