White Lightning

• Directed by Joseph Sargent
• June 27, 1973 (Benton, Arkansas) / August 8, 1973 (NYC)

A man imprisoned for running moonshine agrees to investigate the financial crimes of a county sheriff who killed his younger brother. What could go wrong?

Few actors in the 70s were more awesome than Burt Reynolds. He defined cool and masculine of the time with his bad boy charm. As a filmmaker if you wanted to do something with action that was well performed this was the man you wanted in it. That roguish smile sold many characters to movie audiences.

His Bobby “Gator” McKlusky is certainly no saint but not a terrible person. Gator must infiltrate the local moonshine business to get the goods on people not reporting their taxable income. Serious. His motives are to get revenge and kill the man that killed his brother but that’s a no no according to the Feds he volunteers for. Uncle Sam wants his cut. There is not even any talk about taking down Sheriff J. C. Connors (Ned Beatty) for taking bribes or suspected other crimes. I’m not sure what the laws were in 1973 but the Feds being concerned solely over taxes sounds silly given that they know how corrupt the man is. They also have a strong suspicion he probably had something to do with the murder of Gator’s brother.

Gator just insinuates himself into the local moonshine running scene and does very little investigating and collecting of information. We see him take a few notes here and there but his whole focus is finding a way to stick it to the sheriff. For his part Connors barely knows Gator exists-at least as an entity working for the Feds. It isn’t until word comes his way about a possible mole that things start to heat up. 

There’s a real Dukes of Hazzard vibe to White Lightning. It’s probably just the setting. It could even be some of the stunt work since it reminds me of that classic television series. Not a cut on the movie. While it is a revenge film, courtesy of Burt Reynolds being Burt Reynolds and that Southern element there’s a level of fun to this. He gets in a few good one-liners and during the chase scenes when you see him more often than not he looks like he’s having a good time.

There’s some well done humor that does nothing to undercut the story itself. It’s based around the situation and the characters but doesn’t undermine anything or anyone. It lightens the mood and prevents things from getting too serious too soon. In any action film this IS the point/appropriate use of humor.

Sheriff Connors is less a villain and more a bureaucrat using corruption to take care of his people. He sees himself as the law and the final authority in the area. And when you cross that law or try to countermand his authority then you pay the price. He is god of Bogan County.

Nothing that happens in this movie changes the world or brings down a major criminal ring. It ends the immediate effects of the corruption and gets a kind of justice for the murder of Gator’s brother. It doesn’t change the world, but it does affect the world of the characters. And since you do get invested in these characters that has impact.

This is a movie that works because of the lead actor. Off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone from the time that had the kind of charisma or tough guy ability to carry this film. There’s nothing wrong with the story or the story idea. But there’s also nothing particularly special about it either. He just brings it all together so well. Reynolds is having fun. He’s clearly enjoying himself when he’s being bad and has the appropriate level of emotion when necessary for his character. Such as when Gator is trying to understand how he has not done anything right in his life and is still around while his brother who was trying to do something right paid the price for it.

White Lightning is a great bit of 70s action and certainly a bright spot in Burt Reynolds career. It showcases everything that made him a star in this classic bit of cinema.