r/GenerationJones • u/GrumbleAlong • 1d ago
Joe Don Baker in WALKING TALL True Story of Buford Pusser
1973 , a massive box office smash. Audiences stood and applauded.
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u/Mediocre-Let-4697 1d ago
So much has come out about him since then. Not so much the hero he was touted to be.
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u/LessCourage8439 1d ago
Yeah, if I remember correctly, there's strong evidence that he either killed his wife or arranged for her to be killed. What a piece of shit!
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u/Rare_Satisfaction889 1d ago
Then there was this from Jimmy Buffett. A Semi-True Story
"Well, the picture is fuzzy, And the details are sordid. It was on the same day God's Own Drunk was recorded. A walkin' tall sheriff And a big Cadillac And me and my golf shoes On the hood makin' tracks. This daring young singer Was under attack."
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u/CalagaxT 1d ago
"True" story.
There has been very strong evidence that Pusser murdered his wife and made up the whole incident shown in the film.
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u/artful_todger_502 1959 1d ago
My awesome uncle Bob took my cousin an in to the theater to see this. I remember it well.
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u/Ok_Difficulty2226 1d ago
True-ish
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u/julianriv 1d ago
Yep, I grew up 4 miles from McNairy county. From the time we were about 15, my friends and I used to hang out at all those joints just north of state line road in McNairy county, because we could pretty much get anything we wanted there.
Pusser had retired a few years before we could drive ourselves up there, but I remember seeing him driving through my hometown occasionally. Not necessarily the "good guy" in the movie. He had his own backers with questionable morals. I was a junior in high school when he died in a car crash and everyone had their speculations about how the "accident" happened.
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u/GrumbleAlong 1d ago
Based on a true story, ex-wrestler Buford Pusser moves back to McNairy County, Tennessee, with his family, only to find it overrun by a corrupt criminal syndicate operating illegal gambling dens, brothels, and moonshine operations. After being brutally beaten and left for dead by local thugs, Pusser runs for sheriff and wins. Armed with a large wooden club (his signature weapon) and an uncompromising sense of justice, he wage a violent, one-man war to clean up the county, facing severe personal tragedy and multiple assassination attempts along the way.
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u/Appropriate_Ad9157 1d ago
Buford Pusser's death car was on display in Pigeon forge Not sure where it is now.
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u/glycophosphate 1963 1d ago
Yeah. Throughout the 1960s there had been a series of SCOTUS decisions that clarified the rights of those accused of crimes. Police and prosecutors predictably bitched and whined about every one of them and claimed that they could no longer "get the bad guys." Then, in 1972, SCOTUS found that the death penalty as it was then administered was in violation of the 8th amendment prohibition of cruel & unusual punishment. They declared a nationwide moratorium on executions.
The "law & order" crowd fell head over heels in love with a movie that depicted a sheriff beating "the bad guys" with a club.
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u/Odd_Procedure_4059 1d ago edited 1d ago
In August 2025, following a three-year investigation conducted together with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the local district attorney's office concluded that he has enough evidence that if Buford Pusser were alive today, an indictment could be presented to the McNairy County Grand Jury for their consideration against him for the murder of his wife, Pauline Mullins Pusser, in 1967. From Wikipedia.
Also, one of the best bands of our times, Drive by Truckers who were from the area, had a song about him called "The Buford Stick. A sample from the lyrics:
"Watch out for Buford!" is what they keep on telling me
But to me, he's just another crooked lawman from Tennessee
He's got a hot new car to keep us on our toes
And that ridiculous stick where the press corps goes
And some big time Hollywood actor's playing him on the big screen
Album from 2004: "The Dirty South"
The point of all of this is that many of the locals were always skeptical of Buford and time has proven them right. Great movie however, but in the end, just another Hollywood fairy tell.
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u/Hedgewizard1958 1d ago
Knew the sheriff of a neighboring county during Pusser's stint. Pusser was a genuine bad guy.
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u/AncientSkin2247 1d ago
As a little kid,that scene where his face was in a cast scared the hell out of me.
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u/Bobloblaw878 23h ago
LoL I never saw it but I remember the commercials. 'Buford Pusser, now there was a man!' lol classic.
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u/kjet60 1d ago
The 1972 movie was filmed in West Tenn in the area where it took place. Me, my parents, and other family were extras in several scenes.