Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 8, 2018

Richard Compton's fourth feature Macon County Line was one of 1974's sleepers and a surprise big hit for American International Pictures. Writing in The Kansas City Times in late July '74, critic Dennis Stack accurately predicted that "boxoffice propects are encouraging." Made for a quarter of a million dollars, the picture apparently built on strong word-of-mouth, grossing $30 million in the US. It was so popular in its inaugural theatrical run that cinemas in the big cities which initially passed on it screened it for critics as the film played in larger theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The project was a labor of love for Max Baer Jr. (son of the heavyweight prizefighter) who co-wrote the script, produced, and starred in Macon County Line essentially because he couldn't find employment. Baer had been typecast after playing Jethro Bodine on TV's Beverly Hillbillies and couldn't find roles that stretched his acting abilities. According to Bob Thomas of the AP, Baer showed the completed film to Howard Hawks (his golfing pal) who showered it with "lavish praise" and helped attract interest in potential distributors. (Baer also stimulated funding channels through other golf buddies.)

Baer's typecasting changed in 1974 with his iconic role as bigoted Sheriff Deputy Reed Morgan. Macon County Line is set twenty years earlier in the backwoods of the Deep South. (Compton shot the film in Baer's hometown of Sacramento because it was cheaper and the actor had friends who could lend him things like a boat, for example.) Reed is on his way to a military academy where his ten-year-old-son Luke (Leif Garrett) is training as a cadet. Along a stop at Hamp's (Geoffrey Lewis, Julliette's father) filling station and garage, Reed encounters two brothers, Wayne and Chris Dixon (Jesse and Alan Vint, brothers in real life) who are having their cherry '52 Chrysler serviced. Wayne and Chris are drifters from Chicago trying to score with women before reporting for training at the next Army base. Reed assertively tells them they best get out of town along with the hitchhiker they picked up from Dallas, the bargirl Jenny Scott (Cheryl Waters). The brothers Dixon aren't in any hurry to hasten their military service induction so they stick around. Intersecting with Reed's encounter with the Dixons are two vagrant hoodlums who will pay a visit to Reed's home and his wife, Carol Morgan (Joan Blackman).

Deputy Reed Morgan wants no troublemakers coming into his town.

When Macon County Line played in theaters, reviewers either loved or loathed it. Jery Tilllotson of The Montgomery Advertiser warned his readers that if they cross over the Macon County Line they will "enter a garbage dump of amateur film-making." Bernard Drew proclaimed that Macon County Line "may not be the worst picture of the year but it will do as a semi-finalist." Jim Hopwood of The Decatur Daily Review blamed the editing for the film's supposed downfall: "Compton either failed to shoot enough film to cover the ends of scenes or editor Tina Hirsch is a butcher: many shots don't match in cuts and most of the cuts occur just when a scene seems about to develop into something interesting." (This is very ironic given that the editing was hugely effective in generating the film's jolts and shocks.) Several other critics praised the film, none more so than Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times who deemed it "one of the most uncompromising and terrifying portraits of Americana ever committed to film…outstanding in its every aspect."

The cutting, framing, and camera movement is very reminiscent of Peckinpah's films of the period. For instance, Reed exchanges ominous glances from behind a window at Lon (Timothy Scott) and Elisha (James Gammon) who are outside in a car, the camera zooming into their faces including one's crooked teeth. The movie also contains some of Peckinpah's stylized violence and sexual exploitation. Macon County Line has a raunchy opening with Chris, the younger and more handsome of the brothers, having orgasmic sex with a prostitute. The main titles also have a freeze frame of one of the Dixon's rear end as he tries to flee from the motel. Compton also uses long dissolves as Chris lays on top of Jenny; the two make love in a barn's mucky bathtub.

