...tick... tick... tick...

Plot synopsis:
In a small Southern town, deputy Jim Price is elected sheriff over John Little, the incumbent. Racial tensions exist in the community, and Price gets little assistance from Little, leaving office, or from Mayor Parks, who insists he be consulted on any decision the new sheriff makes.
A white man, John Braddock, is arrested on a manslaughter charge after his drunken driving causes the death of a young girl. Braddock's father carries considerable influence and demands his son be freed. Price's deputy, Bradford Wilkes, is beaten by Little's former deputy, Bengy Springer.
Another arrest is made, this time of a black man, George Harley, accused of rape. The townspeople's mood turns uglier by the minute, particularly when Braddock's father threatens to spring his son by force if necessary.
Little's conscience gets the better of him. He agrees to become Price's new deputy. Together, they try in vain to persuade other men in town to side with them against Braddock's vigilantes and to convince the mayor to call in the National Guard for help. Alone against the mob, Price and Little form a barricade and prepare for the worst when their fellow townsmen suddenly join them in the street.

Tags: blaxploitation

Review:
Film-critic Leonard Maltin called this "a poor man's In the Heat of the Night", which sounds like an easy way to dismiss a movie that is actually quite good on it's own terms, and not really anywhere close "In the Heat of the Night" story-wise (except for the part of white southerners learning to respect a black man).In my opinion, Jim Brown is one of the coolest athletes-turned-actors of his generation.
Here he's given one of the best parts of his career, and he even gets great support from a number of wonderful actors, notably the legendary Fredric March, who chews the scenery as a quarrelsome old mayor and George Kennedy as the former sheriff (and I guess this movie's equivalent to Rod Steiger if Leonard Maltin had a say in it).
Don Stroud (whatever happened to his career?) is creepy as a racist ex-deputy and any fan of Clifton James should get a kick out of his part, as a leading klan-member who in the end turns out to be one of the main characters in the plot, and not such a bad guy after all.A surprisingly engaging movie, at times quite gripping, with inspired direction by Ralph Nelson and a show of force from a first-rate cast.7.5/10.
Jim Brown takes over as a sheriff of a racially se....
Jim Brown takes over as a sheriff of a racially segregated southern town from George Kennedy in the 50's.
Excellent human nature study of the time when a turn of events forces Brown to seek Kennedy's assistance with a tense situation.
Believe Kennedy and Brown fans would be impressed with this film..
In The Heat of The Day. This film is hugely under rated and deserved a clutch of awards."Racial tensions threaten to explode when a black man is elected sheriff of a small, racially divided town in the Deep South".The movie is set in a time when race almost defined a nation.
And the picture captures the period brilliantly illustrating the culture, language and music of the era.There are stand out performances from George Kennedy-surely one of his finest- as the former sheriff coming to terms with unemployment and racism.
The town mayor played by Frederic March, who gives a charismatic amusing performance.
But the best of all and the one who steal the show is Clifton James who is apparently hostile to the new sheriff but events have a way of changing minds.
Where he excels is his ability to convey his thoughts silently, a skill few actors possess.All the cast are convincing as is the ultimate theme and outcome of the story.Highly recommended:8/10..
...tick...tick...tick is the story of a county somewhere in the Deep South undergoing some radical changes in the wake of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the Sixties.
A new black sheriff has been elected as a result of the Voting Rights Act and the organizers who came down from the North to see it enforced.
But now that Jim Brown has the job, the organizers have gone back North and what to do now in a tense racially divided situation.One person trying his best to deal with things is Mayor Fredric March who is a southern politician of the old school, but by no means a stupid man.
He will govern his town as best he can without any outsiders, thank you.The key in the situation is former sheriff George Kennedy who is a good old boy, quite comfortable with the white power structure, but also an honest and fundamentally decent man.
Things come to a head quickly when a punk kid from another county runs down a little girl who happens to be white and leaves the scene.
When Brown arrests Bob Random the kid's father who is a bigwig in the neighboring county threatens to invade Brown's jurisdiction, the new sheriff has a crisis on his hand.
What will ALL the residents of Collusa County do in this situation?In many ways this film is something of a successor to In The Heat Of The Night which covered many of the same issues.
In The Heat Of The Night takes place in a time right on the cusp of the changes being voted in Washington.
Sad to say that the Academy Award winning In The Heat Of The Night has overshadowed this film, especially after it became the basis of a television series.
...tick...tick...tick in my opinion could also be readily adapted to the small screen.One thing that In The Heat Of The Night has way over this film is a superior musical score.
Whose brilliant idea was it at MGM to have Jim Brown chase Bob Random through the woods with the Mike Curb Congregation singing Gentle On My Mind?
It was so out of place.The three leads are superb in their performances and such folks as Clifton James, Dub Taylor, and Don Stroud play some of the good old boys who deal with the crisis in Collusa County in their different ways.
