After thirty commercial successes, Roger Corman here tackled the contemporary theme of racism and delivered an exemplary piece of tough-minded, hard-hitting low-budget filmmaking. William Shatner, exuding a sleazy but effective charm, plays a power-hungry demagogue who arrives in a small Southern town reluctantly facing up to desegregation. His impassioned speeches stir up the white community, revive the Ku Klux Klan and lead to attacks on black families and a near-lynching. Adapted from the novel by Charles Beaumont.