Based on the popular Broadway play, Purlie Victorious is the story of a black preacher (award-winning stage and screen actor, Ossie Davis), who returns home to rural Georgia to claim an inheritance and bring down Ol‘ Cap‘n‘ Stonewall Jackson Cotchipee (Sorrell Booke, The Dukes of Hazzard), the ruthless plantation owner that he once served.

Accompanying Purlie is Miss Lutiebelle Jenkins (Ruby Dee), a pretty young girl who has captured his heart. Purlie persuades her to convince Cotchipee that she is the long-lost relative entitled to the family inheritance. But, the plot goes awry and Purlie must hide to escape the old man‘s wrath.

He finds a surprise ally in Cotchipee‘s son, Charlie (award-winning actor, Alan Alda, in his first film role), a progressive Southern gentleman who takes matters into his own hands, eventually helping Purlie emerge victorious.

While played with comedic effect, Purlie Victorious reflects the powerful themes of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The movie also stars Godfrey M. Cambridge, Hilda Haynes, Beah Richards, Charles Welch and Ralph Roberts.