The Well

The Well is a 1951 American drama film directed by Leo C. Popkin and Russell Rouse and starring Richard Rober and Maidie Norman. It tackles the issue of racial tensions and collective behavior. Produced on a modest budget with a cast made up largely of unknown actors, it was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Plot The plot centers around the disappearance of Carolyn, a five-year-old black girl who falls into an abandoned, overgrown well while picking flowers on her way to school one morning. Her parents seek assistance from Sheriff Ben Kellogg (Richard Rober) to help find her. Carolyn's disappearance causes anger and confusion in the community, and various rumors quickly spread among the white and black populations when a white stranger, Claude Packard (Harry Morgan), is arrested on suspicion of having something to do with it. Claude, a mining engineer, is in town visiting his uncle, Sam Packard (Barry Kelley), a well-known local businessman, who attempts to use his influence to get his nephew out of police custody. This inflames the racial tension further, and when Sam is accosted by Carolyn's relatives outside the police station, he suffers a heart attack, which is reported among the white population as a racial attack. Things quickly get out of hand as various gangs of black and white residents start attacking one another. The sheriff requests that the mayor order state assistance to put down the potentially serious disturbances and readies voluntary deputies to break up the growing white mob at Sam's warehouse. Before events can spiral completely out of control, Carolyn is found alive in the well but can't be easily extracted. It takes the efforts of Sam's construction crew to sink a parallel shaft, and engineer Claude, to safely rescue her and return her to her family.