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For much of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds starred in rural southern movies often referred to as “chick flicks.” With the two Gator McKlusky films, we have one of his best, and well, another one.
When I say Burt Reynolds, I’m pretty sure there is a specific film that came to your mind. If there is not, then you have a mental picture of The Burt, and I’m sure it’s of him donning a cowboy hat and sporting a mustache. After the success of Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, The Burt milked the stereotype of rednecks in fast cars by featuring in numerous sequels and other similar movies that, without fail, put him behind the steering wheel of a fancy race car or a flashy sports car. This is not meant as a dig! Hey, it’s why we love The Burt. And if, for some reason, you do not love The Burt, then it simply means that you haven’t watched enough Burt movies.
However, during the handful of years that took place between Burt’s first major success, Deliverance in ‘72 (which captures and vilifies the rural South), and his rise to superstardom thanks to Smokey and the Bandit in ‘77, there were a few middle-grade pictures that he starred in that are, weirdly enough, some of the most fascinating in his entire career. A couple of these films focus on the fantastic Gator McKlusky character.
White Lightning, released in 1973, is one of those films that is hard to place within a specific genre tab. Gator McKlusky is a character played by Burt Reynolds, and he is a good ol’ boy serving a prison sentence for moonshining. After Gator learns about his brother’s questionable murder, he comes to know about a name that is closely tied to underground alcohol production “White Lightning.” Tandem to Gator’s personal journey is the word’s context: police vernacular. They intend to wipe out an illegal alcohol trust and will release Gator from prison under the condition that if he seeks vengeance over his deceased brother, the authorities will let him do just that. The movie’s portrayal of Gator is eerily fascinating in its obnoxiousness. The film fluctuates between being thrilling, funny, and completely disturbing.
As Gator, the Burt character is incredibly intimidating. There is something menacing about Burt’s clean-shaven that does not somehow translate to Burt with a mustache. As it happens, he was a stuntman earlier in his career, and in this film, he is built like a brick house. One look at him and you can see he is tough and ready to deal a load of pain, which is just one of the many reasons people watch revenge movies. Burt’s co-star in Deliverance, Ned Beatty, is the crooked sheriff that Burt has got to take down. If there ever was someone who was born to play a crooked official, it is Ned Beatty. He has that slimy sense of entitlement that makes you just want to see him knocked down a peg. Jennifer Billingsley is his leading lady, and while she did not do many films, she is great as a southern girl who knows what she wants (which is Burt). She brings a casual confidence and likability that works wonders in this movie, and for that, she truly is gold. You do not particularly think much about how great she is while watching the movie, but afterward, you realize just how much she contributed to the whole film.
One of the things that makes White Lightning so interesting is the tone. There isn’t a ton of manipulation in the film such as actors and props. White Lightning was shot in the rural parts of Arkansas, where locals are frequently used as extras. Adding to this sincerity is the fact that this movie was made at a time when the South was in a state of flux. There was a greater world trying to step into it, but it was still very off-the-mark for people who were not invited. Later hick flicks like Smokey and the Bandit show a humorous, sometimes endearing depiction of the south which makes it easy to cheer for Burt and jeer the police. White Lightning is far more threatening and much less cute. Do you reminisce about the opening of First Blood with Stallone acting as Rambo? Rambo moves into a new town in search of an old friend, only to realize that the authorities are not particularly fond of him. This is that, times 10.
Simply imagine that instead of fire hoses, they use shotguns while omitting ugly crying out of the equation.
A whole different and equally tremendous factor, in my opinion, is the car stunts. Nowadays, we live in a world of illusion, and none of us really believes that airplanes actually drop cars or that cars go racing on a frozen lake like in the Fast and Furious franchise. With the car stunts of White Lightning, everything is plausible. You witness a t-boned car where you see the panels crunching in, and you feel everything. Cars smashing into the air and having their struts blown off as they land? Sure, I believe that. A vehicle trying to leap from a river bank onto a barege some distance off in the water? That’s just stunning. Like most movies, a huge part of the appeal is not knowing what happens next, and in this case, it was all the charm of this movie. That alone makes White Lightning a fantastic little movie that every movie buff has to see at least once. By the way, Burt never stopped claiming that when they opened the movie in the South, they were certain it would do well. What took them by surprise was how much money it made when they released it in the North. See? Everybody likes it.
