This is an important topic which should be remade- If you think of excellent films such as "In the Heat of the Night"- this addresses some of the issues, the problem is it is very dated, and Don Meredith is...well, terrible!. I find it difficult to believe there were not talented actors who would have played the role of Tom Rowe in 1978.
Ed Lauter portrays the FBI contact, and the story of how Rowe is used to infiltrate the KKK is interesting. Slim Pickens; a wonderful character actor, plays a sympathetic role. The sets are rudimentary, and I honestly don't know if this was intentional, or due to the small budget this film must have had. The audience does get a feel for the south, however; the small towns, dirt roads and local gin mills are true to character.
The issue of the KKK is addressed but it would be great to see an actor the calibre of James S. Woods ("Ghosts of Mississippi") tackle a film remake. The subject matter is there, and there are still many small towns in the south today where a film such as this could be realistically filmed.
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