Nobody would call Gator a great movie, but it's everything a B-movie should be and a favorite of mine. The title alone would do the trick. Burt Reynolds is Gator McKlusky, the same character he played in another good B-movie, White Lightning. This time he's kicking back after being released from prison, trying to keep things simple and stay out of trouble. Fat chance. He's a moonshiner, after all.The plot has been used many times. Feds are onto Gator and his pappy, and they give him a choice. He either has to help them bring down his old friend Bama (Jerry Reed) or go back to prison. You know what Gator's gonna do, and we're off and running. Reed is great as the villain with a sawed-off, and the Reynolds has a lot of fun as Gator. There's a lot of hardcore violence, but there's also a lot of comedy. That's the way they did it in the '70s.
Reynolds isn't the only one having fun. Jack Weston, Lauren Hutton, Alice Ghostley, Mike Douglas (the talk-show host and singer), and Dub Taylor join in. The drive-ins were nearly all gone by the time this movie came out, but it was perfect drive-in entertainment. Check it out.
9 comments:
Burt, Jerry, gators -- what more could someone want? This has been on my to-see list for years. I keep holding out, because it is nice to know there is something amazing to look forward to. On some dark night, when I am inconsolable, Burt, Jerry and the gators will be there to show me the light at the end of the tunnel.
Perhaps I put too much faith in Burt, Jerry and gators?
See WHITE LIGHTING, too, if you haven't.
Not overlooked by Sterling Archer.
Sterling: Hey! I'm serious. Look at me, seriously, Lana. Forget the eye bandage, but the hair, the strong jawline—who do I remind you of?
Lana: Nobody.
Sterling: Say it. Say it. Say it!
Lana: Burt Reynolds in Deliverance.
Sterling: No! Not in Deliverance. In Gator! How can you not see that?
I remember seeing this on a triple bill: White Lightening, W.W. & the Dixie Dance Kings, and Gator. Sigh. How I miss those days of reliably entertaining drive-in caliber Burt Reynolds movies.
BTW Bill, are you familiar with Jerry Reed's great song "Amos Moses" about an alligator hunter in the bayous of Louisiana? He's missing an arm because when he was a boy, his daddy would use him for alligator bait (true lyrics). If you don't know it, a gator afficianado like you certainly should. I expect to see it in Song of the Day one of these days.
I always have trouble pasting links, but try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLDtNsIKOhs
Yep, that's a great song!
It was a second movie, after WHITE LIGHTNING --- and fact about that:
Spielberg was in post-production to make the film and he backed out. His interview said ''The one thing that came to me that I almost made was White Lightning, the Burt Reynolds' picture ...I didn't want to start my career as a hard-hat, journeyman director.''
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