Gator (1976)

Agents force a former con man to help them nab a corrupt politician.

Director:

Burt Reynolds

Writer:

William W. Norton

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, Lauren Hutton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	Gator McKlusky
Jack Weston	...	Irving Greenfield
Lauren Hutton	...	Aggie Maybank
Jerry Reed	...	Bama McCall
Alice Ghostley	...	Emmeline Cavanaugh
Dub Taylor	...	Mayor Caffrey
Mike Douglas	...	The Governor
Burton Gilliam	...	Smiley
William Engesser	...	Bones
John Steadman	...	Ned McKlusky
Lori Futch	...	Suzie McKlusky
Stephanie Burchfield	...	Young Girl
Dudley Remus	...	Deputy Pogie, Dunston PD
Alex Hawkins	...	Police Chief
J. Don Ferguson	...	Bartender (as Don Ferguson)

Storyline

Agents force a former con man to help them nab a corrupt politician.

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Plot Keywords:

second part | theft | corruption | chase | cat | 

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Taglines:

Meet the Bayou's baddest good ol' boy.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Crime

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1976 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Gator

Filming Locations:

River Street, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levy-Gardner-Laven

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jerry Reed (who sang the theme song for Burt Reynolds hit Smokey and the Bandit (1977)) sang the title song "Gator" for this film.

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Goofs

When the police skiff crashes through the cabin, its propeller can be seen fixed in an upright position. This is to facilitate the skid back into the water. Even when it has cleared the cabin, the prop stays up.

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Quotes

Officer Talmadge: That ain't no ordinary boat he's got there, it's got some kind of damn rocket on it. Oh! Shit!

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Connections

Referenced in Archer: The Man from Jupiter (2012)

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Soundtracks

Hey, Country Boy
Written by Rusty Richards
Performed by Dinah Shore (as Miss Dinah Shore)

User Reviews

More Of the Same

Gator (1976)

** (out of 4)

Gator McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) is asked by the Federal government to help them track down and get evidence on Bama McCall (Jerry Reed), a bad man doing bad things and not paying taxes so it's the one way to bust him. The only thing is that Gator and Bama used to be good friends.

This sequel to WHITE LIGHTNING was the directing debut for Reynolds and for the most part it's a mildly entertaining movie, although there's no question that it falls well short of the entertainment value of the first. There's basically one major problem with this sequel and that's the fact that it's pretty much like every other "chase" picture that came before it. It's almost as if the writer had a checklist he went down to make sure everything you'd expect from a picture like this was here.

This film does offer up some nice performances, which certainly help the extended running time. Reynolds is pretty much playing that lovable "good ol' boy" and he was certainly a pro at that. He manages to make the Gator character a fun one and one that you could root for. Lauren Hutton is good as the love interest and Jack Weston really stands out in his role as the agent. Jerry Reed also deserves a lot of credit for his turn as the bad guy as he actually made for a good and menacing villain. And yeah, he sings the pretty good title song as well.

The problem with GATOR is that it's pretty much a "been there, done that" type of movie as everything we're seeing is something we've seen countless times before and there's just nothing fresh here. Reynolds direction is good but there's nothing overly great about any of it. I'd also argue that there's not as much comedy that works here. With that said, there are some good stunt work and especially towards the end with a certain jump onto the beach.