Janet MacLachlan and Lynn Carlin are the supportive women in the lives of Brown and Kennedy respectively.
And Bob Random plays one nasty little redneck punk....tick...tick...tick still has great entertainment value and it's a portrait of the new emerging American South, one of the best done by the American cinema..
Sure, if one is going to compare this film to the earlier "In the Heat of the Night", it can't quite measure up, but that doesn't mean that it's not a good film in its own right.
It's a pretty effective story of race relations, in which a black man, Jimmy Price (Jim Brown) is elected the new sheriff of Colusa County.
He's replacing the outgoing sheriff, white man John Little (George Kennedy).
His job is made particularly difficult when he arrests a young man (Robert Random) who's killed a little girl in a traffic accident, and the mans' bigshot father (Karl Swenson) shows up to demand his release.Brown is extremely good in this early lead role, playing a character of likability and integrity.
Kennedy is also fine as the one white person willing to stand behind him.
A lot of familiar faces fill out supporting and character roles: Lynn Carlin (as Littles' wife), Janet MacLachlan (as Prices' spouse), Don Stroud, Richard Elkins, Clifton James, Mills Watson, Bernie Casey, Anthony James (who was actually in "In the Heat of the Night"), Dub Taylor, and Barry Cahill.
All of the performers do fine work, but it's the great Fredric March (in one of his last film roles) who tends to steal the show as the aged, ill tempered mayor who's resistant to the idea of outside help.Plenty of solid local flavour and a nice assortment of music help to make this decent entertainment.
Director Ralph Nelson manages to milk some believable tension out of the scenario, especially near the end when it's believed that Swenson will be returning to town with all of his bigoted cronies.Nelson does come up with an ingenious way to begin the action, with some of the townspeople literally frying an egg on the pavement while there is insistent ticking on the soundtrack.
And there's a highly amusing exchange between our leads to end the film.Seven out of 10..
tick...tick...tick..., is a really good film in some ways, well if it had been in the right hands it would have been fantastic, one of the films problems is the bad screenplay and the cheaply used colour which makes it look dated and cheesy, which at times it is.
Also, Jim Brown (The Dirty Dozen) gives a good performance as the police officer, who becomes along with his sidekick (who is being a policeman so he can get married) get dollops of racial abuse dropped on them by a guy who looks like Sean William Scott (From American Pie), though this was 29 years before.
Good for it's targeted audience, but dull for many.Slightly Under-rated, **1/2 out of ****.
This by no means is a sequel to the much more critically acclaimed 1967 In the Heat of the Night starring Academy Award winners Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.
Mind you both the cinematography and musical score are top notch, but where In the Heat of the Night rose to fame bringing racial tension to reality through strong acting performances, this film, ...Tick...Tick...Tick...
leaves me with an empty feeling of just another film trying to piggyback off the established fame and success of another racially toned film.Similar films such as "Billy Jack", "Return to Macon County Line" and of course, "In the Heat of the Night" allowed their audiences to feel the cruelty of either racial tension and/or law versus disorder, of their townsfolk and their local small town police station.
Jim Brown did his best to carry this movie alongside the versatile actor George Kennedy.
(Who can forget George Kennedy's stellar performance as the prisoner named Dragline in Cool Hand Luke?) But a good film needs a good script and this film is not going to explode as the films' title may indicate.
Instead it implodes, and instead of being suspenseful, I would have rather the title be delete...delete...delete....The music score is a harmonized track that is more relevant to a film like Midnight Cowboy than to this film.
Sorry Jim, you were good in 100 Rifles, even better in Ice Station Zebra, but ...Tick...Tick...Tick...
stopped time completely 20 minutes in to the film and never really started for my taste.I give it a 3 out of 3 rating and another pass..
Having grown up in the South, I felt that the film conveyed the ugliness of racism very well.
Jim Brown was excellent in the role of a newly elected black sheriff.
This film showed a side to racism that most people outside of the South didn't see.I will agree with the previous reviewer on one point, though.
Racism is, and was, a very ugly aspect to life in the South at the time that this film was made.
Good drama movie about racism.This film is very under rated due to it's message hitting hard with few punches pulled.Brown gives a very good performance here and so do all the other actors.I like the cinematography color here,very crisp and eye pleasing.The screenplay is a little bland but does not ruin the movie at all.Not for people who do not like seeing the truth about the ugliness of prejudice and corruption from BOTH races......
I am from Sutter county California which is where a great deal of the filming was done.
The filming crew members and actors (my dad also) ate together.
During the set meal time My brother got to set on George Kennedy's lap for a short time and interact with several actors.
This film did not bring in a lot of money at the box office but was a really good film.
The message of how the south had(was)having a hard time with accepting racial equality may have been the reason for the movies less than stellar box office attraction...America was tired of the Vietnam War and of the civil rights struggle...
new old south.
It's the last day for small town Sheriff John Little (George Kennedy) in the deep south.
