10/3/14 MACON COUNTY LINE (1974). This is a film I missed back in my prime movie-going days, but I remember people telling me that this drive-in movie was a great piece of work. I finally got to see it last night, and you know what? . . . they were right! Heres a low-budget film about two brothers/drifters (Alan and Jesse Vint, real brothers) who are blamed for the murder of a Southern sheriffs wife while theyre traveling to New Orleans in 1954. Meanwhile, theres a pair of crooks --one of them a real psycho -- on the loose, causing havoc. The sheriff becomes unhinged, and with his young son in tow, hunts down the Vints, thinking theyre guilty, in effect becoming a stalking murderer. The film was produced, co-written, and stars Max Baer, Jr. Name doesnt ring a bell? Well, he played Jethro on TVs The Beverly Hillbillies. Yes . . . THAT Jethro! And hes absolutely great as the sheriff. Also amazingly good is a very young Leif Garrett -- yes, THAT Leif Garrett -- as Baers young son. Actually, everyone in the film is terrific, and youll see some familiar faces in it: Geoffrey Lewis, for example, and even Doodles Weaver. The film starts off slowly like a road movie, but turns into something else halfway through: a taut, suspenseful, crazy, violent outburst, with enough nudity and bloodshed to keep drive-in-goers happy, but it doesnt overdo it! The ending left me amazed -- my jaw was literally open in surprise -- and that doesnt happen very often these days. Richard Comptons direction is terrific, too, even when the film slows down. (Comptons directed tons of tv stuff too.) All this -- and a great music soundtrack that features songs like Jim Dandy and other early rockabilly stuff -- make MACON COUNTY LINE a fantastic example of the best of what drive-in movies could offer. SEE THE TRAILER ELSEWHERE ON THIS PAGE. (Below: movie poster// Max Baer and Leif Garrett// the Vint brothers.)
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:02:57 +0000
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