Macon County Line (1974) User Reviews

Fantastic drive-in classic!

[The_Void · 8/10 · 16 July 2009]

You can always be guaranteed a good time with seventies American exploitation flicks; and Macon County Line is not only no exception to that rule; it stands tall as one of the best films of its type! Macon County Line was apparently a big hit in its day and then promptly forgotten - which is a shame. The film is a winner thanks to some easy to like characters, a constant stream of entertainment, some witty dialogue and a serviceable helping of gritty violence - you really couldn't ask for much more from a film like this! The film takes place in the fifties and the plot focuses on two brothers driving through the Deep South. They cause a bit of trouble and end up picking up a female hitcher along the way before their car dies thanks to a dodgy fuel pump. They manage to get it to a garage but can't afford to get it fixed properly and so go for a bodge instead. While waiting for their car to be fixed, they run into the local sheriff, who takes an instant and unfair dislike to the group...

Unlike many films of its type, this one is not overly sleazy and if anything the tone of the film is light and breezy for most of the duration. The pace of the film is very relaxed for the first hour, although it remains entertaining thanks to the characters. Real life brothers Alan and Jesse Vint provide standout performances that bolster the film. The film does take a bit of a turn for the final third when the real antagonists turn up; we get a rape and murder scene and from there the tone of the film becomes rather darker, although the violence featured is never excessive. The pace of the film heats up too and the climax is fast and furious; and means more since we already like all the main characters by then. This film really does come highly recommended. It might not have a great deal of substance and the production values are not great (though certainly very good considering the obvious low budget) but it's good fun throughout and I'm sure that everyone who goes to the trouble of seeing this film will not be disappointed!

An overlooked classic

[SmileysWorld · 8/10 · 15 October 2001]

Some movies just don't get the attention they deserve,and "Macon County Line" is certainly one of those.It could quite possibly have to do with the fact that Max Baer appears in it,because we so closely identify him with his "Jethro Bodine" persona,that we have a hard time picturing him as anyone else.If that is the case,it is a shame,because he really gives a top notch acting performance as the not-so-perfect deputy sheriff.This film was very different from any other made in the era.There are bad guys here,but no real hero to speak of.Basically,without giving the story away,it starts out very basic,taking a violent turn toward the end,with an explosively violent ending stemming from a tragic misunderstanding.A very well done and well acted film, that tragically got overlooked.If you are one to reach for the classics in your local video store from time to time,I suggest this one,though it sadly will never be listed as a classic.I think once you see it,you may be impressed enough to add it to your collection.

Horrible jumping to conclusion

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 28 October 2018]

When you've played hillbilly hunk Jethro Bodeine for almost a decade it's kind of hard for folks to take you seriously in the casting department. So Max Baer, Jr. decided to take charge of his own future by writing a screenplay and selling it with him in a juicy role. He's so good in the role of the Deputy Sheriff that not for one minute will you think of The Beverly Hillbillies while you watch Macon County Line.

The film is set back 20 years before Macon County Line's debut in 1974 and it's a picture without any nostalgic longing for Dixie before the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Two good old boy brothers are having a road trip to kill time before one has to go into the Air Force. Real life brothers Alan and Jesse Vint play our rover boys and they pick up Cheryl Waters for a bit of amusement.

These two aren't choirboys that's pretty clear. When their car breaks down they take shelter in a barn not knowing it belongs to Max Baer, Jr. They also don't know that a pair of psychopathic drifters are at the house terrorizing Baer's wife Joan Blackman.

The conjunction of these happenings lead to some horrible conclusion and god awful tragedy.

A few familiar faces you will spot in the cast, some old names and some who hadn't quite made it yet. A really stand out scene is with Baer and young Leif Garrett before he became a bubblegum pop star as Baer tries to tell his son that he shouldn't be playing basketball with a black kid he's become acquainted with that this violates social taboos.

The film has become a deserved cult classic and Max Baer, Jr. must thank God that it is as associated with him as Jethro Bodeine.

