Un uomo senza scampo

Gregory Peck is rather strangely cast as the sheriff of a small Tennessee town who obviously never saw Tuesday Weld in 'Pretty Poison' or he would have given a wide berth indeed to her as the big screen's latest middle aged-man (Emil Jannings, Hugo Haas, Jimmy Stewart in 'Vertigo') to come a cropper through his infatuation with an enticing young blonde.

Well acted (including flavourful contributions from a touching Estelle Parsons and and a malevolent young Charles Durning) and enhanced by excellent photography and a vivid sense of locale, "The picture I made", Peck later lamented, "was a much better picture than the one that showed up on the screen", as it was insensitively recut after it previewed badly; with the Johnny Cash songs added in the process, presumably to evoke memories of 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'The Graduate'.

Not to be confused with the 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash (although the soundtrack features several Cash songs), "I Walk the Line" (1970) stars Gregory Peck as a taciturn Appalachian sheriff who suffers a mid-life crisis and falls for some pretty young thang (Tuesday Weld), the daughter of a generational moonshiner. The sheriff turns a blind eye and everything's fine, but for how long?

You can't go wrong with Gregory Peck. Although I've only seen about a dozen of his movies over the years he's always been an unvoiced favorite of mine. He's tall, (seemingly) noble, masculine, likable, determined and just has an unshowy star quality. Here he plays his usual self with the exception that, facing a mid-life crisis, he makes dubious choices and hurts those connected to him.

Tuesday Weld was 26 years-old during filming and is easy on the eyes. Her character maintains a naive quality even though what she does is wrong. I suppose you could say she's more ignorantly amoral than malevolently immoral.

The film was shot in the beautiful Appalachian hills of North-central Tennessee. The courthouse square scenes were shot in Gainesboro, but the dam scene that opens the movie (and is shown again later) was shot at Center Hill Dam. The Drive-In movie sequence where they are watching the 1969 Jerry Lewis movie "Hook, Line and Sinker" was shot at the Green Hills Drive-in in Carthage (hometown of Al Gore), about 45 minutes from Gainesboro. During the production Gregory, Tuesday, director John Frankenheimer and other cast & crew members stayed at the Holiday Inn in Cookeville, TN. All the buildings in Gainsboro are still there (including the pool hall) except the first store that was cattycorner to the courthouse (where the sheriff shops), which was torn down. A small portion of the film was also shot in Northern California, in a little town called Colusa, the seat of Colusa County, but I can't tell which specific scenes. Much of Colusa's architecture has a very Southern influence and has been featured in a number of movies.

I like the moral of the story: One's actions have a ripple effect -- foolish choices will inevitably hurt not only you but those linked to you, just as right choices bless you and others. On that same note, the film effectively shows how a formidable upstanding man can be reduced to a loaf of bread simply by unwisely falling prey to the temptation of some young cutie.

The story plays out in an ultra-realistic manner like other films of the 60s and 70s before the brainless "blockbuster" came into vogue. This isn't a negative to me because I actually prefer realism but others might not appreciate it, especially the flat vibe of of the first act, but the story picks up steam in the second act and holds till the end.

Some don't like the film because the usually-noble Peck is playing a sad and lonely transgressor. This is against type and perhaps explains why Peck took the part; he was 53 at the time and likely saw the role as a challenge. Here was an opportunity to play a character who is neither a hero nor anti-hero, a character who feels trapped by routine and meaninglessness, who makes a desperate and ill-fated attempt to drag himself out by means of his lust for beauty, the one thing that makes him feel alive again. Peck rose to the challenge admirably but this naturally has the negative effect of stirring disrespect, even loathing, in the viewer.

"I Walk the Line" is a good flick that was never acknowledged and seems to have been lost over time. It's along the lines of the contemporaneous "Deliverance" albeit without the sexual perversion and more on the dramatic & mundane side and less of a adventure.

The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes.

GRADE: B.

I own this movie and have watched it many, many times.

In my opinion, it is one of the best, and perhaps least touted, of Peck's works.

I cannot help but think that the scenario portrayed in this film has played out many times in real life.

Peck delivers a 5 star performance of a man of strong moral fiber, driven by the desire to abandon all he has that is right, in pursuit of what he wants, and deep down inside, probably knows he can't have.

Highly recommended and truly a treasure in my library. If you can find it...you won't be sorry.

Not sure why this one barely gets the recognition it truly deserves.

Drama, suspense, and surprise at it's best !!!

Underrated, overlooked gem from director John Frankenheimer has Gregory Peck in fine form playing Tennessee sheriff and family man in a depressed hillbilly town falling for Tuesday Weld, the comely daughter of a moonshiner. The sheriff, torn by sexual longing and responsibilities--and throwing all morality out of his path--strikes a subtle arrangement with the mountain clan to continue seeing their daughter if they keep their business under-wraps...but is this girl just stringing the lawman along? Frankenheimer bookends the film with a collage of sorrowful faces (scored with music by Johnny Cash) and the effect is a bit pretentious (it seems like a put-on); however, the director's dramatic compositions (helped immeasurably by David M. Walsh's superlative cinematography) overcome this arty overreaching and actually take on some meaning. Alvin Sargent's screenplay, adapted from Madison Jones' book "An Exile", is literate and engrossing, and the obtrusiveness of that stilted opening (as well as Cash's songs, pushed too far out in front) can easily be forgiven. Sexual obsession wears surprisingly well on Gregory Peck, and when he asks Weld to run away with him, you believe it. Both performers are terrific (even Peck's arched eyebrow and granite jaw work well for him here) and the supporting cast is equally solid. Atmospheric and charged with emotion. *** from ****

A totally under-appreciated and unseen film (except for some Gregory Peck fans) with Estelle Parsons and Ralph Meeker and the glorious totally bashed actress (in movies since age 12) and this is AFTER Pretty Poison, a witty and insightful script directed by (apparently a one-shot guy, Noel Black) that nobody got to see!

1970 was a great year for films and this didn't make my top TEN, but it's very interesting...with a moral that actually plays out in a semi-realistic and human AMERICAN way, but unfortunately, it was considered drive-in fare by whatever studio released it. Try to find this one. It's like Deliverance combined with Love with the Proper Stranger and it's quite unique, mainly because of Tuesday Weld's performance. An 8 out of 10 in a very good year. Best performance = T. Weld.