Perhaps this explains why Gator feels rather subpar. Having done a rather successful Gator in the early 80s, Burt was starting to become a household name. Thus, the Burt that we get in Gator is a very different guy than the one who showed up in White Lightning. Gator has a considerable amount of undeniable commercial glossing which makes it lack the realistic feel of the threat that White Lightning had. But then, look at his hair. He does not even look the same. The ‘stache is gone and it’s like he shed a few pounds and looks considerably less dangerous. More like other 70s
actors. He, Hal Needham, was Burts stunt double in these and many other films and exposed in his autobiography that Burt had a significant coke habit. Hollywood tried to cover it up, but as you can see, it isn’t my imagination. Look at the posters that brace the box art screaming “Burt from The White Lightning: A true American hero.” In those, they are extremely different.
This time, Gator McKlusky is given the assignment of bringing down a corrupt politician named Bama McCall (what a fun name!), who was performed by Jerry Reed. The film Gator certainly benefited from being able to incorporate reading, for his Country West songs are an absolute treat. During the 1960s and 1970s, Jerry Reed was regarded as one of the most talented and sought-after session guitarists in the country music scene, which was shaped by his larger-than-life Texas persona. I guess everything worked between Burt and Jerry on this film because a year later they both started working on Smokey and the Bandit, a film in which I’m sure Burt had a strong hand. We also get to see Jack Weston (of Dirty Dancing Fame) play a federal agent. He’s good in that role and fun to watch, really. I think he’s the only person who is coming close to playing something resembling a normal person. One can’t shake the feeling that if the film had been made only a few years later, this role would have gone to Dom DeLuise.
Gator transforms Burt’s character from the backcountry dirt roads of Arkansas to the stunning Antebellum region of Savannah, Georgia. I personally love Savannah but, it is a peculiar choice for the setting of this movie, especially when we consider how different it is from the vibe set by the first movie. Plantations and bayous are quite different from the small-town backwoods vibe of White Lightning. Elongation of the backwoods theme seems to be complete intention, because not only is Burt a lot more savvy at city life (he checks into the poshest private hotel in Savannah), but so is his leading lady, who happens to be a businesswoman too. Lauren Hutton is quite good for a news report as she is on the verge of becoming one of the biggest names in the industry. They don’t seem to have a lot of onscreen chemistry though (Burt claims she was difficult to work with because she was exposing herself to the crew), and that does not matter because ultimately this is the Burt Reynolds show.
Ego is an obstacle in the life of Gator McKlusky, who in Gator is more of a southern gentleman rather than an anti-hero. (Cue in Burt’s classic laugh which is akin to a bird’s pitch). It looks as though he is attempting to perform as a southern version of James Bond. The gator this time round is gator for the second and last time and also star in the motion picture. Additionally, this is the first time he gets behind the movie camera as the director of the film. Mostly it is alright there are certain things I would point out that does not work like the bit where Gator and the gang decide to break into a building with a couple of cats. Other than that, nothing particularly shocking. The Burt says he assumed control of the project because he did not want a bunch of Yankees possessing a film about the deep south, only to make a picture that is nothing like the original. It is not even a complaint as I have said the movie is quite easy to watch. If Gator was the only mid 1970s action movie, I suppose it would be easy to watch.
In the end, the most pleasant thing is having Gator to gage his development from the quiet dirt roads of Arkansas to the bustling city lights of Savannah. However, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said that I wished the sequel had some sense of realism. It’s not extremely far from reality, but let me ask you this did you watch “The Dukes of Hazzard” when they decided to change the location halfway through to New Jersey? It’s not to that extent, but you get my point. There are still more awesome stunts like the bayou boat chase at the beginning of the movie, as well as some other good car stuff, so there’s that.
Overall, I liked White Lightning, and I guess I also loved Gator because it is connected to White Lightning, even though the latter bears its flaws very openly. To be totally frank, Gator McKlusky is a fascinating anti-hero character; you do not feel comfortable rooting for him because of the terrible things he does, yet you secretly want to see him win. The early to mid-1970s were very fascinating years in cinema because America was so unhappy and angry, and that anger was expressed on screen in different fashions. Watch White Lightning for the gritty and realistic account of moonshining and revenge deep in the south, and Gator for the overproduced version of the movie and the glimpses of the Hollywood star that Burt Reynolds was beginning to be.
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