He's been voted out as the negro population help elect Jimmy Price (Jim Brown).
A couple of arrests threaten to set the simmering racial tension to a boil.Jim Brown is a limited actor.
He's help by the great George Kennedy.
The white kid is good villain material.
The movie doesn't need the balancing from the black prisoner.
George Kennedy has never been better as the frustrated outgoing sheriff, and Jim Brown is good also, as his disillusioned replacement.
When a White boy is arrested for manslaughter following his drunken car accident, things reach the time bomb stage of the film's title.
Ultimately "Tick Tick Tick" comes across as a dark period of history, frozen in time by this wonderful film.
Despite the good and plenty of stereotypes, the movie does not come across as preachy, but merely as an entertaining look into the past.
Good Performances and Nice Drama.
(1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Interesting drama about a new black sheriff (Jim Brown) who takes over duties in a Southern town where the KKK aren't too happy about his election.
The Mayor (Fredric March) doesn't want any violence because he doesn't want federal men in his town but after a white man is arrested for murder, some of the good ol' boys don't like the idea of a black man arresting him.
The former sheriff (George Kennedy) decides to step in and try to help but soon all sorts of racist types are coming in.
I think it's fair to call this movie a wannabe IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT but the three lead performances make it worth viewing.
I think the weakest thing is the screenplay, which tries too hard to be like that previous film but in the end it really can't come close to the tension in its story.
I think the one thing that really does work well here is that the racial tensions against Brown are because he's black but the interesting thing is that those sides turn against him for crimes dealing with the same race.
I think the fact that this film tries to stay away from a race riot was something rather refreshing and I liked how the film didn't solve the race issues but instead simply tried to get both sides to fight for a common cause.
Brown is very good in his role and I really liked the laid back approach that he brought to the role.
There's no screaming and there's no tough, macho action but instead he plays a man with morals and I thought the actor did a very good job with the part.
Kennedy was born to play the good-hearted redneck and he too does nice work here.
March certainly overacts a bit in his next to last film role but he's always fun to see.
The supporting cast also step up with everyone fitting their roles quite nicely.
isn't the greatest race drama out there but I think there are enough interesting aspects to make it worth viewing..
The lead role, played by Jim Brown, should have gone to someone with more acting experience.
Even George Kennedy doesn't do particularly well in this film.
This was a waste of a good chance to show how truly ugly racism was (and still is).
Some scenes were filmed at a bar that was made to look like a gas station/store.
My mom has pictures of her and George Kennedy and Jim Brown on the set during a break in filming.
I loved the film...of course I was a bit biased.
It does remind someone of the old south and it's difficulties especially with people of color in that part of the country.
Northern organizers help a southern black man get elected sheriff in a small town (which feels like a lot of small towns down south) in the 60's, and he gets to deal with the reality of being elected.
The movie sets up quite a few stereotypical characters; for some of them, it knocks down the stereotype, and then for others it lets it stand.
People (black and white) in the town have to choose between their traditions, their comfort, and their values, as tensions rise when the new sheriff tries to do his job.
The movie are really good one.I'm interested it is possible to buy soundtrack.
The song I like was at the end of the movie.Trouble is the song was not very long, but the voice of the singer are really good.I thank you in advance.
tick" is a wonderful, uplifting movie about racism and hatred in a small Southern town.
Jim Brown is perfect as the first black sheriff in a rural town, facing resistance on all sides.
George Kennedy is excellent as the displaced former sheriff who understands better than anyone what Brown is up against.The movie has moments of suspense, drama, gritty violence, and genuine humor.
The best line in the movie comes when Kennedy is beating his former deputy in the back room while the current deputy sits at his desk reading a magazine.
The supporting characters are all great- they genuinely look like they've all been roasting under the Southern sun all their lives.
And the pressure-cooker opening sequence in which the townspeople literally fry an egg on the sidewalk fits in perfectly with the ticking on the soundtrack and the stylized opening credits.Okay, the movie isn't perfect.
The cinematography dates the film, making it look much older than 1970, and the finale is a little sudden, mainly because ALL of the good ol' boys have a change of heart instead of just a brave few.
That said, this is an inspiring, entertaining movie with its heart in the right place.
Racial Tensions in the South.
"John Little" (George Kennedy) is the white sheriff of a small town in Colusa County, Mississippi who has just lost his position to a black man named "Jimmy Price" (Jim Brown) in a local election.
Although most of the black people in the county are jubilant the white people residing there are horrified and to show their displeasure try to make it as difficult for the new sheriff as possible.
In any case, Sheriff Price soon realizes that his new job is almost impossible without the help of the white community and things become even more heated when he arrests a white man for manslaughter.
Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a fairly good film made interesting in large part due to the racial tensions prevalent in the South during this particular time in American history.
That being said, I thought that the director (Ralph Nelson) managed to capture some of the fear and hostility that definitely existed and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly.