Walking Tall
Short description
Buford Pusser returns to his small Tennessee hometown with his wife and two children, hoping for a quiet life near his father. What he finds instead is a town run by racketeers whose gambling, bootlegging and prostitution are protected by the people in power. After a violent run-in with them, he takes on the job of sheriff and sets out to clean up the county, facing the consequences at great personal cost.
The film is a crime drama directed by Phil Karlson and written and produced by Mort Briskin. Joe Don Baker plays Pusser, with Elizabeth Hartman as his wife Pauline, Gene Evans as Sheriff Al Thurman, Noah Beery Jr. as his father Carl and Brenda Benet as Luan Paxton. It was released in February 1973 and runs 125 minutes; it earned about 23 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.9/10 from roughly 7,500 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.6/10 from 149 votes.
Walking Tall came late in Karlson's directing career, arriving after Kansas City Confidential, Scandal Sheet, Tight Spot, The Silencers, A Time for Killing, The Wrecking Crew and Ben, and before Framed. Made by Bing Crosby Productions, it dramatizes the story of a real Tennessee lawman who became known for his forceful approach to enforcing the law.
What's left behind the scenes
- Authorities in McNairy County, Tennessee, where the film is set, were so dismayed that their thoroughly corrupt administration had become the center of national attention that they denied the filmmakers permission to shoot, forcing them to film in the neighboring Chester County. The authorities of McNairy County, one of the poorest in the entire state, ignored the influx of funds that the filming would have brought to the county. When the intention to make a remake starring Dwayne Johnson was announced (the film by director Kevin Bray was released in 2004), representatives of the McNairy administration practically pushed their county onto the filmmakers; however, it was all in vain, and the remake was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- The real Buford Pusser wanted Bo Svenson to play him in the movie, but Svenson was unavailable, and the role of Pusser was played by Joe Don Baker. When Baker refused to return to the role in Earl Bellamy's action film 'Walking Tall Part 2' (1975), the part was offered to Svenson, and he immediately agreed.
- The character played by Felton Perry is based—albeit with numerous liberties—on Dave Lipford, the first Black sheriff in the history of the state of Tennessee.
- John Whittier, played by Logan Ramsey, is based on Carl Douglas White, known as 'Towhead' (1936–1969), a member of organized crime. He died under mysterious circumstances, and some believe that Buford Pusser was involved in his death.
- Buford Pusser's home was turned into a museum after his death. The museum displays the car in which he passed away—a red 1974 Corvette.
- The madam of the brothel was played by Rosemary Murphy. This character is based on Louisa Hatcock, a brothel owner and notorious criminal. She fell by the hand of Sheriff Buford Pusser while attempting to kill him herself; however, this occurred not in a bar, but in a motel where she had lured him with a false report of a theft. This took place on February 1, 1966, rather than on Christmas Eve.
- On August 12, 1967, Buford Pusser's wife (played in the film by Elizabeth Hartman) was shot from a passing car. Pusser himself suffered serious injuries during the attack. The perpetrators were never found. On August 29, 2025, Tennessee law enforcement agencies announced that as a result of investigative actions and the exhumation of his wife's remains, it was determined that he had shot her himself and then faked his own injuries.
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