Deep-fried

[chaos-rampant · 24 August 2008]

70's gritnik cinema doesn't get much better. Pure tautness. Imagine Sam Peckinpah had done this, or John Boorman, or that it starred one of the many young upstarts of New Hollywood; it would've been one of the classic movies we referenced from this era, that's for sure.

Alas it had none of those things. But it wasn't a drive-in smash hit for no reason either 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. Or the kind of hicksploitation you find in movies like Gator Bait.

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 gritnik gems like Two-Lane Blacktop and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Typical Hollywood Stereotyping

[chevyblue-86998 · 7/10 · 24 February 2021]

Forget what the carpetbagger critics say...they automatically hate anything "southern"...MCL is a great movie. A classic "must see" for movie lovers. Ten times better than the unbelievable action overkill movies that Hollywood libs think "intelligent" people are supposed to enjoy. Unfortunately, as always, the stereotypical portrayal of Southerners is about as accurate as "The Beverly Hillbillies".

An okay drive-in classic

[pmtelefon · 6/10 · 14 March 2018]

It just takes to long to get getting. Nothing, I mean nothing, happens for the first hour. It's only only an hour and a half long movie. The actors all give strong performances and the movie looks great. It's never really that boring (with the exception of maybe the most boring sex scene in movie history). But waiting an hour before you can figure out where the story is going is a bit too long. It does have a strong last twenty minutes or so.

A neat little film.

[BatonRougeMike · 7/10 · 11 October 2019]

I'm not going to say it's 'great' which is an overused word, but it is lean, naturally acted and economically put together. All in a good way. I'd recommend it, but fast forward through the lovemaking in a tank of water. Ick.

I don't know about Matthew and Mark . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 10 March 2018]

. . . but when Johnny got his gun Luke already had one, MACON COUNTY LINE documents. Up North, Real Life first-grader gunmen generally get away with just a single killing (as was the case a while back in a Flint, MI, classroom). However, Down South they pack boys off to "military academies" as soon as they're potty trained (if not before). By age 10 each of these "space cadets"--such as "Lt." Luke in this story--is an accomplished marksman, MACON COUNTY LINE warns. Taking advantage of their diminutive stature and martial training in evasive maneuvers, these militant Mini-Me's lurk in the Southern shadows like ticking time bombs, as likely to be triggered into exploding by a bad dream as by a bad dad. Once something sets off yet another juvenile killing spree, these Pre-teen terrors are programmed to keep firing at anything that moves until they run out of ammunition. There are many names for this phenomenon. Perhaps "The Southern Way" sums it up best. MACON COUNTY LINE takes its cues from Real Life in showing that cop's sons are more likely to orphan themselves than barbers' boys or plumbers' kids. MACON COUNTY LINE begs the question, "If priests can't have children, why should sheriffs?"

Huge drive-in hit

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 8 July 2002]

Despite what previous posters have been saying this movie was a big hit when it came out. There was even a sequel a few years later. But it was only a hit at drive-ins and (like other drive-in hits) has been largely forgotten. That's a shame because it's a really great movie.

It's not based on a true story (despite what they say at the beginning and end). It's bloody, violent and made on virtually no budget. It all works though because you get four believable characters--the two brothers (real life brothers Alan and Jesse Vint), the hitchhiker (Cheryl Waters) and the sheriff (Max Baer Jr.). They all give natural, unforced performances and through the dialogue you get to know them and understand them. The script is very well-written. Still, this IS a drive-in movie so it opens with a sex scene including flashes of male and female nudity. And the last half hour is frightening and includes a neat twist at the end.

A very good film that deserves to be rediscovered. See it!

Redneck drama/thriller from 1974

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 19 September 2013]

"Macon County Line" belongs to the redneck car/thriller genre, which overlaps with Southern Gothic (e.g. "The Fugitive Kind") and redneck car/comedies (e.g. "Smokey and the Bandit"). Many of these films take place in the South, but not always; there are tons of rednecks all over, even in the most "progressive" states, like California and Washington.

The plot revolves around two brothers in 1954 traveling through North Carolina. After picking up a lone female, their car breaks down in Macon County where they encounter a bigoted Sheriff. A crime takes place and the sheriff blames the trio.

The film only runs 89 minutes and the first hour is all small town tedium, which is part of the movie's low-budget charm, but the third act livens things up.

The screenplay was written by Max Baer Jr., best known as Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies TV series; he also plays the redneck Sheriff in the story. Max, incidentally, directed another redneck classic, 1976's "Ode to Billy Joe".

The film has a good back country vibe and effectively shows how bigotry and racism are learned traits and not innate. It also shows how easy it is to blame the wrong person due to coincidence. Beyond this, the film has little depth. It's a light drama about mundane events in a small Southern town that turn to tragedy.

The movie purports to be based on a true story and offers details to this effect, but this was merely fabricated in order to hype the picture. It worked, as "Macon County Line" became a drive-in hit in the mid-70s.

My main beef with the film, other than its mundaneness, is that the story takes place in Macon County, North Carolina, but the picture was shot in the Big Valley of California (around Sacramento). It goes without saying, if you're going to film a Southern Gothic thriller that takes place in the South, shoot it in the REAL South, not friggin' California. That said, the filmmakers do a decent job of making it SEEM like the South, dry as California is.

GRADE: C+ or B-

Overrated hicksploitation "classic"

[GrandpaBunche · 3/10 · 5 June 2008]

After having heard about how great MACON COUNTY LINE is and how it's one of the undisputed classics of the 1970's drive-in/"hicksploitation" genre, I finally saw it for myself and was quite surprised by a few things. When taken at face value, MACON COUNTY LINE reads like a tense, suspenseful cautionary tale about being in absolutely the wrong place at absolutely the wrong time, but the actual film comes up lacking for a number of reasons:

1. The movie clocks in at 88 minutes and the actual conflict between the sheriff and the innocent travelers doesn't actually occur until roughly the last twenty minutes, by which time I had checked my watch more than once. And when it finally does go down, there's no chase since the trio's car has broken down; the trio holes up in an empty houseboat, so they're stuck there waiting for the sheriff to pick them off.

2. There were several times when I found myself wondering if the movie even had an editor; during the film's 88 minutes, much of the running time is spent on endless sequences meant to drive home a feeling of local color but those segments just drag on interminably, and the attempts at humor simply lay there like a dead raccoon. Except for the bit with the barking whore.

3. The heroes' mischievous nature is meant to be endearing, but their boorish and potentially dangerous behavior toward others was off-putting. The only reason I sympathized with them at all during the sheriff's crazed meltdown was because I knew they were innocent of the crime, and while they deserved some sort of comeuppance for their earlier transgressions, they certainly didn't warrant cold-blooded execution at the hands of Jethro Beaudine.

4. The wholly gratuitous sex scene between Chris and Jenny brings the movie to a complete halt and does nothing whatsoever to advance the plot, offering a small helping of the nudity that was more or less mandatory for exploitation fare of the period. You simply will not care when the sequence begins, and may even fast-forward through it like I did.

5. While we come to know and like the Dixon brothers as a kind of lower-rent Duke Boys (only minus the bows-and-arrows and the General Lee), Jenny is a cipher of a character who's there only so there can be a female among the heroes, and a female that you just know will eventually get naked for reasons previously discussed. I found her utterly superfluous to the story and genuinely feel the film would have benefited immensely from her total non-inclusion; the only suspense that Jenny's presence could have generated would have been the possibility of her getting raped by the crazed sheriff, but while he was crazed over the death of his wife, he wasn't that crazy. That particular female element in hicksploitation would later be famously immortalized in the far superior JACKSON COUNTY JAIL (1976).

But while I found MACON COUNTY LINE to be a vastly overrated disappointment, I was intrigued by Max Baer, Jr's portrayal of Sheriff Morgan. In sequences not dealing with his harassment of the innocent trio, Morgan is seen as a devoted family man who has a friendly rapport with the citizens of his town, and longs for nothing more than to spend quality time with his son. Far from the psycho cop he's often described as, Morgan is all too understandably human, control freak flaws and all, and I found it impossible to hate the guy, even when it's revealed that he'd rather his son not associate with the black kids who play basketball across the street from the military school; Morgan's racism comes across not as the stereotypical burning hatred usually found in a southern-fried exploitation flick, but rather as the result of being a product of his time, culture, and the accepted status quo. His explanation of his views on the subject to his son is more segregationist than flagrant "lynch them g-damned n****rs" bigotry, and considering the tropes common to this genre that comes as a surprise since exploitation filmmakers certainly never had any problem with creating outright, mustache-twirling villains of the vilest order; the quintessential example of a balls-out psychotic racist asshole villain would undoubtedly be William Sanderson's incredible Jesse Lee Kane in FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE (1977), and when compared to him Sheriff Morgan is certainly no villain. A hardassed control freak driven to violence by irrational grief, yes, but a villain per se? I don't think so.

There's been a lot of misleading stuff written about MACON COUNTY LINE over the years that paints the film as considerably more than it is, and as a curious student of the grindhouse/drive-in genre you may be intrigued by its rep, but bear in mind that much of its legend may be heavily colored by fond nostalgia, and that's why the ready availability of such oft-cited "classics" on DVD can be the genre's own worst enemy. If truth be told, seeing is definitely not always believing.

Clever, stylish, and unique -- a forgotten classic

[TelevisionJunkie · 10/10 · 12 May 2002]

I had heard of this film, but never had the chance to see it. Knowing that Max Baer wrote and starred in it really didn't mean much to me either way. Although I often identify actors with their TV roles, I've seen a lot of them who got famous by playing goofy characters in phenomenal roles, so I don't usually judge them by their other work. And in this case, that's a good thing. Stumbled onto the Anchor Bay release of this at Wal-Mart for $3, so I figured I'd check it out. Not my usual style of movie, I prefer comedy, horror or camp, but I'm a movie buff and for the price, I figured what-the-hell. And I wasn't disappointed.

The acting is solid. Usually in low budget films there's at least one actor who simply can't act, but not here. Everyone in the film is believable enough to hold your attention and make you forget how unlikely the string of coincidences that happen near the end would be. Baer, who in his first scene seems reminiscent of Jethro Clampett, soon shows that he does have acting abilities. And the other three leads are exceptional. Although it seems like it takes forever for something to happen (it's an hour into the 90 min film before the "shocking" part begins to unfold), the beginning is enjoyable. You forget for a while that there's a point and get swept up in the antics of these (real-life) brothers who are joyriding when their car breaks down in Macon County. Back in the good old days when character development was more important than special fx, a lot of time was spent on doing just that, developing the characters. You start to care about the three leads, which makes it much more disturbing when Baer goes after them near the end for a crime they didn't commit. And what's revealed at the end is a total mind blower that slaps you across the face and shoots you between the eyes. Just for the twist ending, the film is well worth your time. Too bad the videos didn't sell well and are now in the bargain bins, but it's a bargain-bin-classic that I'd recommend to anyone.

Needing deliverance from the cinematic slamming of the deep south.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 19 June 2022]

It seems that after the production code was altered in 1967 that many writers took chances with themes and locations that made parts of the good ole' USA look inhospitable, especially to young people. The good ole' boy world of the south and other rural communities took particular hits with films like "Easy Rider", "Deliverance" and practically any film with Burt Reynolds. It's not Burt in the sheriff's hat or the car that breaks down here. Alan and Jesse Vint, along with Cheryl Waters, are the unfortunate travelers politely questioned by sunglass clad Max Baer Jr. Here. For no reason. He just doesn't like drifters whom he refers to as vagrants, and threatens to find them each $10 if they don't get out as soon as their car is fixed.

Baer is a good family man, with a son, Leif Garrett, going to a military school, and a wife, Joan Blackman, he adores. But he's also openly racist, explaining his views to his son when they leave on a fishing trip. What he doesn't realize is the fact that his home has been broken into and his wife has been brutally raped and murdered. While the culprit goes about his nefarious actions, he flashes back to being beaten by Baer, giving him a clear motive of revenge.

Unfortunately, Baer gets the idea in his head that the passers through he questioned, simply because the actual killer was stuck on the same road where he spots their vehicle. His assumptions leads to him in pursuit of them, and it's obvious that the conclusion won't be a pretty one. Baer wrote the screenplay of this hit drive-in movie which I watched with great trepidation but enjoyed very much.

There is a great deal of character detail given to everybody involved in the story, and even the most horrible of the character is allowed to have human elements that prevents them from being complete monsters. At least the characters aren't overwhelmed with the stereotypical twang, and there's definite sympathy for Baer whose character may be misguided, and certainly not someone who should have legal authority. He proves himself to be a very good dramatic actor.

OKAY BUT IT COULDA BEEN BETTER...!

[masonfisk · 5/10 · 18 March 2019]

A weird hybrid of noir & B actioner as 2 brothers travel in the South in the 1950's hooking up w/girls, pulling petty crimes & eventually being pursued for a vicious crime they had no part of. Based on a true story & scripted by Max Baer (Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies/he also plays a cop here), the shambling flick moves from episode to episode w/story beats touching on different characters sometimes to a notable effect & others just to do so & I think that's the problem here where I would say the film is about 70% successful but that nagging 30 really causes it to fall apart in sections. Badlands, I guess the closest antecedent to County, came out the year before & in Terence Malick's vision that story of crime in the heartland worked liked gangbusters.

Great suspenseful movie but was it really a true story?.

[grafspee · 22 September 2004]

I agree with many previous reviewers that this was an ideal drive-in thriller movie and well suited to the era with it's colorful cinematography of the picturesque South.

Max Baer better known as "Jethro", the jovial dim witted clown of the "Beverly Hillbillies" series shows how equally well he can play officious gun toting Deputy Sheriff Reed Morgan of a southern Georgia town, flaunting his obvious authority with others. When three teenagers arrive in his domain at a local service station with car trouble he immediately becomes suspicious and makes clear his anxiousness for them to leave his County as quickly as possible.

Morgan shortly after leaves with son Luke, played by Leif Garrett, on a duck shooting expedition and while away two ex cons break into his house and rob and murder his wife Carol. Returning home he notices the teenagers car broken down nearby and after discovering the fate of his wife sets out in armed pursuit of the teenagers. The teenagers take refuge on a houseboat and the tragic events which unfold give this movie a hold on to your seat electrifying finale. The excellent "Another Place Another Time" song of Bobbie Gentry in the closing credits adds vividly to the way life and events did exist and were perceived in the Fifties era.

JETHRO'S WALKING TALL

[mmthos · 6/10 · 8 July 2020]

Beverly Hillbilly Max Baer's baby. Well-done, ,he seems to have learned what works during his time in the business. Riding on the 70's vogue for rural south settings, based on a true story, a shoo-in formula if done right, and it is. Main characters (Baer as Sheriff, natch) well-drawn, and minor characters in various glimpses of country life are drawn ala Norman Rockwell if he'd worked in the south. Although corny, they lend local color and set the mood, which starts out corny, then takes a terrible turn, and ,a 180 degree adjustment in tone. Before the end credits, the audience is shown a written rundown of what actually happened after the action of the film, and i felt satisfied I'd been shown a solid portrayal of what ultimately led to those real-life eventualities. But what's with the up-beat song over the credits?

Tense, Tragic, Highly Watchable

[telegonus · 10/10 · 12 August 2005]

Macon County Line was apparently a huge hit at the drive-ins when it came out in the seventies but since I seldom went to drive-ins I missed it. A few years ago I caught it on television, and was very impressed, not so much by the story but by the way it's told. The film concerns a couple of out-of-town brothers caught up in violent crime and mistaken identity in the Deep South, where, in movie terms anyway, it's never a good place to be a Yankee without a road map, or worse, have your car break down. The story unfolds at a decent clip, and the actors are all good, some much better than than that. It's interesting seeing an old-timer like Emile Meyer in a movie with an up-and-comer like Leif Garret. The real surprise in the film is the strong, silent performance of Max Baer, Jr. in the key role of the deputy sheriff. Like most viewers, I tend to think of Baer as the gentle, simple giant, Jethro, on the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies. As the lawman in this movie Baer actually gives a serious performance. As a dramatic actor he comes off a little like James Garner, a little like Clint Eastwood, but he has a distinctive style of his own. There's something rock solid about Baer. He has real screen presence, and he comes off as alternately heroic and frightening, depending on what he's up to at the moment. Baer also produced the movie, and made a fortune from it. Baer may in real life be a gentle giant, but he sure ain't a simple one.

This is at times a very dark movie, violent and forbidding, and at times almost painfully tense. It may be a product of the Burt Reynolds good old boy era of movie-making, but it plays very differently from the kinds of films Reynolds made, closer in style to Sam Fuller or Phil Karlson.

"Macon County Line" is disappointing. That shouldn't have happened, but it did!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 29 December 2019]

Like every self-respecting horror and cult cinema fanatic, I love to watch a good slice of "Hicksploitation" every now and then! In case you stumbled on this movie's page by accident and haven't got a clue what we're talking about, "Hicksploitation" (or "Rednecksploitation") are low-budgeted action movies/thrillers from the 1970's that are set in the American Deep South and feature violent backwoods folks and moonshining yokels with bad dental hygiene. Next to the biggest "classics" in this unofficial sub-genre ("Deliverance", "Southern Comfort", "White Lightning"), "Macon County Line" is supposedly one of the best efforts, but personally I can't help feeling a little bit disappointed.

Real-life brothers Alan and Jesse Vint are very likeable as the convivial Dixon brothers, and the lovely Cheryl Waters is stunning as the sexy hitch-hiker Jenny Scott, but the tone and the pacing of "Macon County Line" are wickedly - almost frustratingly - uneven. For more than a full hour, the film is a rompish comedy that almost solely focuses of the trio's jolly adventures whilst driving through Macon County, Georgia. Admittedly the grumpy and xenophobic Sheriff Reed Morgan warns the Dixon brothers to stay out of trouble, but the whole thing is very light-headed. Then, suddenly, the daffy plot becomes dark and disturbing, and by the time the finale kicks in, Macon County Line" feels like a totally different movie altogether. Practically out of nowhere, two random drifters also show up in Macon County and commit horrible crimes where then naturally Wayne and Chris Dixon get pursued for. "Macon County Line" is promoted as a true story, for example via the brilliantly compelling tag line ("It shouldn't have happened. It couldn't have happened, ... But it did"), but this was really just a trick to attract more publicity and audiences. That certainly worked, since it became of the most successful drive-in hits of all times. Good for director Richard Compton and his crew, but I can easily name a dozen of "Hickploitation" movies that are more enjoyable and impactful ("Jackson County Jail", "Cockfighter", "Race with the Devil", "Baker County USA", ...)

Classic movies are too easily forgotten

[thompsonkeng · 9/10 · 16 August 2000]

This is a great 1950's period piece movie. Similar in some ways to "The Last Picture Show". Unfortunately, Macon County Line never received any hype, and therefore has largely been forgotten. Too bad only 21 people have bothered to vote for this movie.

If you would like to time travel back to the 50's, and get a feel for the rural South, this is an enjoyable movie to watch.

Just very violent

[lbowdls · 4/10 · 28 May 2020]

Look I must admit I haven't seen this film since it was released in 1974 but I have to say something considering all the over the top praise and high scores. I remember at the time this being one of the worst films I've ever seen and that is simply due to the subject matter and over the top violence. I have loved lots of violent and horror films so it's not that. I just know it really left a bad taste in my mouth and turned my stomach. And until I saw much worse films in later years this was a film that continued to haunt me for some time after. So I just want to warn people it's a very sad and violent film and really doesn't have that much going for it. Hardly a classic with hidden meaning. Billy Jack films are much better films if the violent genre that do have a good message to them.

