The series is set in the
Deep South community of Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, which is dominated and owned by the town's wealthy and powerful (and deceitful) bank owner "Boss" Will Varner. A widower with two grown children, the unscrupulous Varner runs the town and its citizens with an iron fist, and nobody dares to question him. He and his family live in the largest mansion in Frenchman's Bend. However, problems arise when Ben Quick, a young man whose father Varner destroyed some years prior, returns to town to reclaim his family's farm and challenge Varner's absolute authority over the town and its people. Supporting characters include Jody Varner, Will's weak-willed but more honest son, and Clara, Will's sensible older daughter and lady of the house (in lieu of her late mother). To her father's dismay, she and Ben fall in love. Other characters include the town's hotel owner Minnie Littlejohn, who is also Will's mistress, and Eula Johnson, a 17-year-old girl who becomes a central point in Jody's life after he picks her up during a rainstorm. In the 1958 film, Eula and Jody were married, but in the television series they are merely friends. Also seen in recurring roles are Andrew, the Varner family's butler and chauffeur, Sheriff Harve Anders, the local sheriff for the county in which Frenchman's Bend is located, and Dr. Aaron Clark, the Varner family's physician. ==Cast==