THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES

US, 1969,102 minutes, Colour.
Lee J. Cobb, Anthony Zerbe,
Roscoe Lee Browne, Lee Majors, Barbara Hershey, Lola Falana, Arch Johnson.
Directed by William Wyler,

The Liberation of L.B. Jones is another critical look at the South and the conflict between black and white. It is competently done, although stark and brutal in tone. There is a complex story line, but each of the characters seems to represent a characteristic attitude or pose: the noble black, his sluttish wife who has an affair with a white policeman, the brutal and servile policeman, the elder compromising attorney, the idealistic young lawyer, the young ex-convict black seeking revenge. These characters interact, making a martyr out of dignified undertaker, L. B. Jones, disillusioning the young lawyer, and calling for the eternal compromise of the South, preserving the status quo at the expense of justice for the black man and telling face-saving lies for the white man.

Roscoe Lee Brown has frequently played African Americans with dignity. Here he is excellent. Lee J. Cobb repeats his veteran attorney role. Anthony Zerbe is convincingly disgusting as the 'typical’ white villain. Veteran director William Wyler (Mrs Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben Hur, Funny Girl) directed.

1. Does this film say anything new on racism? Does it present a case about injustice to African Americans?

2. The film begins and ends with a train arriving and leaving, the same black and white passengers, but each changed by the events of the film. What is the effect of this technique? (e.g. on arrival the whites are welcome; the black, man hides; the audience rides into the South and leaves, changed. )

3. Is the idealistic lawyer (Lee Majors) convincing? Is his role important to the issues of the film?

4. L. B. Jones - is he a hero for the film? What kind of character did he have? How do you explain his infatuation with his wife? (What is the point of the scene where he sits watching the young dancer?)

5. How strong was his conscience, sense of justice, sense of law and order? Why did he make a decision to go on, even though death was the result?

6. Was he a martyr? A martyr is one who witnesses by death to values and beliefs. What did his death achieve? What did he believe about his own death, about refusing to run and staying to make a stand?

7. What were your reactions to the scenes of inter-racial love? To the furtive nature of this love, and the partners using each other, especially the policeman pressurising to stop the divorce proceedings?

8. Southern whites are shown as thinking they are immune to justice. The character of the policeman and his servility to authority and his brutality to those beneath him? Did he have any sense of the value of a black man's life?

9. Discuss the role of the policeman who was a bigot and yet an ordinary farmer. Is this type of character credible?

10. The ending, the compromise? Were you relieved or disgusted? Was the ending factual?

11. How effective was the film as a social commentary on the South?