Macon County Line

1974

1h 29m

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

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1 Video

18 Images

Drama

Action

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 at the time of release, purported to be based on a true story.

Directors

Richard Compton

Writers

Max Baer Jr.(story by)

Max Baer Jr.(screenplay by)

Richard Compton(screenplay by)

Stars

Alan Vint

Cheryl Waters

Geoffrey Lewis

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch Macon County Line (1974) - HD Restored Trailer [1080p]

Photos18

Top cast

Chris Dixon

Jenny Scott

Hamp

Deptuty Reed Morgan

Carol Morgan

Wayne Dixon

Deputy Bill

Lon Hawkins

Elisha Gibbons

Luke Morgan

Gurney

Augie

Public Defender

Impound Yard Man

Man in Car

1st Highway Patrolman

Roger Pancake

2nd Highway Patrolman

Carolyn Judd

Waitress

Directors

Richard Compton

Writers

Max Baer Jr.(story by)

Max Baer Jr.(screenplay by)

Richard Compton(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

6/10

_**Redneck drama/thriller from 1974**_ "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-

Wuchak17 May, 2021