In 1940, Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham (Charles Coburn), a retired Army officer, returns to his home town of Fredericksville, Georgia, and is disturbed at the lack of civic pride. He writes a letter to the editor in the local newspaper and attacks those who would do away with with traditions, especially those moving to tear down the old city hall and those who wish to rename Confederate Square after a local politician. Staring - Charles Coburn, Joan Bennett, William Eythe