Plot

Judge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, uses common sense and considerable humanity to dispense justice in a small town in the Post-Bellum Kentucky.

Judge William "Billy" Priest lives in a very patriotic (Confederate) southern town. Priest plays a laid-back, widowed judge who helps uphold the law in his toughest court case yet. In the meantime, he plays matchmaker for his young nephew.—<[email protected]>

In this lyrical comedy, legendary humorist Will Rogers stars as the amiable judge who presides over his small, post-Civil War Kentucky town with good-natured common sense, but whose eccentricities ruffle the feathers of some of his fellow citizens. A key achievement in director John Ford's early career, exploring the theme of community that he would return to throughout his work, JUDGE PRIEST conjures moments of great charm and humanity through its relaxed tone and ambling plot. The film remains controversial, however, for its romanticized evocation of a South still steeped in Confederate pride and for the stereotyped roles played by Black actors Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel.

Billy Priest, a proud Confederate Civil War veteran, serves the community in his rural home town as district judge in 1890's Kentucky with common sense and humanity. Priest's deals with everyone from the Daughters of the Confedracy to former slaves with humor and the same lack of pretension. His sister-in-law objects to his nephew Jerome's interest in Ellie May Gillespie, a pretty young girl whose pedigree is unclear. When the mysterious loner Bob Gillis becomes involved in a stabbing incident involving the honor of Ellie May, Priest is asked by a rival to recuse himself from presiding at the trial.—duke1029