Hot Summer in Barefoot County

Hot Summer in Barefoot County
Poster for 'Hot Summer in Barefoot County'
Directed by	Will Zens
Produced by	W. Henry Smith
Starring	Don Jones Sherry Robinson Charles Elledge Jeff MacKay Tonia Bryan Mike Muscat
Cinematography	Austin McKinney
Music by	W. Henry Smith
Distributed by	Preacherman Corporation Troma Entertainment (reissue)
Release date	1974 (1974)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Hot Summer in Barefoot County is a 1974 comedy film directed by Will Zens and produced & distributed by Preacherman Corporation. The plot involves an undercover agent who is sent to a small southern town in order to uncover an underground moon-shining ring, but when he finds out that the town is filled with voluptuous women ready to satisfy his every need, things start to get confusing.

Plot

Upstate policeman Jeff Wilson is sent undercover to a small southern town called Barefoot County to bust an alleged moon-shining operation. He is warned by the police chief of how previous investigations had failed due to uncooperative locals and the county’s proud sheriff Bull Tatum, who resists help from outside law enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Barefoot bootlegging business is discreetly operated by the widow Stella Holcomb and her three daughters, Rosa Lee, Vicky, and Mary Ann, who conveniently reside just outside of Tatum’s jurisdiction in Red Rock County. Dressed as a man, Mary Ann secretly delivers the moonshine to local gas station and diner owner Otis Perkins. In a desperate crack down effort, Sheriff Tatum and his deputy Clyde set up roadblocks to search incoming cars, but Mary Ann easily evades them.

Upon coming into town, Wilson is run off the road by Perkins’s troublesome sons, Culley Joe, Clarence, and Junior. He is found unconscious by the Holcombs, who immediately take him in for recovery. A country savvy Wilson remains undercover, telling the Holcombs that he is simply in search of work. As he continues to stay with the family and begins work at Perkins’s gas station, he and Mary Ann develop feelings for each other; Culley Joe becomes jealous and clashes with Wilson. Sheriff Tatum also grows suspicious of his presence.

As Wilson beings to uncover the Holcombs’ and Perkins’s operation, the tomcat Perkins boys ambush the unattended Holcomb girls at a swimming hole. When Culley Joe forces himself onto Mary Ann, Wilson intervenes and fights the boys off, promising to protect her. He later gives Mary Ann his mother’s pin to quell her doubts of his genuine feelings for her. Mary Ann privately begins to regret the family’s illegal business, as Wilson becomes conflicted with his feelings for Mary Ann and his discovery of the Holcombs.

One night, Tatum discovers his daughter Nadine’s sexual affair with Culley Joe and angrily arranges a shotgun wedding. At the afterparty, Wilson leaves to investigate the Holcombs’ moonshine distillery, but Tatum follows him. Upon confrontation, Wilson reveals his undercover status and presents his police credentials, which Tatum accepts and inquires about the moonshiners’ identities. Wilson, however, lies to cover for the Holcombs, telling Tatum that they have already been arrested. They then destroy the distillery.

When they return to the party, Tatum publicly announces the discovery of the moonshining operation and reveals the truth about Wilson, angering Mrs. Holcomb and breaking Mary Ann’s heart. Disgraced, Wilson returns home and decides not to reveal his findings to the police chief. He reconciles with the Holcombs and Perkins, telling them that he has resigned his special agent position. Wilson then returns to Red Rock Country to reunite with Mary Ann, and secretly helps the family rebuild their distillery.

Cast

Don Jones as Special Agent Jeff Wilson

See also

• List of American films of 1974

External links

• Hot Summer in Barefoot County at IMDb
• Hot Summer in Barefoot County at Rotten Tomatoes
• Hot Summer in Barefoot County at the TCM Movie Database
• Hot Summer in Barefoot County – at the Troma Entertainment movie database