''Moonrunners'' is a 1975
action comedy
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...
film starring
James Mitchum
James Mitchum (born May 8, 1941) is an American actor.
Mitchum was born in Los Angeles, California, the elder son of actor Robert Mitchum (whom he closely resembles) and his wife, Dorothy Spence. His brother is actor Christopher Mitchum, and he i ...
, about a
Southern family who
runs bootleg liquor. It was reworked four years later into the popular long-running television series ''
The Dukes of Hazzard
''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...
'', and the two productions share some similarities. Mitchum had co-starred with his father,
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
, in the similar
drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
favorite ''
Thunder Road'' 18 years earlier, which also focused upon
moonshine
Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...
-running bootleggers using fast cars to elude federal agents. ''Moonrunners'', a
B movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
, was filmed in 1973 and awaited release for over a year. Its soundtrack reflects the
outlaw music boom of the 1970s during which the film was released.
The film was written and directed by
Gy Waldron
Gyneth Markley "Gy" Waldron (born August 5, 1932) is an American screenwriter and director best known as the writer/director of the movie '' Moonrunners'', and creator of the television series, ''The Dukes of Hazzard''.
Life and career
Born in ...
and is based on the life and stories of ex-moonshiner
Jerry Rushing
Jerry Elijah Rushing (September 1, 1937 – July 23, 2017) was an American best known for his years as a bootlegger or "moonrunner" ( moonshine runner, "running" being a form of smuggling).
Rushing was born into a family business making illega ...
, who has a small role in the movie as a heavy at the
Boar's Nest The Boar's Nest is a fictional local restaurant and tavern appearing in the television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' and its various spinoff films and other productions, and the movie ''Moonrunners''.
It is the oldest establishment in Hazzard Cou ...
bar. It is listed in the book ''The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time''.
Plot
The story is narrated by the Balladeer (
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
), who introduces and comments on the story of cousins, Grady and Bobby Lee Hagg, who run bootleg liquor for their uncle Jesse Hagg of Shiloh County.
Uncle Jesse is a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
who knows the Bible better than the local preacher. He has been a widower since Aunt Libby died 10 years ago. He still makes liquor, according to his "granddaddy's granddaddy's" recipe, in
still
A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...
s named Molly and Beulah. Every drop is aged two years, and bottled in glass (never plastic). The Haggs have been making their recipe since before the Revolutionary War, and Jesse only sells to a friend in nearby Florence to ensure that his liquor is never blended with any other.
Bobby Lee (also called "Lee") is a smart-mouthed schemer, named after Confederate General
Robert E. Lee. In the opening, Bobby Lee is placed in the Pikkens County jail for a bar fight at the Boar's Nest. On his way home, he helps Beth Ann Eubanks, who is on the run from family trouble in Mississippi. Uncle Jesse lodges her at his home, and Lee courts her.
Grady is a laconic "Romeo" who drives their 1955 Chevrolet
stock car
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
(#54, named ''
Traveller'' after General Lee's horse). Grady is briefly mentioned as probably having a number of children around Shiloh and Tennessee (in the pilot episode of ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', "One Armed Bandits", Bo half-jokes that half of the children in the local orphanage could be his cousin Luke's, although this and similar concepts were quickly dropped as the series found its more
family-friendly
A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
tone).
The cousins take Beth to the next race at the local track. The other stock-car drivers include "good ol' boy" Zeebo, and Zeebo's lackey
Cooter Pettigrew. Zeebo (driving #31) and Cooter (driving #28) team up to beat Grady in the race, leading to a moonlit bootlegger road race between Bobby Lee and Zeebo.
The
county boss is Jake Rainey, a friend of Jesse's from the old days, when they both bootlegged for Jesse's father in 1934, and owner of the local bar and brothel. Jake has control of all the other moonshine in the county, and sells it to the New York syndicate (
mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
). He needs Jesse's supply to fill an order, but Jesse will not sell to Jake, since he would mix it with lesser-quality liquor.
To get at Jesse's supply, Jake uses Sheriff Rosco Coltrane to harass the cousins. At the same time, he uses Zeebo and Reba (Jake's wife who is having an affair with Grady) to goad the boys into a trap. During these events, Uncle Jesse calls Jake "hog" (effectively making Jake "Boss Hogg") as a put-down. Uncle Jesse dies after attempting to make a moonshine run. The cousins, who are on
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
and cannot own guns, use a bow with explosive arrows to put Jake Rainey's moonshining factory out of business.
Cast
*
James Mitchum
James Mitchum (born May 8, 1941) is an American actor.
Mitchum was born in Los Angeles, California, the elder son of actor Robert Mitchum (whom he closely resembles) and his wife, Dorothy Spence. His brother is actor Christopher Mitchum, and he i ...
as
Grady Hagg
*
Kiel Martin
Kiel Urban Mueller (July 26, 1944 – December 28, 1990), known professionally as Kiel Martin, was an American actor best known for his role as Detective John "J.D." La Rue on the 1980s television drama ''Hill Street Blues.''
Early years
Martin ...
as
Bobby Lee Hagg
*
Arthur Hunnicutt
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...
as
Uncle Jesse Hagg
*
Chris Forbes as
Beth Ann Eubanks
*
George Ellis as
Jake Rainey
*
Pete Munro
Peter Daniel Munro (born June 14, 1975) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played with the Toronto Blue Jays (–) and Houston Astros (–). He batted and threw right-handed.
Career
After being selected by the Boston Re ...
as Zeebo
*
Joan Blackman
Joan May Blackman (born May 17, 1938, in San Francisco, California) is an American actress.
