373:, violent Army veteran Sonny Butts is appointed to the post of assistant police chief in Delano because he is a war hero. When the serving chief dies of a heart attack, the city council appoints Butts to fill the vacancy. Butts figures out Funderburke's guilt, just as town father Holmes tells Butts he is about to take his badge due to a series of depredations culminating in Butts's murder of a black mechanic. Sure that solving the decades-long mystery will save his job, Butts goes to Funderburke's land and catches him in the very act of burying his latest victim. But as Butts chortles over his victory, letting down his guard, Funderburke strikes Butts with the shovel in his hands, shoots Butts with his own police revolver, and buries his body on the spot—along with his police motorcycle. No one makes the connection between the disappearance of Butts and the long-unsolved murders.
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becomes first a state senator, then lieutenant governor, and there is talk of his elevation to national office. Around that time, Tyler Watts, a retired, decorated military officer and experienced criminal investigator, takes the bold step for a black man in 1962 of applying for the vacant position of police chief in a southern town. With the support of Billy Lee and Mayor Holmes, Watts is appointed police chief of Delano, however much to the silent disapproval of the all-white council whose members were not initially aware of Watts's ethnic background when Billy Lee read out Watts's résumé to them. In these respects, Chief Lee's son, Billy, is acting in a manner similar to that of
362:) is responsible for the boys' murders, but Lee is mistakenly shot by a delirious man (his former employee Jesse Cole) before he can arrest Funderburke. Funderburke hovers in the background in the hospital room while the dying Lee tries to gasp out the truth about his guilt, but Lee's wife fails to understand. Despite the feverish delirium that caused him to believe that the police chief was trying to kill his son, Jesse Cole is executed, but not before urging his son Joshua to run away.
354:), whose character intermittently narrates the story, decides that the town has grown large enough to require a jail and a full-time police officer. The town appoints farmer Lee its first police chief, and, even though he has no law-enforcement experience, Lee becomes known as fair-minded and effective. Lee's farm employs a black family, the Coles, who regard their new and less benevolent employer, the Ku Klux Klan member Hoss Spence, with trepidation.
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members of his own force and from
Sheriff Skeeter Willis, all of whom resent the arrival of a black chief of police. Yet Watts also uncovers the truth of the unsolved serial murders and of Funderburke's guilt. Unable to obtain a local search warrant for Funderburke's farm, Watts and Lee seek the FBI's assistance in the case. One of the FBI agents accompanying Chief Watts trips over the jutting handlebar of Butts's buried police motorcycle.
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decades of work he did to make Delano a decent place, it will now always be remembered as the site of a perverted series of murders; the film, by contrast, ends with Lee and Watts recognizing each other and embracing in an upbeat moment of friendship. Nevertheless, he noted that the performances of Davis (Sonny Butts), Sorvino (Skeeter), Carradine (Foxy
Funderburke), and Glover (Marshall Peters) were outstanding.
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Like everyone else, Billy Lee assumes that Watts is a genuine newcomer in town. He does not recognize Watts as his boyhood friend Joshua Cole, son of the man who shot his father, because the child fled the town following the shooting and assumed another name. Watts encounters resistance from some
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Running parallel to the story of the continual investigation is that of Chief Lee's son, Billy. A young boy at the time of his father's death, Billy Lee comes home from World War II an officer and war hero. He becomes a lawyer and, boldly for the time and place, a liberal. He enters politics and
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Not long after his appointment, Chief Lee has to investigate the death of a young boy who fell down a ravine while apparently fleeing an attack that had sexual characteristics. He also discovers that a number of other young male vagrants and hitch-hikers have been observed traveling toward Delano,
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was "an ambitious yet flawed project that overall, works powerfully well." Director London has "a keen sense of what the sweeping saga entails, though there are weaknesses." He criticized the ending of the miniseries for not following the novel's ending, in which Holmes realizes that, for all the
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As the agents begin digging up the dirt with their bare hands, Funderburke goes for his shotgun, and wounds Watts in the arm. Then
Funderburke is immediately shot to death himself by the agents, thus escaping a public reckoning for four decades of murders. Aged Holmes grieves for his town as the
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but have not been seen leaving the area. He is unable to obtain the cooperation of
Sheriff 'Skeeter' Willis or the police chiefs of the neighboring counties, in pursuing his investigations. Despite this, Lee discovers that loner "Foxy" Funderburke (
397:). Watts, however, is now an acknowledged hero, and he decides to tell Billy Lee - now the Governor-elect of Georgia, who is awaiting a visit from President Kennedy,
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bodies of young boy after young boy are unearthed from the ground surrounding
Funderburke's house (evoking the discovery of the bodies of the victims of
420:. The first two hours aired beginning at 8pm November 13, 1983. The second part aired November 15 at 9pm, and the final part aired November 16 at 9pm.
