The Liberation of L.B. Jones

The Liberation of L.B. Jones
DVD cover
Directed byWilliam Wyler
Screenplay byJesse Hill Ford
Stirling Silliphant
Based onThe Liberation of Lord Byron Jones
1965 novel
by Jesse Hill Ford
Produced byA. Ronald Lubin
StarringLee J. Cobb
Anthony Zerbe
Roscoe Lee Browne
Lee Majors
Barbara Hershey
Yaphet Kotto
Chill Wills
Lola Falana
CinematographyRobert Surtees
Edited byCarl Kress
Music byElmer Bernstein
Production
company
Liberation Company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • March 18, 1970 (1970-03-18)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$1.3 million (US/ Canada rentals)

The Liberation of L.B. Jones is a 1970 American neo noir film directed by William Wyler, his final project in a career that spanned 45 years.

The screenplay by Jesse Hill Ford and Stirling Silliphant is based on Ford's 1965 novel The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones. The novel, in turn, was based on events that happened in a Southern town where writer Ford lived. After he wrote the book, he was verbally attacked for writing about the events that had occurred in his town. The motion picture's release added to the controversy, especially in Humboldt, Tennessee, where Ford lived.

The film stars Roscoe Lee Browne, Lee J. Cobb, Lola Falana, Anthony Zerbe, Lee Majors, Arch Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Eve McVeagh, Chill Wills and Barbara Hershey in an early role.