Also, Compton and cinematographer Daniel Lacambre find the right moments at dawn and dusk to capture the actors in silhouette or bathed in light. The filmmakers make exceptional use of the frame and screen space. When Macon County Line came out, the advertising campaign and critical mass compared it to American Graffiti but as Compton rightly points out in the commentary, his film was completed before Lucas's. While Macon County Line has that drive-in feel and appeal, the production values and performances are authentic and naturalistic to the Southern outlaw tale that Baer and Compton masterfully conceived.

Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select has added Macon County Line in its boutique catalog as #39 in the sublabel's series. Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, the forty-four-year-old film looks absolutely stunning in high-definition. Shout presents the film in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which was the original framing for the film back in 1974. The main titles sport some tiny black blips but these seem to appear directly on the camera lens and Shout has not tried to smear them away. There are occasional white specs that crop up but this has to be the cleanest and most healthy looking print to appear since the movie's premiere. After Anchor Bay optioned the film for standard-definition release in 2000, Warner Bros. acquired the rights and released its own anamorphic widescreen transfer (which reportedly looked almost the same as its predecessor) on a single-layer disc. On the Warner, Paul Mavis of DVD Talk noted the "considerable grain and muddy color present on the original source material. I doubt anybody went back to those originals for this Warner release, so you're going to see noticeable grain and break-up during the really dark scenes, particularly on a big monitor." Based on my visual research of the Warner transfer, Shout's image shows remarkably improved colors, depth, and overall detail. While Shout hasn't degrained the image, their transfer lacks any video or chroma noise in the darker shots. Skin tones are tanned and weathered on the actors (see Reed's rather ruddy complexion in Screenshot #1).

Shout has encoded the feature with twelve chapter breaks.

Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout includes the film's original monaural as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Dual Mono (1722 kbps, 24-bit). As the picture begins, one will immediately notice tunes such as "Shaboom," "Jim Dandy to the Rescue," and "Keep On Keepin On" blaring on the center and front speakers. I had my Onkyo receiver set at regular listening levels and these ballads really packed a punch. There's also a stirring rendition of Bobbie Gentry's "Another Place Another Time" during the end titles. The sound track has been restored and is in excellent shape. The Midwestern and Southern drawls are authentically rendered on this track. The only criticism that I have is there is too much bass during the vocals and some of the score.

Unlike the Anchor Bay and Warner discs (the latter of which only had English closed-captions and French subtitles), Shout has included optional English SDH.

Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Richard Compton - this commentary track originally appeared on the 2000 Anchor Bay DVD. It features Compton along with a moderator. The two chat about the film's budget, shooting conditions, Max Baer, cast members, and the film's continuing relevance. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Interview with Editor Tina Hirsch (21:43, 1080p) - Hirsch talks about her early film projects, how she got involved in Macon County Line, her method of coding/logging the film for cutting, and various anecdotes about different movies/TV shows. In English, not subtitled.

• Vintage Featurette – "Macon County Line: 25 Years Down The Road" () - a pretty brief retrospective on the making of the film that Anchor Bay produced in 2000. It includes interviews with Max Baer Jr., Richard Compton, Roger Camras, Jesse Vint, and Geoffrey Lewis. In English, not subtitled.

• Gallery (1:14, upconverted to 1080) - a short slide show made up of nine black-and-white stills from the press kit, three posters, a lobby card, and a couple newspaper ads.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:58, 1080p) - American International Pictures' official theatrical trailer for Macon County Line. This has been fully restored by Shout, which presents it in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.

Macon County Line Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Macon County Line was a major revelation and discovery for me. In addition to Peckinpah's Westerns and other genre pictures, Compton's film should cater and appeal to fans of Malick's Badlands, Altman's Thieves Like Us, and Karlson's Walking Tall. Based on his work here, the then-neophyte actor Alan Vint was America's answer to Jean-Paul Belmondo in a screen persona that is understated, charismatic, and defiant. Leif Garrett is also outstanding in making the most of his limited screen time. It's quite amazing that such a low-budget film looks this good on Blu-ray. With the exception of some talent bio text screens, Shout Select has recycled the bonus features from Anchor Bay's disc and added a very good interview with editor Tina Hirsch. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.