Movie review: ‘Gator’

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When you consider the team of Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed on the big screen, you immediately think of the car-chase classic “Smokey and the Bandit” with legendary comedian Jackie Gleason (click here to read my review). However, Burt and Jerry did an action-crime drama called “Gator” and Reed’s character has a very dark side that you wouldn’t believe possible to be played by such a fun-lovin’ guy as Jerry. “Gator” isn’t great cinema from the 1970s, but you might want to check it out if you’re in  a retro frame of mind. Oh, yes, “Gator” was Burt’s first as a director of a film.

‘Gator’
(1976; 115 minutes; rated PG; directed by Burt Reynolds and starring Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Jack Warden and Lauren Hutton)

A ‘GATOR’ BEATS ‘BAMA’ IN GEORGIA

“Action” movies and Burt Reynolds go hand-in-hand, but he was actually a very varied performer who shouldn’t ever be stereotyped. Today, I’m looking at “Gator” from 1976, which is the sequel to action film “White Lightning” from three years earlier, and it has action, but it also delves deep into the sick soul of a criminal. A college football analogy cannot be avoided: Reynolds is “Gator,” who goes after “Bama” in Georgia.

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Reynolds reportedly turned down starring in “Gator” until the producers said they wanted him to direct. He changed his mind and was behind and in-front of the cameras. “Gator” is a basic story, but also brings into account depravity not usually associated with one of Reynolds’ action films (unless you count the Ned Beatty scene in “Deliverance”).

In “Gator,” Reynolds plays “Bobby ‘Gator’ McKlusky” and he’s just out of prison from serving a second term for moonshining. The authorities decide to rope him in to go undercover so they can nail his old friend: Jerry Reed as “Bama McCall.” Reed’s organization controls an entire town and the governor of Georgia wants to shut him down as he considers running for even higher office.

After a boat-helicopter chase supposedly in the Okefenokee Swamp (which Reed sings about in the title song but was really Banks Lake at Lakeland, Ga.), Reynolds is reeled in by a federal agent and soon is on his way and immediately hired by his old friend Reed. From there, things get dicey and a bunch of bad stuff comes down.

Reynolds turns further on his “friend” because he finds that “Bama” likes underage girls and other vices considered anathema to Burt. “Gator” wouldn’t mind crime such as moonshining, but he finds “Bama” to be a pervy sleazeball after seeing it up close. Reed does a very solid job presenting the lowlife character to the audience.

The biggest problems with “Gator” is that while there are truly exceptional scenes (such as the Reynolds-Reed talk before “Bama” turns on “Gator” or even Burt’s talk with one of “Bama’s” young girls who remains drowsy on drugs after a dalliance with Reed), there are too many stereotypes; wasted “action;” and just really bad acting at several points during the movie.

You can blame the “action” stuff in “Gator” on second-unit director Hal Needham, one of the best stuntmen-ever and who would go on to direct Reynolds in “Smokey” the following year and in the even better “Hooper” in 1978 (click here to read my review). You get boat jumping in the swamp, a helicopter, some explosions and “action” with cars. Of course, very little is critical to the storyline, but remember, a Burt movie needs action and Needham was the one to provide it.

