Preacherman

Affable itinerant preacher and former carnival man Amos Huxley is thrown out of Whiteoak County in the Carolinas after Sheriff Zero Bull learns that his daughter, Sister Bertha, has been one of the preacher man's latest sexual conquests. After Zero and Deputy Leon drive Amos across the county line and warn him never to come back, they beat him and deposit his unconscious body beside the road. Meanwhile, farmer Judd Crabtree leaves his voluptuous, boy-crazy daughter Mary Lou home alone, warning her not to let any of the local boys into the house while he is in town. When Judd comes upon the still unconscious Amos, he places him into his truck and returns to his farm, thus interrupting Mary Lou's sexual tryst with Clyde Massingale, while Clyde's friends Jimmy, Billy Joe and Marvin wait their turn. After the terrified boys run for their lives, Judd tells Amos that he feels responsible for Mary Lou's wanton ways because he never had her baptized following his virtuous wife's death in childbirth. While Mary Lou tends to Amos' wounds, they secretly exchange lustful looks at each other, unnoticed by Judd, who asks the preacher man if he would stay with them and baptize her. When Amos learns that the Crabtree farm is in Whiteoak, and later learns from Sister Martha, a traveling notions saleswoman, that all the roads out of the county are blocked because of two escaped convicts, he decides to stay. The next day, accompanied by the enthusiastic singing of Martha and her brother Henry, Amos baptizes Mary Lou in the river as her beaming father looks on approvingly. Saying that the cleansing of sins can sometimes take a long time, Amos explains to Judd that he must climb onto the roof that night, wave a lantern and call out for a visitation from the Angel Leroy, who will fill Mary Lou with religious spirit. Later, after Amos has given Mary Lou a strong dose of alcohol-laced "religious" tonic, Judd dutifully waves his lantern and calls out for Leroy, while Amos sneaks into Mary Lou's window and makes love to her all night. The next day, Judd takes Amos on a walk through the fields of his derelict farm and confesses that he has been running a still since his wife died and makes his living selling corn liquor to Zero, who supplies his cousin, a general store owner. Judd asks Amos to help him destroy the still, but Amos stops him, saying that he has had a revelation: Judd should increase production and use the profits to build a church on his land. Amos then suggests that their distribution problem could be solved by Martha and Henry, who would sell the liquor on their regular route. Martha, a plainly dressed woman who long has been smitten with Judd, happily complies, and over the next two weeks their business booms. Shortly after a Government Man gives Zero a wanted poster for Amos, who is accused of extortion, fraud and statutory rape of a teenaged girl, the sheriff learns from his cousin that the store's sales of corn liquor have plummeted. Meanwhile, Amos, who is hiding the still's profits under Mary Lou's mattress, worries that production is not high enough and hires Farley, a young farmer devoted to his chickens and girlie magazines. Seeing this, and jealous that Mary Lou now seems more interested in religion than him, Clyde decides to offer his services, telling Judd and Amos that he wants to help with the Lord's work. A short time later, when Leon reports to Zero that he is suspicious that Clyde and Judd have become so friendly, Zero decides to pick Clyde up and question him. Clyde tells Leon and Zero about the increased production of "God's nectar" at Judd's farm. Leaving the sheriff's office, Clyde notices Amos' wanted poster but says nothing, then goes to see Mary Lou to propose to her. Although she is exhausted from the nightly visits from "Angel Leroy," she turns down Clyde's proposal, saying that she will be joining Amos in his holy work. That same afternoon, Martha, now attractively dressed, arrives at the farm. As she and Judd, who has shaved and donned a sports coat in her honor, walk arm-in-arm across his land, he tells her that he wants to start working the farm again and does not want to be alone anymore. That night, a revival meeting for "boozers, drug fiends and what have you" is held near the river, where Amos delivers a stirring sermon that spurs the penitents to deposit large amounts of money in the collection tub. As the congregation sings hymns, Zero and Leon, alerted by the jealous Clyde that Amos is at Judd's farm, race toward the meeting with sirens blazing. In the confusion, Amos grabs the collection money and Mary Lou's hand and runs through the woods. When they stop to catch their breath, Mary Lou admits that she really loves Clyde and wants to be with him. As Clyde catches up, Amos smiles and tells her to look for a package under her bed and give the money to Judd. Amos then runs off, and when Zero arrives, Clyde tells him that Amos went in another direction. As Amos runs along the road toward the Whiteoak County line, he sees a Cadillac convertible, driven by a Lady in Red who had made eyes at Amos during the revival meeting. She then moves over to let Amos take the wheel, and the couple cross the county line before Zero can catch them.