Un duro per la legge

Some rather unscrupulous Dixie gangsters wanted this man out of the way real bad. In his real life town of Adamsville, Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser made a career out of busting the various clip joints that infested his areas. Those that ran them did all they could to kill him. After the action in this film was portrayed they kind of got their wish and Buford Pusser was killed in a car crash that some still label suspicious.

Pusser was a big guy in real life and a big guy in Joe Don Baker was hired to play him. On screen Baker really gets into his character so much so that could be the real Pusser you see on screen. Before going into law enforcement Pusser was a professional wrestler in the southern circuit known as Buford the Bull. As the man was attacked several times including one shooting no doubt his superb athletic conditioning saved his life.

Elizabeth Hartman portrays his wife and mother of his two children, one of them played soon future teen bubblegum idol Leif Garrett. A few familiar faces dot the supporting cast. One portrayal you won't forget is Rosemary Murphy owner of one of the clip joints who hustles women and gambling and she develops a real hatred for Baker. She sizzles on the screen.

On the screen and in real life Pusser was not a stickler for civil liberties niceties. He did what he had to do to root out corruption in his small corner of the world. In another century like the one we're in now, Buford Pusser would have the status of a Wild Bill Hickok or Wyatt Earp. Both of whom didn't mind gambling interests but kept the cheating to a minimum.

To some, an American hero.

Remember seeing this film when it first hit the theatres in 1973...had some hype in the local newspapers and TV ads and was ballyhooed a lot like "The Exorcist" the same year. This film does not disappoint. If you like underdog films and the bad guys getting their a's kicked you will love this movie. Joe Don Baker, a bit actor at the time puts in slam dunk performance as the tough tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser who is a southern dirty harry type cop. Some fans might remember Baker as one of the prisoners in Paul Newman's "Cool Hand Luke". Story centers around Pusser returning home after a long sabbatical as a pro wrestler to find corruption running amok. After getting sliced and diced at a corrupt card table in the local septic tank bar and left for dead on the side of the road Pusser gets angry enough to make a run for sheriff....after winning the surprise election Pusser has to recruit some honest deputies - a rather hard task in that small corrupt town - and proceeds to try and weed out the gangsters and prostitutes running amok in the town. After running the corrupt judge into the basement of the local court house Pusser has to stop the moonshining operation run by the mob also. Along the way he literally castrates a corrupt deputy who is a mob informer. His preferred weapon is not a pistol but a big round wooden "stick" if you will he uses to bang up and batter down all criminals with. Gets to be sort of fun waiting for the next scumbag Pusser will pound down with that big wooden stick......scene of Pusser and his wife getting ambushed by the mob is very graphic and humbling...several people getting very teary eyed in the theatre the first time I saw this film. Scenes of Pusser and his children walking in funeral procession for his wife get to your emotions in a warm and tender way. Plenty of action, and the bad guys get mowed down in the end by Pusser. Almost like a carbon copy of the original Dirty Harry film the same year with Clint Eastwood mowing down the criminals. Poor cinematography and film editing the only downer for this film. Why does the viewer have to see part of a microphone hanging down from a bedroom?? Don't bother with the sequels without Baker as sheriff Pusser. Bo Svenson poor substitute after you have seen Baker as Pusser. Great overall action film - can be quite graphic. Not for young kids to see.

Yes Virginia there really was a man named Buford Pusser. He was a south Tennessee sheriff who was shot 8 times, knifed 7 times, survived a ambush, and even jumped onto a speeding car to make a arrest. The film, which was admittedly given the Hollywood treatment, looks at his exploits in a somewhat routine,somewhat gritty style with some surprisingly stirring moments. Though by the end when Johnny Mathis sings a ill advised syrupy song do you realize how emotionally manipulative it all really is.

Shot right in Tennessee and not some reprocessed Hollywood backlot. The excellent location shooting almost becomes a star in itself. However someone should have told the producers that even in the south the grass is not all green and the leaves aren't all on the trees at Christmas time.

Baker plays the lead role very, very well. Not only does he resemble the real Pusser, but shows some real fiery anger that's just lurking beneath the surface.

The action is intense, bloody, and well staged. Good for those who are game for this type of standard actioner.

It is interesting to note that the real Buford Pusser acted as a consultant to the film and then ended up dying in a very mysterious car crash just a year after the films release.

Lemme y'all tell a story about a fine working-class hero named Buford Pusser!

Actually, being a European and born in the 80s, I only know Buford Pusser from his Wikipedia page and the many things I heard & read about this film. "Walking Tall" is supposedly one of the most successful and loved drive-in/exploitation movies of its era, so it must have ended up on my must-see list sooner or later. It's a partially biographical and partially fictionalized tale about a "real American Hero", and illustrates the period between Buford's homecoming to McNairy County, TN, and the tragic assassination of his wife in 1967. The sequel picks up from there, and normally would have starred the real Buford Pusser if he hadn't died in questionable circumstances prior to the start of production. Bo Svenson took over the role from Joe Don Baker (who refused in honor of Buford Pusser) and portrayed him in the two sequels and a short-lived television series.

So much for the information you can also find on Wikipedia. "Walking Tall" is a bizarre drive-in/exploitation experience, since it's one of the sole movies of its type that successfully merges emotional drama with extreme bits of violence. Usually these "Dixie-rednecksploitation" efforts heavily focus on the moonshining, liquor-smuggling and illegal gambling activities - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - but "Walking Tall" clearly wanted to put the emphasize on human beings and their personal quests. This naturally includes Pusser's quest to rid his beloved county of all the smutty mafia practices going on, but also his wife's quest to safeguard her husband and family, and the quest of the Dixie mobsters to proceed with their profitable business and eliminate the intrusive Sheriff. It's definitely different, but "Walking Tall" works very efficiently. Even though a bit too long for my taste, the atmosphere is moody and ominous throughout, and all the significant characters are well-developed. The action sequences are very violent, and the aforementioned assassination even downright shocking, but it certainly adds power and realism to the film. Great acting performances all-around, notably from Joe Don Baker and the integer Elizabeth Hartman as his wife, but also from many respectable names in the supportive cast, like Noah Beery Jr, Gene Evans, Felton Perry and Bruce Glover. With regards to that last name, it's amazing how Bruce Glover and his son Crispin look identical!

One great movie! Joe Don Baker does a great job portraying Buford Pusser. This movies deals with a man that has just givin up pro wrestlng because he is sick and tired of being controlled by someone else. He returns home to Tennessee, and finds the same thing going on. His mother warns him to ignore it, but by accident, he finds out the hard way how these people operate. His battle is an uphill one. First, he is jailed for robbing the local bar. He acts as his own defense at the trial and wins. Then the local sheriff tries to kill him, and is killed himself. Once Pusser is elected sheriff, the fight really begins. He eventually cleans out the graft and corruption in McNairy County, and then he is ambushed, and his wife is tragically killed. Pusser finally has one last showdown with the people at the Lucky Spot. I would like to have seen Joe Don Baker do the other two movies. This movie is a real tear jerker at the end.