A straight-talking, sensible public servant, Judge William Pittman Priest (Charles Winninger) is friendly with most of the townspeople in his Kentucky hometown. The town's upper-class set feels differently, however, and backs a presumptuous Yankee newcomer, Horace K. Maydew (Milburn Stone), for the judge's seat at election time. Judge Priest has to use all his wiles to hang on to his office, while continuing to be a voice for the town's underclass and for democratic values.