Macon County Line
| Macon County Line | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Compton |
| Produced by |
Max Baer, Jr. Roger Camras (executive producer) Richard Franchot (associate producer) |
| Written by |
Max Baer, Jr. Richard Compton |
| Starring |
Alan Vint Jesse Vint Cheryl Waters Max Baer, Jr. Geoffrey Lewis Joan Blackman Leif Garrett James Gammon |
| Music by | Stu Phillips |
| Cinematography | Daniel Lacambre |
| Edited by | Tina Hirsch |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $225,000 |
| Box office | $30 million |
Macon County Line is a 1974 American independent film directed by Richard Compton and produced by Max Baer, Jr. Baer and Compton also co-wrote the film, in which Baer stars as a vengeful county sheriff in Georgia out for blood after his wife is brutally killed by a pair of drifters.
The $225,000 film reportedly became the single most profitable film of 1974 (in cost-to-gross ratio), earning $18.8 million in North America and over $30 million worldwide.
The film is docudrama in tone. Although it was presented as "a true story" to attract a wider audience (much like the Hollywood revisionist film Walking Tall of 1973), its plot and characters are entirely fictional.
In 1954 Macon County, Georgia, brothers Chris (Alan Vint) and Wayne Dixon (Jesse Vint), are on a two-week spree of cheap thrills throughout the South before their upcoming stint in the Air Force. A pair of Chicago transplants, Wayne applied for service when his brother Chris was given the option of military service or prison as the result of an earlier episode with the law. Driving through Louisiana, the brothers pick up hitchhiker Jenny Scott (Cheryl Waters), a pretty blond with a shady backstory that she would rather not discuss.
Meanwhile, local backwater town sheriff Reed Morgan (Baer) is preparing to bring back his son Luke (Leif Garrett) from military school. Hunting season begins the next day and he buys Luke a new shotgun. While Chris, Jenny, and Wayne cruise through the back roads of Louisiana, they have car trouble. They stall out in Sherriff Morgan's town. Unable to repair the car, they scrape together enough money to get it patched up by garage owner Hamp (Geoffrey Lewis).
Waiting at the garage, they are informally threatened by Morgan, who says they could be picked up for vagrancy if they decided to stick around. Not interested in trouble, the brothers and Jenny head out once their car is running. But another breakdown – this time near the scene of the murder of Morgan's wife by two men who have also killed a cop – puts the trio into a lethal situation with Morgan. There is a devastating finale for all.
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Wikipedia