Film
Blackman appeared in her first motion picture, ''Good Day for a Hanging'', in 1959. She had a significant role in two Elvis Presley films. She play ...
as Reba Rainey
*
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
as the Balladeer
*
Spanky McFarlane
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane (born June 19, 1942) is an American singer best known for fronting the vocal group Spanky and Our Gang in the late 1960s. She was nicknamed "The Queen of Sunshine Pop".
Early years
In 1959, McFarlane arrived in Chicago f ...
as Precious, Jake's bartender
*
Joey Giordello as a Syndicate man
*
Happy Humphrey
William Joseph Cobb (July 16, 1926 – March 14, 1989), best known by his ring and screen names of Happy Humphrey, Happy Farmer Humphrey, and "Squasher" Humphrey, was an American professional wrestler, known as the heaviest professional wrestler ...
as Tiny, a Syndicate man
*
Bill Gribble as
Cooter Pettigrew
*
Bruce Atkins as
Sheriff Rosco Coltrane
*
Ben Jones as Agent Fred from Chicago
Production
''Moonrunners'' was filmed during the fall of 1973 in
Williamson and
Haralson, Georgia
Haralson is a town in Coweta and Meriwether counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 172 at the 2020 census. It is noted for being one of the filming locations for both ''The Walking Dead'' and ''Lawless''.
History
The first ...
. Many of the original filming locations have changed significantly since the film was produced. A comprehensive photo journal of filming locations as they exist now is part of the Hazzard County Car Club's website.
Legacy
Several names, places, and situations from the film were used in ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', with little or no alteration.
Waylon Jennings is the Balladeer, and the Boar's Nest is a tavern in both. Although toned down for the TV series, the relationship between cousins
Bo and
Luke Duke
Lucas K. "Luke" Duke is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' which ran from 1979 to 1985. Luke was played by Tom Wopat.
Luke and his younger cousin Bo Duke live in an unincorporated area of the fictio ...
is similar to that of Bobby Lee and Grady in ''Moonrunners''.
Uncle Jesse is the family patriarch. In both, he is a
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
ed, bearded moonshiner with strong religious beliefs, raising his nephews. They dress similarly, in
overalls
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
and a shirt. The film and series feature a corrupt county boss (Jake Rainey and
Boss Hogg
Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg, known as Boss Hogg, is a fictional character featured in the American television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. He was the commissioner of Hazzard County, and the county's political boss. Boss Hogg almost always wo ...
) who ran moonshine with Uncle Jesse, owns many local businesses, and bribes local law enforcement. Their opposing views and Jake's dishonesty make the Haggses and Rainey adversaries, as the Dukes and Boss Hogg were in the series.
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane Rosco Purvis Coltrane is a fictional sheriff character who appeared in the 1975 film '' Moonrunners'', which inspired the creation of the American TV series '' The Dukes of Hazzard'' (and related spin-off films).
In ''Moonrunners'', he was played b ...
is a once-honest officer who turned to corruption with the county boss after he was cheated out of his pension. This theme carried over to the end of the first season of the series. Much of the Balladeer's dialogue introducing Rosco in ''Moonrunners'' is similar to that in Rosco's first scene in the first episode of ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. In the film and series, the boys have a talented mechanic friend. On probation for running moonshine, they use hunting bows tipped with
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
since they are forbidden to use firearms.
Other names or roles were altered, while retaining recognizable connections.
In the film, Uncle Jesse and the boys have the surname Hagg; in the series, their antagonist's surname is
Hogg. In ''Moonrunners'', Beth Ann is an honest,
naïve young woman in trouble who is taken in by the Haggs; the character resembles
Daisy Duke
Daisy Duke is a fictional character, played by Catherine Bach, from the American television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. She is the cousin of Bo and Luke, the main protagonists of the show, and the three live on a farm on the outskirts of ...
, a member of the family. The Haggs' stock car is named ''
Traveller'' after General Lee's horse, and the Dukes' stock car is named ''
The General Lee
''The General Lee'' (sometimes referred to as simply "the General") is an orange 1969 Dodge Charger driven in the television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' by the characters the Duke boys, Bo and Luke, along with cousins Coy and Vance (i ...
''. Jake Rainey is said to have organized-crime connections, and in early episodes of the TV series, Boss Hogg attempts to ally with a syndicate. Uncle Jesse's
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
in the film is named Beauregard, a name which would be given to Bo (Beauregard) Duke in the series.
These actors appeared in both ''Moonrunners'' and ''The Dukes of Hazzard'':
*
Ben Jones as Fred (a revenue agent) in the film and the Dukes' best friend,
Cooter Davenport
''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...
, in the series
* C. Pete Munro as Zeebo in the film and Willie in the season-two episode, "Jude Emery"
* Bill Gribble as Cooter in the film and Carson in the second episode, "Daisy's Song"
*
Jerry Rushing
Jerry Elijah Rushing (September 1, 1937 – July 23, 2017) was an American best known for his years as a bootlegger or "moonrunner" ( moonshine runner, "running" being a form of smuggling).
Rushing was born into a family business making illega ...
as Jake Rainey's bodyguard in the film and crooked used-car salesman Ace Parker in the fourth episode, "Repo Men"
See also
*
List of American films of 1975
A list of American films released in 1975.
'' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The highest-grossing film of 1975 was ''Jaws''.
__TOC__
A–B
C–G
H–M
N–S
T–Z
See also
* 1975 in the Uni ...
References
*
Further reading
#
A "Moonrunner's" Tale: From Grit to Gold: How "The Dukes" was Born'
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{The Dukes of Hazzard
1975 films
1970s action comedy films
American action comedy films
American auto racing films
American crime comedy films
Films about automobiles
Films adapted into television shows
Films set in Appalachia
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
The Dukes of Hazzard films
United Artists films
American chase films
American adventure films
1975 comedy films
Moonshine in popular culture
1970s English-language films
1970s American films