Macon County Line (1974)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Richard Compton

Writers:

Max Baer Jr. (writer)
Richard Compton (writer)

Release Date:

1 December 1975 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Action

Tagline:

It was the fall of '54. A time when laughing was easy. And laugh they did, until they crossed the ... Macon County Line.

Plot:

A vengeful Southern sheriff is out for blood after his wife is brutally killed by a pair of drifters...

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Revenge | 1950s | Murder | Female Nudity

Cast

Alan Vint	...	Chris Dixon
Cheryl Waters	...	Jenny Scott
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Hamp
Joan Blackman	...	Carol Morgan
Jesse Vint	...	Wayne Dixon
Sam Gilman	...	Deputy Bill
Timothy Scott	...	Lon
James Gammon	...	Elisha
Leif Garrett	...	Luke Morgan (as Lief Garrett)
Emile Meyer	...	Gurney
Doodles Weaver	...	Augie
Avil Williams	...	Public Defender
Jay Adler	...	Impound Yard Man
Roger Camras	...	Man in Car
David Orange	...	1st Highway Patrolman

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sacramento, California, USA

Company:

Consolidated Productions

Trivia:

The movie was written on the back of scripts by Max Baer Jr. during breaks in filming _"The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)_.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: 'Manos' the Hands of Fate (#5.24)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON

From the bowels of the drive-in exploitation circuit comes an all around accomplished piece of deep-fried thriller/drama

Macon County Line is the kind of movie that makes you realize how important the Hollywood star-system is: one or two name actors in the lead roles would be enough to ensure a classic status, healthy DVD sales and regular airplay. It wasn't a drive-in smash hit for no reason after all and as much as high brow critics would dismiss the regular love-pit crowd as easily pleased or what have you, the truth is Macon County Line is an all around accomplished movie that is almost too good to be classified as exploitation.

What starts as an amusing "boys just wanna have fun" road movie soon turns into a tight, gripping thriller but not without stopping to sample some of the local Lousiana colour first. The economy in the story is incredible, there's no frame wasted, nothing that doesn't propel the story forward or build mood or characters. The direction is confident, without highfallutin auteur-ism but with an efficiency and energy that suits the material.

What really elevates Macon is the superb cast. Names and faces I've never seen before but they're all perfect in their roles, understated and emotional in just the right measure and true to the characters they're supposed to be playing without becoming self-conscious caricatures of themselves. Even the backwoods mechanic carries an authenticity, a sense that you're watching a real person and that such people do exist.

Which brings me to another major success for the movie. It presents and inhabits a real world with real characters that have lived their lives there. The real locations and unknown cast sure help a great deal but so does the story, dialogues and actor interplay. We get a vision of the graphic South without the self-conscious quirks the Coens used in Raising Arizona or Oliver Stone in U-Turn, both great movies but still "artificial" in how they depict life.

Tightly edited, beautifully photographed, with cool music and a fine-tuned screenplay, memorable performances and an unexpected ending, Macon County Line justifies its cult status and drive-in success 30 years down the line and belongs in the very elite company of visceral 70's cinema with an existential edge that includes Two-Lane Blacktop and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. You really have no excuse not watching this film.