Walking Tall
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Article is about movie, not Pusser's family tree
{{for|the 2004 remake|Walking Tall (2004 film)}}
{{Infobox_Film
| name = Walking Tall
| image = walking_tall_movie_poster.jpg
| caption = promotional poster for ''Walking Tall''
| director = [[Phil Karlson]]
| producer =
| writer = Mort Briskin<br>Stephen Downing<br>[[John Michael Hayes]] (uncredited)
| starring = [[Joe Don Baker]]<br>[[Elizabeth Hartman]]
| music = [[Walter Scharf]] |
| cinematography =
| editing = [[Harry W. Gerstad]]
| distributor = [[Cinerama]]
| released = [[June 22]], [[1973]]
| runtime = 125 min.
| country = [[United States|USA]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| budget = $500,000
| followed_by = ''[[Walking Tall Part 2]]'' (1975)<br> ''[[Walking Tall: Final Chapter]]'' (1977)
| imdb_id = 0070895
|}}
'''''Walking Tall''''' is a [[1973 in film|1973]] [[biopic|semi-biopic]] of Sheriff [[Buford Pusser]], a former [[professional wrestler]]-turned lawman in [[McNairy County, Tennessee]]. It starred [[Joe Don Baker]] as Pusser. The film was directed by [[Phil Karlson]].
==Plot==
Pusser, at his wife Pauline's behest, retires from the professional wrestling ring and moves back to [[Tennessee]] to become deputy under his father, [[Carl Pusser]] and then the police chief of [[Adamsville, Tennessee]]. But when he wins election as [[sheriff]] of McNairy County, Pusser becomes aware of the rampant corruption and decides to clean up the county. Buford Pusser becomes famous for being incorruptible, intolerant of crime, and his array of four foot hickory clubs which he uses to great effect in destroying clandestine gambling dens and [[moonshine|illegal distilleries]], and even against criminals.
Some residents praise Buford Pusser as an honest cop in a crooked town; others denounce him as a bully willing to break some laws to uphold others.
He and Pauline are ambushed. Pauline was killed, and Pusser is seriously injured, admitted to the hospital with over 200 stitches. When he recovers he avenges himself with a wooden club.
==Title==
The title of the movie comes from one of the real-life Pusser's favorite sayings "the measure of a man is how tall he walks."[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070895/taglines]
==Sequels==
The original ''Walking Tall'' was a hit, but the sequels, ''[[Walking Tall Part 2|Part 2, Walking Tall]]'' ([[1975]]), and ''[[Walking Tall: Final Chapter|Final Chapter - Walking Tall]]'' ([[1977]]), both starring [[Bo Svenson]], were far less profitable. A short-lived [[1981]] television series ''Walking Tall'' (again starring Svenson) further dramatized Pusser's life and career. Buford Pusser himself was signed to star in ''Part 2, Walking Tall'', but on August 21, 1974, after a press conference in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] to announce the film, Pusser's [[Chevrolet Corvette|Corvette]] left the road about six miles from his Adamsville home and struck an embankment, ejecting Pusser. He died upon impact or shortly afterwards.
==Factual inaccuracies in ''Walking Tall''==
A number of the best-known scenes in ''Walking Tall'' are fictional. For example, Pusser never went into a roadhouse with a stick and beat up everyone inside. He did, however, take two friends and beat the owner of the Plantation Club in 1961 (Morris:1971). The prior McNairy County sheriff, James Dickey, did not die trying to run over Pusser in a confrontation, he fell asleep at the wheel and died in a car crash less than one month before the 1964 election (Morris, "State Line Mob," 1990).
In the movie, Pusser kills two characters, Callie Hacker, the female bar owner, and a fellow thug who tries to kill Pusser but winds up killing the family dog. In real life, Pusser did kill two individuals, Louise Hathcock and Charles Hamilton. Callie Hacker was loosely based on Louise Hathcock although Pusser actually killed her out of the presence of other witnesses (in the original movie, he kills her after she shoots at him across a bar) in a side room of the Shamrock Motel. The 'family dog killer' episode never actually happened but was added to spice up the movie. Pusser did kill Charles Hamilton in a shootout in Tennessee on Christmas Day, 1968. The shooting of the character Ray Henry in ''Part 2, Walking Tall'' was loosely based on Pusser's killing of Hamilton.
