Walking Tall
by Phil Karlson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dawn Lyn, Elizabeth Hartman, Joe Don Baker, Leif Garrett, Noah Beery Jr.Director: Phil Karlson
Cinematographer: Jack A. Marta
Producer: Charles A. Pratt
Producer: Joel Briskin
Producer: Mort Briskin
Writer: Mort Briskin
Writer: John Michael Hayes
Writer: Stephen Downing
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Rhino / Wea
Movie Reviews of Walking Tall
Movie Review: Movie fantastic, DVD transfer poor
Summary: 5 Stars
In the 1960s a man emerged who wasn't afraid to stand up and face down organized crime. He was a former marine turned wrestler turned sheriff who decided to clean up his little corner of Tennessee the best way he knew how: with a very big pine stick and a whole lot of gumption. He swept through the county like a firestorm, blowing up illegal liquor stills and closing down dens of iniquity without batting an eye. The decent people loved him and supported his actions, but the targets of his raids wouldn't go down without a fight. They shot this man on at least eight different occasions, stabbed him, attacked his home and his family, and eventually killed his wife. Still, he wouldn't back down. Of course I'm talking about legendary lawman and American tough guy Buford Pusser, and the movie is the just as legendary "Walking Tall." They "remade" this picture a year or two ago into a laughable PG-13 kiddie version starring a professional wrestler, but if you want to see the real deal you need to check out the DVD version of the original 1973 masterpiece starring Joe Don Baker. Here's a film that redefines the term "gritty."
The film opens with Pusser, his wife Pauline (Elizabeth Hartman), and two kids (one played by Leif Garrett!) heading back to Buford's childhood home to settle down for good. Life on the road working as a professional wrestler apparently isn't all its cracked up to be, what with having to jump when others say jump and throw a match when told to do so. Right from the start we learn that Buford Pusser is his own man, or at least he desperately wants to be. So he acquires the property of a deceased moonshiner with the help of his father Carl (Noah Beery Jr.) and sets about earning a living running a timber mill. His wife is ecstatic, Buford is just as cheery, and his parents are happy to have their boy home. Then tragedy--the first in what will soon be a long string of them--hits with the subtlety of a knee to the crotch. Buford hooks up with a childhood friend named Lutie McVeigh (Ed Call) for an afternoon of fun. It soon becomes apparent that the town is quite different from the place Pusser fondly remembers. A saloon called the Lucky Spot now sits on the outskirts of town, a saloon with gambling tables in the back and scads of mobile homes outside packed with harridans openly plying their trade. Pusser doesn't like the looks of things, and likes it even less when a he's nearly killed after a fight breaks out over a gambling cheat.
What follows moves as fast as a swallow of moonshine through your digestive tract. Pusser engages in a war of attrition with the folks running the saloon, runs into trouble with crooked sheriff Al Thurman (Gene Evans) and the even more corrupt judge R.W. Clarke (Douglas Fowley), and eventually ends up running for county sheriff on a campaign to clean up the town. Needless to say he wins the election and immediately begins to crack skulls. There are a few problems at first, such as learning that you need warrants before walking onto someone's property and busting them, but Pusser slowly learns what he needs to know. He even strong arms Judge Clarke into giving him the authority to raid the crime dens in a hilarious scene that by itself provides enough reason for watching the movie. Beyond this humorous sequence there is little to laugh about in "Walking Tall." The movie is loaded with bloody fight scenes, car chases, murders, a dead dog, and lots of genuine southern atmosphere. Some call "Walking Tall" a prime example of hicksploitation; I call it a blast of a film that holds up well over thirty years after it played in theaters. Its impact will last a heckuva lot longer than the version starring The Rock.
Apparently the filmmakers took some liberties with certain details of Buford Pusser's real life. Probably so, but who cares? Call it dramatic license. Whatever the case, "Walking Tall" is a film loaded with great performances. Joe Don Baker makes you want to stand up and cheer as he cracks heads, breaks bones, and generally sticks it to the bad guys every chance he gets. He's authentic, brutal, and likable all at the same time. In fact, every actor and actress in this film does a great job, even the ones who didn't go on to do anything else. That's quite rare for the world of low budget filmmaking when you consider most actors in these things have all the allure of cigar store Indians. But even better than the performances are the actions sequences. The stuff we see in "Walking Tall" is downright brutal. When people take a punch or a kick they actually bleed and end up wearing bandages or casts. Pusser spends a significant portion of the film recuperating from the various injuries he receives in his battles. This realism makes the movie far more appealing than many potboiler actioners.
It's important to make a few comments about the DVD version of this film. First, there are no extras on the disc: no commentary tracks, no trailers, no behind the scenes footage or featurettes, nothing to add depth to the viewing experience. That stinks. Second, and far worse, is the picture transfer. It looks like the company responsible for bringing this classic to disc merely copped the picture from a second generation VHS dupe. The most notable problem is color fading, but the whole movie looks quite poor. "Walking Tall" is a classic fully deserving of an in-depth restoration, and I for one hope it receives this treatment soon. Nevertheless, it's still worth watching if you haven't seen it. Go out and rent it today.
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