After his release from prison, notorious ex-con and moonshine distiller Gator McKlusky moves in with his father in a cabin in the Okefenokee Swamp. His bootlegging plans are cut short, however, when a federal agent tells McKlusky that he will lose custody of his 9-year-old daughter unless he helps bring down local crime lord Bama McCall. McKlusky enlists the help of reporter Aggie Maybank and a few local eccentrics to bring down McCall's empire.
Practical Effects
Actual swamp locations, actual boats, actual humidity you can taste.
Acting
Jerry Reed as villain Bama McCall, somehow more charismatic than Burt.
Direction
Burt's first time behind the camera—ambitious, uneven, fascinating disaster.
Director
Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Gator McKlusky
Lauren Hutton
Agatha Weedow "Aggie" Maybank
Jerry Reed
Bama McCall
Dub Taylor
Mayor T.L. Caffery
Burton Gilliam
Smiley
Jack Weston
Irving Greenfield
Alice Ghostley
Emmeline Cavanaugh
Mike Douglas
The Governor
William Engesser
Bones
John Steadman
Ned McKlusky
Lori Futch
Suzie McKlusky
Stephanie Burchfield
Young Girl
Charles A. Tamburro
Helicopter Pilot
Dudley Remus
Deputy Pogie, Dunston PD
Alex Hawkins
Police Chief
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is the sequel to White Lightning (1973), which Reynolds didn't direct—he took over because he wanted creative control and a bigger paycheck.
The Okefenokee setting captures 70s anxieties about Southern poverty and environmental destruction, even as the film mostly uses it as action backdrop.
US
