Jesse Hill Ford, author of the 1965 novel upon which the film was based, was said to make his feature film acting debut in a scene set in a small-town mayor’s office, as noted in the 29 Jul 1969 LAT.
       Producers Ronald Lubin and Malcolm Stuart acquired screen rights to Ford’s novel, The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones, shortly after it was published by Atlantic-Little Brown in Jun 1965, according to a 28 Sep 1965 DV news item. The film adaptation was set to be a co-production between Lubin’s Harvest Productions and Stuart’s Coldwater Productions. However, the two were unable to interest major studios and Stuart left the project. The following year, a 20 Mar 1966 NYT article announced that Ronald Lubin was now collaborating with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, who planned to adapt the novel as a stage play first, to drum up interest in the film. They reportedly obtained stage and screen rights for upwards of $100,000. Over two years later, the 1 Aug 1968 DV stated that the film adaptation was moving forward at Columbia Pictures, with William Wyler set to direct as part of an exclusive, six-picture deal he’d recently made with the studio.
       As noted in a 17 Mar 1969 DV brief, Henry Fonda was considered for a role, but he was unable to join the production due to scheduling conflicts with There Was a Crooked Man… (1970, see entry). The 22 Apr 1969 DV also indicated that Diana Darrin was tested for a role.
       Principal photography began on 21 May 1969 in Jesse Hill Ford’s hometown of Humboldt, TN (fictionalized as “Somerton, Tennessee”), according to a DV production chart published two days later. Two weeks of location shooting in Humboldt were followed by a company move to the Columbia Pictures studio lot in Hollywood, CA, where the remainder of the film was shot. On 15 Jul 1969, DV reported that production was just completed ten days under schedule and under budget.
       A slight title change, from The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones to The Liberation of L. B. Jones, was announced in the 15 Jan 1970 DV. The world premiere was set to take place on 18 Mar 1970 at New York City’s Loew’s State 2 and Pacific East theaters, as noted in the 11 Mar 1970 Var. The film opened one day later, on 19 Mar 1970, in Los Angeles, CA. Despite mixed reviews, Lola Falana received a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress. A year-end box-office chart in the 6 Jan 1971 Var listed The Liberation of L. B. Jones as one of the "Big Rental Films of 1970," citing its cumulative domestic box-office rentals as $1.3 million.
       The picture’s racially charged subject matter was met with concern, as noted in an 18 Dec 1969 Los Angeles Sentinel brief. Some white viewers who attended advance screenings reportedly feared the picture might start a “race riot.” On 2 May 1970, NYT reported that two pipe bombs had exploded consecutively in two theaters at Loew’s Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, NY, the previous evening. One of the two films was The Liberation of L. B. Jones; the other was Cactus Flower (1969, see entry), which was not about race relations. Eleven people were injured. The film also proved controversial at some U.S. Army bases, where “disturbances” were reported after several screenings. It was eventually banned at U.S. Army bases throughout Europe, according to the 3 Jun 1971 Los Angeles Sentinel.
       Nine months after the picture’s U.S. debut, Jesse Hill Ford shot and killed George Henry Doakes, a twenty-one-year-old black man who had driven onto his driveway and whom he allegedly believed was there to harass his teenage son, Charles. An article in the 23 Nov 1970 NYT quoted Ford as saying “[Doakes] was in a perfect ambush spot to get Charles.” Ford claimed to have fired his gun only to stop Doakes’s car from driving away, and noted that he and his family had been the target of much local ire, due to the content of his writing and his outspoken stance on racial inequality in Humboldt. Ford was charged with murder. Following a five-day trial, he was acquitted. He later took his own life. His obituary in the 5 Jun 1996 NYT suggested Ford may never have recovered from the trial.
       The Liberation of L. B. Jones marked the final feature film directed by William Wyler. Timothy Sims served as Wyler’s executive assistant on the film, and Vincent Tubbs acted as unit publicist, according to items in the 14 Aug 1968 DV and 8 May 1969 Los Angeles Sentinel. The following actors were named as cast members in various DV, LAT, and Los Angeles Sentinel items published between Jun and Jul 1969: Chester Jones; Sharon Bailey; Anna Mayberry; Henry Kingi; Warren McGowan; John Garcia; Paul Sears; Richard Lewis; Francois Andre; Daniel Elam; Oliver Hartwell; Robert Jefferson; William Washington; Edward Short; Ardie Overstreet; Barnetta Fowler; Marie Janisse; Jeanette Cummings; Sandra Jones; Yvette Thompson; Agnes Lloyd; Versie Young; Marcia Alford; Martha Washington; Suzie Robinson; Charles Bastin; Michael Jeffers; Michael Lally; Paul Bradley; Philip Harron; Edward Haskett; Murray Pollack ; Gary Wright; Bernice Smith; Jimmy Fields; and Robert Jefferson.