re: #367 dangerman

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I love W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.

Directed by John Avildsen (later much more well known for directing Rocky, Rocky V, and the original three The Karate Kid movies), it’s Reynolds’ first movie with Jerry Reed (and also with Mel Tillis in a small role, who would later be in Cannonball Run with Reynolds) and also has Art Carney, Don Williams, and teams him up again with Ned Beatty (Deliverance) and James Hampton (The Longest Yard):

In 1957, W.W. Bright (Burt Reynolds) is an easygoing crook who robs gas stations. He meets the Dixie Dancekings, a country music band, while fleeing from a policeman. Dixie (Conny Van Dyke), their singer, gives him an alibi. He claims to be in the music business, and ends up promoting the group. Wayne (Jerry Reed), the band’s leader, does not trust him, but the others all have faith in him.

W.W. only steals from SOS gas stations, so the company’s chairman sends for Bible-thumping ex-lawman Deacon John Wesley Gore (Art Carney) to track him down. Meanwhile, W.W. and the newly outfitted band go to see Country Bull (Ned Beatty), a highly successful singer-songwriter. He is willing to write them a song for $1000.

W.W. talks the Dancekings into a bank robbery (SOS has just opened a bank branch) that does not work out quite as planned. When Gore broadcasts the description of the getaway car on a radio revival show, W.W. burns up his car. He is ready to separate from the Dancekings in order to shield them, but then he hears them rehearsing Wayne’s new song. He persuades Country Bull to listen to it; the man is so impressed, he puts them on the Grand Ole Opry. There Gore catches W.W. using an exact replica of his burnt car as bait. Gore makes him drive to the police department, but just as they arrive, Gore realizes it is now Sunday, so rather than violating the Sabbath, he lets him go.

I remember seeing this movie on a later run in the late 70s-early 80s with my parents at a long-since-gone drive-in not far from my house as a little kid; as a Nashvillian, it’s also fun to pick out the places where they filmed some of the scenes.