OK, so let’s take a look at the top of the cast in “Gator” …

  • An Oscar nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner and three-time nominee (not for this one), Reynolds is basically Burt in this one. He doesn’t elevate the character of “Gator,” but he doesn’t fumble it, either. The only forced scene is at a bar where the bad guys have drugged him and before he passes out he rambles on and on. Reynolds was an accomplished actor beyond his popularity. He did drama (“Boogie Nights” about the porn industry – his Oscar nomination and one of his Globes); he did wonderful TV with “Evening Shade” (a Primetime Emmy win and one nomination); and, of course, he did action. I also enjoyed Burt’s work in the little-remembered caper film “Rough Cut” with David Niven (click here to read my review) and he was solid-to-great in both the original “The Longest Yard” and, naturally, “Deliverance.” He wasn’t always great, but usually watchable in fare that includes “The Cannonball Run” and its sequel (click here to read my review of the original … or click here to read my review of the sequel) and another football film called “Semi-Tough” with Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh (click here for my review). He was especially bad in a NASCAR-themed flick “Stroker Ace” (click here for my review). Oh, he was solid, too, in the “reboot” film of the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard” (click here for my review). Burt died at 82 of a heart attack in 2018.
  • A Grammy winner and four-time nominee for his music, Reed’s “Bama McCall” is a very nasty person with a slight veneer of “good ol’ boy.” Reed does affable really well, but when it’s time to get tough or down and dirty, he manages to switch gears with conviction and aplomb. He had a thin acting resume of only 23 credits, including “The Waterboy” with Adam Sandler, and is most famous for his work with Burt in the “Smokey and the Bandit” franchise – he even did the rotten second sequel where he starts dressing like Burt’s character in the first two films. Well, we can forgive him for that transgression. Reed died of complications from emphysema at 71 in 2008.
  • A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Jack Weston plays federal agent “Irving Greenfield” and is a New Yorker who is looked askance by all the good ol’ boys. Still, while longsuffering, Weston is smart and tough and his showdown scene with Reed is solid, although he comes out the worse in it. Weston does a good job of conveying the character’s both good and bad point. He is probably most remembered as the resort owner in “Dirty Dancing” as well as being in the original “The Thomas Crown Affair” and made his early mark in the cult classic “Wait Until Dark” with Audrey Hepburn. Weston did single episodes on TV’s “All in the Family,” “Bewitched” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” I liked him as “Pig” in the poker classic “The Cincinnati Kid” with Steve McQueen (click here to read my review) as well as in “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” with Don Knotts. He got his nomination for “The Ritz” and died at 71 of lymphoma in 1996.
  • Lauren Hutton has the misfortune to play “Aggie Maybank,” who is a TV reporter wanting “the story.” It is a throwaway character that is there just so Burt would have a love interest (and scene on the beach at night). Hutton, who was one of the world’s top fashion models before becoming an actor, is most recognized from her work in “American Gigolo” with Richard Gere from 1980. Otherwise, she didn’t stand out in Hollywood and ultimately became a talk show host.
  • “Gator” was the sixth and last acting credit for William Engesser, who plays tall bad-guy “Bones.” At 7-foot-3, Engesser drives Reed’s car with his head poking out of the sunroof (nice touch!) and is just your basic bad-ass sidekick to the villain. Engesser doesn’t do anything with “Bones,” but you’ll never forget seeing him driving with his head out the sunroof! Engesser died at 73 in 2002.
  • In addition to being Reynolds’ first directorial effort, “Gator” was the debut film for TV talk show host Mike Douglas, who plays the governor of Georgia and makes an anti-Semitic remark. He had 16 acting credits on his resume, but was best known for the TV talk show that had his name in the title. Douglas died at 86 on his birthday (Aug. 11) in 2006.

The one supporting actor I would have liked to have seen more often in the film is Burton Gilliam, who plays “Bama’s” henchman “Smiley.” Gillliam has good comedic timing and the perfect voice for this kind of film (just look at his work in “Blazing Saddles” – click here to read my review – or in the excellent TV flick “The Jericho Mile” – click here to read my review). However, filmmakers just didn’t get this character on screen enough. He was also in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” with Clint Eastwood and “Paper Moon.”

As a production effort, “Gator” looks like a basic film from the 1970s and appears to have that era’s “TV quality” about its visuals except for the action sequences on the bayou with boats and a helicopter.

Also, the film shows its age from nearly 50 years ago, as “Dixie” plays in the opening credits that shows the past state flag of Georgia with a Confederate stars-and-bars on it. Further, at a writing and directorial level, the federal agent is from New York and the governor in the film, when told Weston’s character was from New York and is named “Irving Greenfield,” he says one word: “Jew.” You probably won’t find that in films today!

You can also see that the movie poster released in France is a bit more “French” than the poster released in the U.S.: Hutton is drawn topless in the French poster!

“Gator” was the 25th ranked film at the U.S. box office in 1976 with $11 million in ticket sales, according to The Numbers website. The No. 1 film was “Rocky” with $55.9 million; No. 2 was “A Star is Born” with $37.1 million; and coming in third was “King Kong” with $36.9 million. Here are the films from 1976 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com and Wiki):

  • Reynolds was born in Lansing, Mich., but for a time claimed to have been born in Waycross, Ga. Although he is identified closely with the state of Georgia, his family moved from Michigan to Florida, where he ultimately played football for Florida State University.
  • Richard Kiel, who played hulking bad-guy “Jaws” in several “James Bond” flicks, said in his autobiography that he was supposed to be in “Gator.” Reynolds reportedly had, as a favor, made sure that there was a part written specially for him. However, the 7-foot-1 ½-inch Kiel was not available to play “Bones” and he recommend a friend: the 7-foot-3-inch Engesser.
  • Reed said the name “Bama McCall” was the name of bully he knew in grade school.
  • Reed’s birth name was Jerry Reed Hubbard, while Burt’s was Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. and Hutton’s is Mary Laurence Hutton.
  • Hutton reportedly “flashed” (showed herself) to crew members as a way to keep them alert and Reynolds asked her to stop because it was becoming a distraction.
  • Finally and directly from Wiki: Legendary actor Marlon Brando disliked Reynolds and the duo were at odds, although never having met. When Reynolds was finally introduced to Brando, “Reynolds said he told him that he was the finest actor in the world. Brando replied, ‘I wish I could say the same for you.’”

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