I Walk the Line (1970) on Netflix
In Gainesboro, Tennessee, sheriff Henry Tawes is unhappy in his marriage and bored with his life. He is drawn to Alma McCain, a teenager whose moonshining family encourages the connection.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Henry Tawes, the sheriff of Gainesboro, Tennessee, is quick to fault others for their bad behavior, yet his marriage to Ellen has gone flat. Alma McCain is the oldest daughter in a moonshining family that has just moved into the county, and she is far younger than Henry. She lets him know she is willing, and her father, Carl McCain, and her brother encourage the match because they think a sheriff's goodwill will shield their illegal whiskey business. Henry finds the family's still. He also hears that a federal revenuer has come into the county, and he orders the McCains to destroy the still at once. He is tempted to cover for Carl so that he can stay with Alma.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about I Walk the Line (1970)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- John Frankenheimer wanted Gene Hackman to play Sheriff Henry Tawes in I Walk the Line, but Columbia Pictures insisted on Gregory Peck, who was under contract to the studio.
- Johnny Cash re-recorded the title song for I Walk the Line and ended up with enough material for a soundtrack album. "Flesh and Blood" off that album became a number one country hit in 1971, and three soundtrack songs are never heard in the film.
SPOILER
In the theatrical release and on network television for decades, Carl McCain (Ralph Meeker) shot deputy Hunnicutt (Charles Durning) from a hill to protect his daughter from attack, but the scene was cut from the video release.- John Frankenheimer cast J.C. Evans, the director's own wife's grandfather, at the age of eighty-two, as the sheriff's father, but later had another actor, Will Geer, dub the whole part.
- In the drive-in scene of I Walk the Line, the movie playing is Jerry Lewis's The Big Mouth, but the posters at the theater advertise a different Jerry Lewis film, Hook, Line & Sinker.
