Walking Tall (1973)
directed by Phil Karlson
directed by Phil Karlson
I might have been taken along to the drive-in at a young age because my parents were confident that I wouldn't remember anything as neither film is really child friendly. I don't remember much. I just had a very strong sense of deja vu when I watched this film.
Walking Tall is based on the true (well mostly true) story of McNairy County Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser. It wasn't a pretty story. Real life rarely is.
Pusser died in a mysterious auto accident shortly after the film's release. There was no proof of foul play but as Pusser had survived an assassination attempt by vindictive people with long memories, many folks were convinced that something in the milk wasn't clean.
Walking Tall has the classic early seventies look which I love and which people like Rob Zombie reproduced so well in homages like The Devil's Rejects. At a two hour running time Walking Tall takes its time introducing its characters and setting up their motivations.
Unlike the remakes with The Rock and Kevin Sorbo, Pusser (played here by the imposing Joe Don Baker) isn't just a large guy who laughs off punches like love taps. When Pusser gets hit, he gets hurt, although it usually takes many men to hurt him. This is not an action film. It's a drama.
Pusser is a former Marine and professional wrestler who, at the urging of his shy supportive quiet wife Pauline (Elizabeth Hartman), has returned home to start a logging business with his genially bigoted father Carl (Noah Beery). The film soft pedals Carl Pusser's bigotry as ignorance, fear, and stubbornness instead of maliciousness. This is lucky because one of Buford Pusser's best friends is a Black man named Obra Eaker (Felton Perry).
One of Buford Pusser's other friends convinces him to tag along on a visit to the Lucky Spot, a place where a man can drink, gamble, relax, and purchase the short term companionship of some young (or not so young) local lovely ladies. It's not really Pusser's scene but what the heck.
Pusser is an honest man. So when Pusser catches club employees cheating his friend at craps, he stands up to say and do something about it.
Pusser doesn't like starting fights but he sure enjoys finishing them. Once his wounds were partially healed, Pusser carved a four foot hickory club and returned to the Lucky Spot to deal beatings to the male employees.
Arrested and charged with every felony the sheriff can think of, Pusser is found not guilty after showing the jury his horrific wounds. Now it's vendetta time. Pusser runs for and wins the sheriff spot. He brings on Obra as deputy. Pusser intends to clean up McNairy County, whether people like it or not. The Dixie Mafia/State Line Mob wants Pusser out.
Rosemary Murphy is a cold local madam and Mob leader. Brenda Benet is a hooker with a heart of gold who likes how Pusser handles his stick. Seventies teen icon Leif Garrett appears as Pusser's young son playing alongside his real life sister Dawn Lyn as Pusser's daughter.
The film's violence is not cartoonish like a Marvel superhero movie. Nobody is bulletproof or makes quips while fighting. Everyone knows that if the Mob can't get you they'll attack softer targets.
Pusser isn't a hero because he's large and can kick a$$. Pusser's heroic because he won't back down--although sometimes he really should have. This movie feels real from the beginning to the end. It makes you think.
