I love watching movies that are filmed in my home state of Arkansas. There’s something cool about seeing places I’ve been before showing up on the big screen, and if I haven’t been there before, I can go visit. We’ve had our share of big stars show up in the Natural State. Burt Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Robert De Niro, Dennis Quaid, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, and Andy Griffith have all filmed really good movies here. Heck, Martin Scorsese directed one of his very first movies in southern Arkansas. It’s going to be fun revisiting some of my favorites and sharing them with you!
I’m kicking off #ArkansasMovies with WHITE LIGHTNING, the 1973 film from director Joseph Sargent that was filmed almost entirely within 30 minutes of my house in central Arkansas. Burt Reynolds is Gator McKlusky, a good ol’ boy who happens to find himself serving a stint in prison for “stealin’ cars, runnin’ cars, and runnin’ moonshine whiskey.” One day a cousin comes to visit him in prison and tells him that his younger brother Donny has been killed in Bogan County. Suspecting foul play, Gator first tries to escape. When that doesn’t work, he agrees to go stool pigeon and work with the federal authorities to infiltrate the world of illegal moonshining in Bogan County and provide them the names of the big money people in the area. This includes the crooked county Sheriff J.C. Connors (Ned Beatty), who Gator immediately zeroes in on as the key person responsible for his brother’s death.
In my opinion, WHITE LIGHTNING is one of the best of the good ‘ol boy, southern redneck films that were so popular in the 1970’s. One of the main reasons I like WHITE LIGHTNING so much is that while it does has some of the clowning that’s expected in these types of films, the tone gets deadly serious as McKlusky zeroes in on what happended to his brother. Reynolds is especially badass when he stops his signature laughing and goes into vengeance mode. And Ned Beatty is perfect casting as the small-town sheriff who is completely and irredeemably evil. The opening scene shows Beatty boating a couple of bound and gagged young men out into the middle of the lake, shooting a hole in the their boat, and then casually paddling away as the boat sinks. If you came up on him a little later, you’d think he was just heading in from a day of crappie fishing. For a guy that doesn’t look menacing at all on first glance, we know just how dangerous Sheriff J.C. Connors is. And so does Gator. We have a rooting interest in seeing Gator get his revenge.
The primary filming locations in WHITE LIGHTNING are practically in my backyard. My wife and I got married at the Saline County Courthouse in downtown Benton, which is featured very prominently in the film. It’s a beautiful courthouse, with a distinctive clock tower. They decorate it so beautifully for the Christmas season (see picture below). Burt also spends time at the “Benton Speedway” in the film. This is actually the old I-30 Speedway that was in operation in Little Rock for 66 years. Sadly, the Speedway held its final race on October 1, 2022, which is almost 50 years after filming completed. The rest of the locations used were also in central Arkansas in the towns of North Little Rock, Keo, Scott, Wrightsville, and Tucker. FYI, I don’t recommend poking around Tucker if you’re into film tourism. Tucker is the primary prison unit for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. If you do head that way, just don’t pick up any hitchhikers!
All in all, WHITE LIGHTNING is a movie I whole-heartedly recommend, and it’s especially meaningful to me since it’s so close to home. Billy Bob Thornton would be back in this same area in 1996 to film SLING BLADE.
Through the Shattered Lens 
First, terrific review and I love the approach. It’s such a great, fun film and when he died, I did this obituary of Burt that included the film and his TERRIFIC memoir. If you advent read it, it’s worth it for sure! https://johnrieber.com/2018/09/06/rip-burt-reynolds-from-white-lightning-to-cosmo-centerfold-americas-hottest-star-of-the-70s-has-died/
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Great obituary! I love Burt and and I did read his memoir. I’m so interested in learning about my favorite movie stars.
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I work in entertainment and ran E! in the days it was about entertainment! I created the red carpet coverage and was quote in Variety saying “we turned walking into a building into a major television event”…I have been lucky to meet so many stars over the years and he was one I really admired…wish he hasn’t bad-mouthed “Boogie Nights” but I don’t think he realized how brilliant it was…and he always called it the way he saw it. I also read Sally Fields’ memoir and she wasn’t as caustic about him as some reports suggested…
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I used to watch E all the time, John. You made it sound enjoyable for people like who just wanted to experience our favorite stars. Thank you!
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johnrieber, I did love those E! Mary Hart John Tesh days, and the constant Howard Stern was a feature (not a bug!). I also enjoyed Burt and Sally’s memoirs, and especially Burt’s honesty about his horrible financial sense. Coming away with just 90% of what he expected, from syndicating ‘Evening Shade’?!?!!
P.S. – both White Lightning and sequel Gator are on Amazon Prime now.
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You are referring to “ET” with Mary Hart and John Tesh. My Hosts were Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner. I did launch the Howard Stern Show on E! and was the Executive Producer of the first 500 episodes. Thanks for the tip on Amazon Prime that is great to know!
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This may seem odd, but in 1972 Jerry Reed had a summer replacement tv show (taking over for the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour) called “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot Hour”. So, to kids like me in sixth grade, Jerry Reed was the star of ‘White Lightning’ (1973) and Burt was just a bonus. One of Reed’s catchphrases was “Honey, Hush!” which was a more gracious way to telling someone to be still. Bradley, your writing is great and this long form suits you and your thought-process and your storytelling. Really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing it!
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I love Jerry Reed so much. The title song of “Gator” is probably the best part of the film. Heck, I love him in THE WATERBOY.
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Please forgive me, I must correct myself. Jerry Reed was in sequel ‘Gator’, not ‘White Lightning’ as Brad ably reviewed and examined in this post. Just wanted to point out that Hal Needham was the 2nd Unit Director for both movies. He was also Burt Reynolds’ best friend and roommate for eight years, as well as stunt-double and Stunt Coordinator for both movies. Needham wound up directing 19 movies, and every one of them made money. That is a pretty big deal! He had a great autobiography (no, that pun was not intentional) called “Stuntman!” Lots of great fun stories, my favorite was moving out of Burt Reynolds’ Bel Air mansion after eight years, Burt never charged or asked a penny, but Hal Needham had come up in the world thank to Burt’s generosity and wanted to thank him appropriately. So he sent him a telegram (yes!) to Burt on location, saying “I’m leaving, and to say ‘thanks’ here is $25,000.” When Burt came home, a Brinks truck had dropped off a couple of hand trucks worth of quarters and Hal and his g/f of the moment spent the day unrapping them and leaving 100,000 quarters on Burt’s bed. NNTR Brad, enjoying your work and just wanted to leave this in the appropriate post!
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