Product: Chiefs [Region 2] (1983)
Rating: 5.0
Excellent mystery and social commentary!
I first saw this miniseries when I was 13 years old and I can still watch it over and over! It's a great story about a series of murders in ficticious Delano Georgia that span a 40+ year period and the three police chiefs who work to solve them. The series begins in the early 1920s and the first chief is Will Henry Lee (Wayne Rogers), an easygoing and fair minded family man who is respected by Delano's white and black communities. Lee comes close to solving the case until something unfortunate happens (no spoilers here). The series fast forwards to 1945 at the end of WWII and the next chief is Sonny Butts (Brad Davis), a despicable racist who is appointed when the previous chief dies of a sudden heart attack. Butts is hardly qualified to be chief but is apparently put in his position to keep Delano's black community in line. His wishes to solve the murders pales in comparison to his obsession with doing away with Marshall Peters (Danny Glover), a black businessman who is also the unofficial leader of Delano's black community. Butts also comes close to solving the case until he too is thwarted.We next go to 1962 and the third chief is Tyler Watts (Billy Dee Williams), a black military police officer whose appointment is pushed by Lieutenant Governor Billy Lee (Stephen Collins), former Chief Will Henry's son. In spite of the racism directed toward him from the community and other law enforcement officials (including a bumbling officer who profiles him as a car thief only to have his face hit the floor when he finds out that his suspect is the chief), Watts doesn't back down or lose his focus. He later proves his detractors wrong and the ending is very heart touching."Chiefs" was very well acted for a TV miniseries. Brad Davis' portrayal of Sonny Butts is as real and convincing as you'll find and Billy Dee Williams' bold confrontations with the local bigots, the sheriff and others remind me so much of Sidney Poitier from "In The Heat Of The Night" that it gets me out of my seat when I see it. Seeing him getting his officers in line and drilling them after they initially accuse him of being a car thief is classic. Other fine performances are given by Charlton Heston as town founder Hugh Holmes (who also narrates the series), Keith Carradine as dog breeder/murderer "Foxy" Funderburke and Stephen Collins as Billy Lee. It's not exactly the classic mystery/social commentary that "In The Heat Of The Night" was but for a miniseries, it comes very close.