Walking Tall (1973)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Mort Briskin (writer)
Stephen Downing (writer)

Release Date:

22 February 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Action

Tagline:

Take your best shot... 'cause it'll probably be your last.

Plot:

Based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser whom almost single-handily cleaned up his small town of crime and corruption, but at a personal cost of his family life and nearly his own life.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Corruption | Tennessee | Small Town | Racial Slur

Cast

Joe Don Baker	...	Buford Pusser
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Pauline Pusser
Gene Evans	...	Sheriff Al Thurman
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Grandpa Carl Pusser
Brenda Benet	...	Luan Paxton
John Brascia	...	Prentiss Parley
Bruce Glover	...	Grady Coker
Arch Johnson	...	Buel Jaggers
Felton Perry	...	Obra Eaker
Richard X. Slattery	...	Arno Purdy
Rosemary Murphy	...	Callie Hacker
Lynn Borden	...	Margie Ann
Ed Call	...	Lutie McVey
Sidney Clute	...	Sheldon Levine
Douglas Fowley	...	Judge R.W. Clarke

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (cut) | Finland:(Banned) (1974) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R | Norway:16 (video rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1974-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Henderson, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Bing Crosby Productions

Trivia:

Sheriff Buford Pusser was the technical consultant for this movie. On its sequels, Walking Tall Part II (1975) and Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), his father Carl Pusser was the technical consultant.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The former sheriff's car explodes before it hits the ground.

Quotes:

Buford: [talking to the jury after showing his scars] If you let them do this to me and get away with it, THEN YOU'RE GIVING THEM THE ETERNAL RIGHT TO DO THE SAME DAMN THING TO ANY ONE OF YOU!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Step Brothers (2008)

Walking Tall

Remember seeing this film when it first hit the theatres in 1973...had some hype in the local newspapers and TV ads and was ballyhooed a lot like "The Exorcist" the same year. This film does not disappoint. If you like underdog films and the bad guys getting their a's kicked you will love this movie. Joe Don Baker, a bit actor at the time puts in slam dunk performance as the tough tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser who is a southern dirty harry type cop. Some fans might remember Baker as one of the prisoners in Paul Newman's "Cool Hand Luke". Story centers around Pusser returning home after a long sabbatical as a pro wrestler to find corruption running amok. After getting sliced and diced at a corrupt card table in the local septic tank bar and left for dead on the side of the road Pusser gets angry enough to make a run for sheriff....after winning the surprise election Pusser has to recruit some honest deputies - a rather hard task in that small corrupt town - and proceeds to try and weed out the gangsters and prostitutes running amok in the town. After running the corrupt judge into the basement of the local court house Pusser has to stop the moonshining operation run by the mob also. Along the way he literally castrates a corrupt deputy who is a mob informer. His preferred weapon is not a pistol but a big round wooden "stick" if you will he uses to bang up and batter down all criminals with. Gets to be sort of fun waiting for the next scumbag Pusser will pound down with that big wooden stick......scene of Pusser and his wife getting ambushed by the mob is very graphic and humbling...several people getting very teary eyed in the theatre the first time I saw this film. Scenes of Pusser and his children walking in funeral procession for his wife get to your emotions in a warm and tender way. Plenty of action, and the bad guys get mowed down in the end by Pusser. Almost like a carbon copy of the original Dirty Harry film the same year with Clint Eastwood mowing down the criminals. Poor cinematography and film editing the only downer for this film. Why does the viewer have to see part of a microphone hanging down from a bedroom?? Don't bother with the sequels without Baker as sheriff Pusser. Bo Svenson poor substitute after you have seen Baker as Pusser. Great overall action film - can be quite graphic. Not for young kids to see.