Moral ambiguity would never have been a problem for Atticus Finch, which is why it was so disconcerting to see Gregory Peck get entwined with a hillbilly moonshiner's daughter portrayed here by Tuesday Weld. I wouldn't say that the story lacked credibility entirely, but can you just imagine something like this occurring for real with an otherwise upstanding citizen/sheriff and a gal who could pass for his daughter? I suppose it's happened before, but man, how would one look in the mirror in the morning? The soundtrack, mostly performed by Johnny Cash, lends particular resonance to the story. Being a fan, I was somewhat surprised that the only song I'd heard before was the title tune; all the rest complemented the story well but don't appear on any of Cash's big hits albums. The one that really clicked for the conflicted Sheriff Tawes (Peck) was 'Face a New Day Dawning', one of it's lines described his angst in relation to his marriage to Ellen Haney (Estelle Parsons) - "She knows that something's wrong and I don't care". You could feel the palpable tension in the sheriff who didn't even try to sort out his feelings once the young temptress made her move.The one scene that creeped me out though was the tease that occurred by Alma's (Weld) bedside when her father Carl (Ralph Meeker) sidled up along side her to offer comfort. If he'd have kissed her I think I would have jumped out of my chair. There was this feeling I had throughout the picture that some form of incest might have been going on, but it was more provocative to offer it up as a possibility rather than a fact. Could you just imagine the sheriff if that had been the case? With the character of the Federal man Bascomb (Lonny Chapman), I had to chuckle a bit as it brought me back to my childhood days reading the L'il Abner comic strip. Exposing moonshiners for unpaid taxes was always a favorite theme, and would have been that much more comical here if someone had called Bascomb a 'revenooer'. Why didn't someone think of that?

Not to be confused with the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line", this 1970 film directed by John Frankenheimer tells the story of a middle-aged, small-town sheriff, Henry Tawes (Gregory Peck) , who finds himself becoming increasingly disillusioned with his life as a husband and father, and coming to resent his humdrum existence. It could also be argued that he is entering a mid-life crisis, and one day, he stops the daughter of a local moonshiner (played by Ralph Meeker), pretty Alma McCain (Tuesday Weld) and her younger brother for driving without a permit. Captivated by her beauty, he begins a secret affair with her, all the while turning a blind eye to her family's illegal activities. Things become increasingly out of hand as inspectors begin to investigate the goings on in town and Henry's devious deputy (Charles Durning) discovers the liaison and the McCain family's profession. Henry also finds his distraught wife (Estelle Parsons) has also discovered the affair, and he decides to throw all caution to the wind and run away with Alma. Torn between her affection for Henry and her loyalty to her family, Alma's choice and Henry's recklessness result in tragedy and heartbreak.This movie was very much overlooked when it was first released, but it is a good flick and the performances are superb. The production was shot mainly on location in Tennessee and Johnny Cash provides the soundtrack. This role was a very different one for Gregory Peck, especially at this stage of his career, but he embodies the tightly-wound sheriff expertly. Tuesday Weld is convincing and captivating as a young woman caught in a way of life that not only limits her opportunities but also her choices. Used by her father to keep Henry smitten in order to keep the family business secret, she makes the only choice she feels she can make, but not without cost to Henry.Columbia released the movie on DVD a few years back, and it is unforgivably very bare-bones (there isn't even a menu), but it is in widescreen and the transfer looks wonderful, capturing the bleak yet lush countryside.If you're a fan of Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld, this is a film that must be viewed.

This film is set somewhere in the South, though the film never indicates exactly where. I assume it's Tennessee or Arkansas as it's very hilly and the accents of most of the people would indicate that. The local sheriff begins an affair with the daughter of a moonshiner and this all leads to terrible consequences.I just read through the reviews on IMDb and I seem to be in the minority here, as I wasn't particularly happy with this film--some of it due to the odd casting of Gregory Peck. The reason I chose to see it was the presence of Peck. Heck, the man could read from a phone book on film and I'd watch it!! I've seen him in some campy films later in his career such as THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and THE OMEN simply because even with these silly roles, he still managed to transcend it all. However, despite my love of his films, this one disappointed me very much. Instead of the strong and decent persona he played in such films as 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,THE BIG COUNTRY and other films, here he manages to be a rather unlikable and difficult to understand character. I think the blandness of the guy he played was the biggest deficit in the film and for once he was miscast. I really think that Ralph Meeker (who played the moonshiner in the film) would have been better in the role, as he had a long career out of playing morally ambivalent characters--plus he was a heck of an actor in his own right (despite not being a household name). Charles Durning, a supporting actor in the movie, also could have carried off this role very well.Perhaps one of the best performances in the film was that of Estelle Parsons. For once, she had a part that seemed very suited to her. Her roles in films such as BONNY AND CLYDE and DON'T DRINK THE WATER (among others) didn't do a lot to allow her to do much character acting (though she did get the Oscar for BONNY because apparently they liked to see her shriek). Here, however, she is amazingly believable as a sad and lamentable wife who's losing her husband to a young nymph.Overall, despite bad casting, this isn't a bad film--but it also isn't a very good film. Its pluses are gritty realism and some of the Johnny Cash music (particularly the title song). Minuses are Peck and the vagueness of his character and the unbelievability of the affair between him and Tuesday Weld--two actors that don't exactly seem at place in the hills of the South. Simply put, the script wasn't exactly first-rate.

This is a very good film. Tuesday Weld and Gregory Peck give great performances. Never has Peck's 'stiff' style of acting been better suited for a role. He is wound so tight in this part it seems like he will explode any minute. His eyes and silent desperate yearning when he is looking at the truly beautiful Weld tell's the desperate needs of the man he portrays. Any man above forty will feel his pain and desire...and many his ultimate heartbreak. The original sound track by Johnny Cash is pitch perfect. The last scene of the film is truly remarkable and heartbreaking although it can be seen coming from the opening credits. This maybe Peck's most under-rated performance and Tuesday weld's best.