Robert Ryan is Ty Ty, a Southern cotton farmer and a somewhat crazed version of Jed Clampett. Ty Ty has spent 15 years digging holes on his farm, trying to find the gold he believes his grandfather buried there. The farm is going to waste and everyone on the farm seems to have lost any purpose for living other than trying to find the gold. Ty Ty had dedicated a piece of the farm, "God's Little Acre" to God and his church with the promise that anything found on that acre will go to God. Of course, whenever he feels anything really might be found on it, he moves the acre and tries to cheat God out of His share.
The movie has two sub-plots with Buddy Hackett, of all people, as a candidate for sheriff who is desperately in love with one of Ty Ty's daughters. The water pump and bathtub scene between the two of them is so full of eroticism and innuendo that it about melts the screen. Ty Ty's son, Buck (played by Jack Lord), is married to Griselda (Tina Louise in her movie debut) and Griselda is a magnificent sight to behold, the camera lingering over her all natural bosom so often that the temperature spikes every time she's on screen. Buck is obsessed that Griselda still has a thing for his brother-in-law, Will (Aldo Ray) who is on his own desperate mission to try and re-open the mill which has shut down and thrown the entire valley out of work.
Buck's suspicions are not without foundation because whenever Griselda and Will are together, the heat is enormous. I found the first half of the movie somewhat hard to follow but it is an interesting story. Is Ty Ty a man of faith or is he just caught up in an obsession? It is evident that the search for the gold is what is really important to him, not finding it.
Two performances stand out---Robert Ryan is very good as the demented Ty Ty and Tina Louise is excellent as the sensuous Griselda. Tina received a Golden Globe after this movie came out and her career seemed poised to really take off. She showed an acting ability and charisma which was sorely wasted on "Gilligan's Island" years later.
The movie has two sub-plots with Buddy Hackett, of all people, as a candidate for sheriff who is desperately in love with one of Ty Ty's daughters. The water pump and bathtub scene between the two of them is so full of eroticism and innuendo that it about melts the screen. Ty Ty's son, Buck (played by Jack Lord), is married to Griselda (Tina Louise in her movie debut) and Griselda is a magnificent sight to behold, the camera lingering over her all natural bosom so often that the temperature spikes every time she's on screen. Buck is obsessed that Griselda still has a thing for his brother-in-law, Will (Aldo Ray) who is on his own desperate mission to try and re-open the mill which has shut down and thrown the entire valley out of work.
Buck's suspicions are not without foundation because whenever Griselda and Will are together, the heat is enormous. I found the first half of the movie somewhat hard to follow but it is an interesting story. Is Ty Ty a man of faith or is he just caught up in an obsession? It is evident that the search for the gold is what is really important to him, not finding it.
Two performances stand out---Robert Ryan is very good as the demented Ty Ty and Tina Louise is excellent as the sensuous Griselda. Tina received a Golden Globe after this movie came out and her career seemed poised to really take off. She showed an acting ability and charisma which was sorely wasted on "Gilligan's Island" years later.