Macon County Line (1974)

Today's slice is...

'Macon County Line' (1974)

IMDB describes 'Macon County Line' like this: "A vengeful Southern sheriff is out for blood after his wife is brutally killed by a pair of drifters. Low-budget film set in Georgia in 1953 and based on fact."

First I would like to point out that the statement saying "based on fact" is actually false. After test screenings of the film received feedback that the events in this completely fictitious film were too coincidental to believe, the producers decided on using a gimmick... they added the text "A True Story" at the beginning of the film. Nobody ever questioned the coincidental details again. It was just taken as fact.
The film was written (story) by Max Baer, Jr. You might remember Max as Jethro Bodine in the TV series "The Beverly Hillbillies." Max also wrote the screenplay along with Richard Compton. Max produced the film and starred in it while Compton directed.

The film takes place in 1953 and centers around two brothers, Chris and Wayne, who have a week left before shipping off to the military so they decide to take one last wild, partying road trip while they're still free men.

The film starts off in Louisiana and then moves into Mississippi where they pick up a pretty hitchhiker named Jenny. Soon the car the trio is driving breaks down in MaconCounty where they have a run in with the Sheriff, played by Max Baer, Jr.
A series of events have the brothers and Jenny  mistaken for  killers and the vengeful Sheriff is hunting them down, shooting to kill.

Wow, that Max Baer, Jr. sure is an awful actor. As hard as I tried I just couldn't see him as a hard case sheriff. I only saw goofy Jethro Bodine.

But I guess that just added to the cheese factor. He did get a little better once the action starts about an hour into the film.
Also, the southern characters in the film were portrayed as uneducated backwoods dumbasses.
I did like the actors that played the brothers and the girl. Their acting wasn't bad. Their characters were fun and interesting to listen to.
There was also a small subplot of racism in the '50s in the South that just fell flat.
This low-budget film was actually a success when it was released. A sequel, 'Return to Macon County' was rushed to theaters the very next year.

Although the sequel had little resemblance to the original and wasn't nearly as successful, it did star two actors who would later become big stars on their own, Nick Nolte and Don Johnson.

I thought 'Macon County Line' was an enjoyable film. Being set in the '50s there were cool cars, cool music and some great costumes. The gritty, dirty South feel that they captured was interesting too.


This film is a lost classic and fun to watch.

Check it out.



- Patrick Shawn Bennett