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in the "Best Edited
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in collaboration with local organizations. Among the presenters was author
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Now again free from suspicion, Funderburke continues a
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November 1983. It was directed by
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Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi
Bembenek Story
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1270:Films set in Georgia (U.S. state)
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405:Production and distribution
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1194:I'll Be Home for Christmas
754:. Retrieved March 26, 2024
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1002:The Scarlet and the Black
986:The Ordeal of Bill Carney
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476:, supervising producer
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425:Chester, South Carolina
260:novel of the same name
18:Chiefs (TV miniseries)
914:The World of Darkness
803:F+W Publications Inc.
752:The News and Reporter
704:"Movie in the Making"
1162:A Promise to Carolyn
1130:A Twist of the Knife
946:Evening in Byzantium
447:John J. O'Connor of
401:- who he really is.
346:), and Tyler Watts (
318:nominations and one
314:. It received three
123:Theme music composer
587:- Newt "Tub" Murray
336:Pine Mountain Range
332:Manchester, Georgia
251:is a 1983 American
1170:A Holiday for Love
1090:A Season of Giants
876:Films directed by
805:pp. 245–246.
632:The New York Times
551:Billy Dee Williams
529:- Foxy Funderburke
450:The New York Times
348:Billy Dee Williams
312:Billy Dee Williams
195:Production company
117:Billy Dee Williams
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1050:Harry's Hong Kong
1026:If Tomorrow Comes
812:978-1-58297-510-8
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113:Paul Sorvino
109:Wayne Rogers
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1114:Grass Roots
922:Cover Girls
581:- Trish Lee
573:Tess Harper
541:- Billy Lee
504:, entering
489:Eddie Award
463:Emmy Awards
320:Eddie Award
304:Paula Kelly
223:November 13
144:of episodes
101:Tess Harper
71:Directed by
1249:Categories
1058:Rent-a-Cop
890:Killdozer!
658:The Herald
610:References
603:Leon Rippy
597:Lane Smith
545:Brad Davis
418:miniseries
344:Brad Davis
316:Emmy Award
300:Lane Smith
292:Brad Davis
256:miniseries
253:television
237:1983-11-16
227:1983-11-13
152:Production
93:Brad Davis
63:Written by
1074:Kiss Shot
962:Swan Song
898:Ma and Pa
736:March 26,
663:March 26,
443:Reception
157:Producers
938:Escapade
818:July 11,
637:July 11,
81:Starring
235: (
231: –
225: (
220:Release
210:Network
190:6 hours
173:Editors
1235:(2002)
1227:(2001)
1219:(2000)
1211:(1999)
1203:(1998)
1201:Beauty
1197:(1997)
1189:(1997)
1181:(1997)
1173:(1996)
1165:(1996)
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973:(1980)
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957:(1979)
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933:(1978)
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925:(1977)
917:(1977)
909:(1974)
901:(1974)
893:(1974)
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789:Chiefs
732:. 2024
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593:- Pope
555:a.k.a.
501:Chiefs
455:Chiefs
429:Chiefs
410:Chiefs
310:, and
248:Chiefs
34:Chiefs
453:said
53:Drama
49:Genre
842:IMDb
820:2009
807:ISBN
773:IMDb
738:2024
684:ISBN
665:2024
639:2009
512:Cast
326:Plot
840:at
414:CBS
268:CBS
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