Directed by John Frankenheimer and featuring a distinct soundtrack by Johnny Cash, this gritty neo-noir drama is set in the rural, impoverished backwoods of Tennessee. The story follows Henry Tawes (Gregory Peck), a straight-laced, deeply respected local sheriff who has grown completely bored and detached from his mundane marriage and career. His stable life is turned upside down when he meets Alma McCain (Tuesday Weld), the free-spirited, attractive teenage daughter of a local moonshiner. Henry quickly falls into a blinding obsession with Alma, who manipulates his affection to protect her family's illegal moonshine business from the law, sparking a destructive collapse of the sheriff's morals.