The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Jesse Hill Ford (novel)
Jesse Hill Ford (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 July 1970 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Some of his best friends were black...some of her best friends were white.

Plot:

A Southern lawyer uncovers the truth about a slain undertaker.

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Undertaker | Young Wife | Funeral | Lawyer

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Lee J. Cobb	...	Oman Hedgepath
Anthony Zerbe	...	Willie Joe Worth
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	L.B. Jones
Lola Falana	...	Emma Jones
Lee Majors	...	Steve Mundine
Barbara Hershey	...	Nella Mundine
Yaphet Kotto	...	Sonny Boy Mosby
Arch Johnson	...	Stanley Bumpas
Chill Wills	...	Mr. Ike
Zara Cully	...	Mama Lavorn
Fayard Nicholas	...	Benny
Joseph Attles	...	Henry (as Joe Attles)
Lauren Jones	...	Erleen
Dub Taylor	...	Mayor
Brenda Sykes	...	Jelly

Also Known As:

The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Tennessee, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The movie marked the first time that a black man killed a white man on screen.

Quotes:

Willie Joe Worth: It Monday is it?
Stanley Bumpas: All day, you coming?
Willie Joe Worth: Way pass six, that black son-of-bitch didn't call. Just let it ride by god.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Classified X (1998) (TV)

Black acting power

This is a sad film about personal weaknesses. The storyline has several weak points too, but on the whole I should think the movie does a great director like William Wyler justice and is still watchable today. There is a certain similarity with the Oscar winning In the Heat of the Night. The screenplay is by the same author, Stirling Silliphant.

The Liberation of L. B. Jones really belongs to the African American cast, the whites' performances do pale in comparison. Roscoe Lee Browne plays the well-to-do undertaker who is cheated by his wife with a white policeman. He gives his character a quiet dignity that lasts throughout the story, up to the bitter and sad end. Yaphet Kotto's portrayal of an angry young man who comes to town with a score to settle is equally intense and convincing. Both Browne and Kotto have a few very good scenes in which they act by themselves. They both seize the chance to give their characters real depth. Lola Falana is convincing as the amoral undertaker's wife and there is a good supporting cast. I fondly remember a small, well acted scene at the beginning with an elderly lady who regularly visits the undertaker's show room to have a look at the coffin for which she pays instalments.

The white population is, it seems to me, much more stereotypical. The only really interesting figure here is the town's most important lawyer, played somewhat stiffly by Lee J. Cobb. He is a racist against his better judgment. His unlawful actions to protect white criminals seem like a reflex, not coming from the brain but rather from the spinal cord.