Walking Tall (1973)
"Buford Pusser. The Man Who Became A Legend In Our Time."

	© 1973 Bing Crosby Productions. Rhino Video All Rights Reserved

Director Herschell Gordon Lewis' 1964 "Moonshine Mountain" gave birth to a whole new type of action film—"hixploitation." This subgenre typically has wild-eyed hillbillies and corrupt cops reeking havoc over "normal" citizens unfortunate enough to step into shine swillin' country. John Boorman's 1972 "Deliverance" legitimized hixploitation and brought it to the mainstream. Phil Karlson's 1973 film, "Walking Tall," brought us deeper into the nightmare world of the Deep South with non-corruptible sheriff Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker) continually getting his ass whooped by the praetorian local yokels. That is, until Pusser's wife is murdered sending the baseball bat wielding sheriff over the edge, busting stills and cracking skulls.

What makes "Walking Tall" such a hoot is its over-the-top reactionary attitude that makes "Dirty Harry" seem outrageously liberal in comparison. "Walking Tall" reeks of Old Testament stuff and vengeance is the platter du jour especially in the early '70s when the "system," as a whole, was seen as totally corrupt thanks to Richard Nixon's White House follies. At that time, everybody felt a little like Buford—abused by those in power, helpless in the wake of violence (think Vietnam) and looking for good old frontier justice.

"Walking Tall," which really was based on a true story (unlike "Macon County Line"), was so successful that it spawned two movie sequels—"Walking Tall Part II" (1975), and "The Final Chapter—Walking Tall" (1977) plus a TV show called, simply, "Walking Tall" (1981). The sequels and the show starred Bo Svenson as Pusser but Baker's strong performance in the original attributed to the film's long lasting legend.

Credits:
Directed by Phil Karlson

Actors:
Joe Don Baker
Elizabeth Hartman
Lief Garret
Dawn Lyn

Links:
Internet Movie Database
The real Buford Pusser

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