An outstanding "don't go down to Dixie" 70's Southern-fried drive-in gem

[Woodyanders · 10/10 · 17 July 2006]

Two happy-go-lucky brothers (amiably played by real-life siblings Alan and Jesse Vint, who also popped up as a couple of no-count looters in the fantastic big budget all-star disaster epic "Earthquake") and a pretty female hitchhiker (blonde cutie pie sprite Cheryl Waters) embark on a rowdy cross country fun spree in the deep South in the 50's. Their fun comes to an abrupt end when they run afoul of a repressively square and fascistic good ol' boy sheriff (sternly portrayed by producer and co-screenwriter Max Baer; Jethro on "The Beverly Hillbillies") who doesn't cotton to any smartaleck outsiders romping around his podunk burg. Things go from bad to worse when a pair of criminals murder the sheriff's wife and the sheriff erroneously assumes that the brothers and their lady friend are responsible.

Without a doubt one of the all-time great Southern-fried low-budget 70's drive-in classics, this darling is a huge personal favorite of mine. Richard ("Welcome Home, Soldier Boys," "Ravagers") Compton directs with real energy and proficiency, keeping the pace racing along at a speedy clip, creating an increasingly foreboding sense of dread and tension, and skillfully handling the sudden shift from boisterous comedy to gut-tearing suspense. Daniel ("Battle Beyond the Stars," "Humanoids from the Deep") Lacambre's handsome cinematography makes expert use of natural light, thereby giving this picture a plausibly rough and grainy unpolished look. The performances are all on-target, with stand-out supporting turns by Sam ("'Gatorbait") Gilman as a hard-nosed deputy, Joan Blackman as the sheriff's doomed wife, 70's teen pop idol Leif ("Devil Times Five") Garrett as the sheriff's son, James Gammon as a low-life hoodlum, Doodles Weaver as a doddery ol' cuss, and especially Geoffrey Lewis as a cranky gas station proprietor. Bobbie Gentry really belts out a sweet dilly of a number with the terrific country-and-western ending credits theme song. The grim, kick-you-in-the-stomach violent and disturbing surprise ending packs one hell of a savage and powerful wallop. The film's monumental box office success (it made a hefty $35 million during its original theatrical run) beget a handful of "don't go down to Dixie" exploitation cash-in copies, a sub-genre unto itself which includes the pitifully lame'n'tame sequel "A Return to Macon County," the astonishingly bleak'n'brutal "Jackson County Jail," the spirited and enjoyable "Moving Violation," and the seamy and revolting scuzzathon "A Nightmare in Badham County."

Good, though its pacing may turn some people off

[Wizard-8 · 28 July 2012]

"Macon County Line" was a big drive-in hit in its day, and it has kept its reputation as a cult classic right into the twenty-first century. Does it deserve its reputation? Overall, I would say yes. Unlike most exploitation movies of its time, there is intelligence here. The characters are well built for the most part, and they talk like you would expect people in similar situations to talk. Also, the acting by all of the players is uniformly good as well. And the last third of the movie brings in some surprising plot turns (including an unexpected ending.)

If there is a problem with the movie, it is that it takes half of the movie before the plot really starts. Although I didn't find the first half of the movie boring or tedious, I think there are some modern-day viewers who will be asking themselves questions like, "Just what is this movie about?" and "When will things start going?" So if you are a viewer who wants to be jolted from the start and shook up all throughout, this may not be the movie for you.

Yo'all need to see some better movies....

[amosduncan_2000 · 4/10 · 13 March 2007]

I have sort of a soft spot for MCL, even though I don't think it's very good. I think I saw it at The Varsity Theater in Evanston Il, on a double bill with "Legend of Boggy Creek". Me and my friend thought both films were weak. Both had been hits with the saturation T.V. ad campaign promotion (tons of commercials bought cheap on local T.V.) that made "Billy Jack a mega hit.

