I Walk the Line (film)
| I Walk the Line | |
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Film poster.
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| Directed by | John Frankenheimer |
| Produced by | Harold D. Cohen Edward Lewis |
| Written by | Alvin Sargent |
| Based on |
An Exile 1967 novel by Madison Jones |
| Starring |
Gregory Peck Tuesday Weld |
| Music by | Johnny Cash |
| Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
| Edited by | Henry Berman Harold F. Kress (sup.) |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
I Walk the Line is a 1970 film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld. The film is the story of Sheriff Henry Tawes (Peck) who develops a relationship with town girl Alma McCain (Weld).
The screenplay is an adaptation of An Exile by Madison Jones. The I Walk the Line soundtrack is by Johnny Cash; it features his 1956 hit song of the same name.
Henry Tawes (Gregory Peck) is an aging sheriff in small-town of Sutton, Tennessee, who is becoming bored with his wife Ellen (Estelle Parsons) and his life. He meets young Alma McCain (Tuesday Weld) and is drawn to her, even though she isn't even half his age.
Alma seduces him, then persuades Tawes to provide protection for her father Carl McCain (Ralph Meeker), who makes moonshine whiskey with an illegal still. Tawes obliges her until a federal agent, Bascomb (Lonny Chapman), turns up. He obeys orders and destroys the still.
A deputy, Hunnicutt (Charles Durning), suspects that Tawes and the young woman are romantically involved. When he tries to take Alma by force, Hunnicutt is killed by the McCains.
Tawes helps dispose of the deputy's body. He decides to take off with Alma and start a new life in California, but finds to his surprise that she and her family have already left. Tawes pursues them, assuming Alma still wants to be with him, but she has other ideas.
Frankenheimer wanted Gene Hackman to play the sheriff, but Columbia Pictures insisted that Peck be cast in the lead since he was under contract to them. Frankenheimer cast J.C. Evans, his wife's grandfather, who was eighty-two years old, to play the sheriff's father; the director called Evans "quite wonderful" but eventually had Will Geer dub his part. During the drive-in scene, the film playing is The Big Mouth, but the posters at the theater list it as Hook, Line & Sinker (both were Jerry Lewis movies). When Sony released it on DVD in 2006, the final shot was altered to show a freeze-frame of Peck's face. In the original version, Peck's face is never frozen, and his eyes are open.
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