Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)

When retired Col. William Seaborn Effingham (Charles Coburn) comes back home to small-town Fredericksville, Ga., he finds little has changed in his absence of several decades, until he unwillingly becomes involved in local politics. Upon learning that corrupt mayor Edgar (Thurston Hall) and his cronies plan to knock down the historic town courthouse, the colonel becomes the star columnist at the local newspaper and attempts to rally the townsfolk to save their town's heritage.