Anyway, I saw the film years later. It's a mix of country corn humor, exploitation nudity and violence, and awkward stabs at seriousness. Mr. Drysdale, Jethro wants to make a movie!

I was brought back to it by best of CD of songs by the interesting Bobbie Gentry, her theme song was one of the last things She did before retiring. Worth a look as a curio, and one of these days I'm going to catch up with "Macon County Two" with Don Johnson and Nick Nolte!

Southern Gothic

[Lechuguilla · 10/10 · 8 November 2010]

Richly atmospheric, "Macon County Line" veritably drips 1950s backwoods Louisiana, in a story about two good-humored, shiftless dudes, both laid-back and basically decent, who joyride through the South, with no particular goal in mind. Along the way they pick up a young, attractive Southern belle. But a car problem puts them at the mercy of local hicks, including a White, bullying cop (Max Baer Jr.), prejudiced against Blacks and outsiders.

The plot starts out with some red-light hi-jinx, augmented by lush color visuals and great music, like the Black gospel song "Keep On Keeping On" which conveys the film's subtle theme. The slow-paced story fits the hot, lazy Southern weather. And as we get to know the main characters on their daytime journey, we sense something is going to happen. We just don't know what or when.

As night falls the tone turns ominous. Danger lurks in coincidence. And the story morphs into a kind of allegory that renders it timeless. Terrific suspense makes the last twenty minutes spellbinding ... human prey trying to escape a killer in the brushy backwoods at night, no music, just the natural sounds of frogs and crickets ... tense ... the killer is somewhere in the woods ... two people hear footsteps, a door opens, death is close at hand ... silence.

The film's visuals are grainy, which contributes to a nostalgic, dreamlike quality. Production design is authentic. Casting and acting are fine, and considerably better than one would expect for this genre of film.

I think people were surprised at the time by its success. Certainly, it could never be made today. And that probably ups its status now as a cult classic. "Macon County Line", in addition to being a fine Gothic story set in an atmospheric South, evokes nostalgia for an era and pace of life gone forever.

A landmark drive-in hit that kick-started the "hicksploitation" sub genre.

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 22 March 2018]

Chris and Wayne Dixon, played by real-life acting brothers Alan and Jesse Vint, are two fun loving siblings from Chicago. They get into some trouble, but do no harm, in the days before they will enter into military service. (The story takes place in Georgia in 1954.) However, they end up targets for the wrath of a Southern lawman (Max "Jethro Bodine" Baer), who mistakenly believes that they have butchered his wife.

"Macon County Line" is a superior example of this kind of exploitation filmmaking, fulfilling some of the requirements of the genre (like nudity, sex, and violence), but also taking the time to tell an entertaining and compelling story. Baer concocted the story himself, and co-wrote the screenplay with director Richard Compton, doing a fine job of leaving his cheerfully dumb hayseed character Jethro far behind for the first time in his career. Incidentally, the filmmakers knew that their plot hinged on coincidences a little too much, so they invented the introductory claim that their film was based on a true story, which it is not. (They figured audiences would have an easier time swallowing the chain of events this way.)

The main hook of this sordid, and ultimately tragic, tale is an assortment of wholly engaging characterizations by the main cast: the Vint brothers, Cheryl Waters as the hitchhiker whom they pick up, Geoffrey Lewis as a local yokel garage owner, Joan Blackman as Baers' victimized wife, a very young Leif Garrett as Baers' son, James Gammon and Timothy Scott as a pair of despicable lowlifes, Sam Gilman as a deputy, Doodles Weaver as area resident Augie, Emile Meyer as store owner Gurney, et al.

The cinematography by Daniel Lacambre is first-rate, the songs are wonderful, there is an appreciable sense of humor, and the finale is some genuinely atmospheric, suspenseful, and spooky stuff. It all adds up to make a fine film that any fan of this era of filmmaking ought to check out.

Impressively filmed on a low, low budget of approximately $225,000, it went on to gross over $18 million in the US.

Followed a year later by "Return to Macon County".

Eight out of 10.