Pusser is shot at point blank range in one scene, supposedly by 'a couple of boys from Alabama' as one character says. In reality, Pusser was shot by his mistress, Pearl, after a quarrel (Morris: State Line Mob, 1990) although his arch nemesis, Towhead White, had in fact escaped from prison in Alabama during the same time frame.
Obrah Eaker, played by [[Felton Perry]], was loosely based on Pusser's only black deputy, Dave Lipford. After his wife's killing, Pusser did not leave the funeral and crash his car into a bar. Pusser never attended his wife's funeral. He was still in the hospital when she was buried.
The portrayal of his children contains a few inaccuracies as well. [[Leif Garrett]] portrays Mike, an eight-year old at the beginning of the movie. He barely ages during the show, but Pusser's stepson, Mike Vance, was actually 18 years old when Pauline Pusser was killed. Dwana, however, was fairly accurately represented throughout all three movies, including being the first one to reach him upon his fatal car crash.
Pusser's father was actually the Adamsville police chief when Buford first ran for election as sheriff.
According to a 1973 newspaper on the wall of the Pusser Museum, Buford said that the movie was 'sixty percent true.'
The original 1973 movie was filmed in the summer of 1972 in West Tennessee, but not in McNairy County. Town scenes were filmed in [[Henderson, Tennessee|Henderson]], county seat of [[Chester County, Tennessee|Chester County]], 19 miles to the north of [[Selmer, Tennessee|Selmer]], using Chester County locals as extras and in some minor roles. Scenes were also filmed in nearby [[Jackson, Tennessee|Jackson]] and in rural [[Madison County, Tennessee|Madison County]]. The scene where Callie Hacker was killed was filmed in the Pine Ridge Club in [[Medon, Tennessee|Medon]], which is still in operation. The scene where the incumbent sheriff is killed when his auto runs off of a bridge was filmed on a rural road north of [[Milan, Tennessee|Milan]].
==Controversy==
In some circles, the name Buford Pusser has become synonymous with police brutality. This is bolstered by the fact that ''Walking Tall'' was marketed, perhaps erroneously, as a right-wing film upon its original release. [http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0070895/amazon] Whenever a character parodies Pusser, he is generally violent and overzealous.
Southern Rock band, the [[Drive-By Truckers]] included a three song suite in their 2004 album, ''[[The Dirty South]]'', which offers a negative critique of Buford Pusser's actions. The three songs, "The Boys From Alabama," "Cottonseed," and "The Buford Stick" tell the story of Buford Pusser from three different outlaws' perspectives, all of whom are adversely affected by Pusser.
==Remake==
{{main|Walking Tall (2004 film)}}
In [[2004 in film|2004]], a remake starring professional wrestler [[The Rock (entertainer)|Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] was made. Although it took many elements of Pusser's life and the original ''Walking Tall'', many things were changed, such as Johnson's character's name (Chris Vaughn) and setting the film in semi-rural [[Kitsap County, Washington|Kitsap County]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], although it was filmed in Squamish, B.C., Canada. Two sequels to the remake were produced, and released in 2007: ''Walking Tall: The Payback'' and ''[[Walking Tall: Lone Justice]]'', both made in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Texas]] and released directly to DVD. These sequels starred [[Kevin Sorbo]] as Nick Prescott, the son of the town's sheriff who takes the law into his hands when his father is killed in an alleged car accident.
==Cast==
*[[Joe Don Baker]] as [[Buford Pusser]]
*[[Elizabeth Hartman]] as Pauline Pusser
*[[Lurene Tuttle]] as Helen Pusser
*[[Noah Beery, Jr.]] as Carl Pusser
*[[Dawn Lyn]] as Dwana Pusser
*[[Leif Garrett]] as Mike Pusser
*[[Logan Ramsey]] as John Witter
*[[Felton Perry]] as Obrah Eaker
*[[Bruce Glover]] as Grady Coker(Buford's deputy)
*[[Brenda Benet]] as Luan Paxton
*[[Gene Evans]] as Sheriff Al Thurman
*[[Rosemary Murphy]] as Callie Hacker
*[[Douglas Fowley]] as Judge R.W. Clarke
*[[Luke Askew]]
*[[Kenneth Tobey]]
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0070895|title=Walking Tall (1973)}}
{{The Walking Tall Pentalogy}}
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:Biographical films]]
[[Category:Crime films]]
[[Category:Television programs based on films]]
[[Category:Films set in Tennessee]]
[[Category:McNairy County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Walking Tall (films)]]
[[sv:Walking Tall]]