MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 100 titles—from the ’20s through the ’80s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
Deliverance (1972, 109 minutes)
What was planned as a leisurely weekend voyage by canoe down a majestic waterway carved into the Georgia outback turns into a desperate struggle for survival. Four city dwellers are intent on seeing the pristine Cahulawassee River before it’s ruined by the construction of a dam downstream to create hydro-electric power. “You wanna talk about the vanishing wilderness?” says Lewis. “This is just about the last, wild, untamed, unpolluted, un-fucked-up river in the South. They’re drownin’ this river. It’s just gonna be a big, dead lake.”
Ed (Jon Voight) has convinced Lewis (Burt Reynolds), an experienced bow-hunter, to lead a group that also includes wilderness neophytes Bobby (Ned Beatty) and Drew (Ronny Cox). The foursome has traveled deep into hillbilly country to hire someone to drive their vehicles, a land rover and a station wagon, to the end of their journey. “I’ll have you back in Atlanta by Sunday afternoon, in time to watch the football game,” says Lewis.
“We may just be at the end of the line,” says Bobby smugly as he kicks at a pile of junk in front of a rustic home that doubles as a filling station. “Hey, not so loud. Let’s not upset these people,” warns Ed, as Lewis leans on the horn to roust somebody. “Hey, mister, I love your hat,” smirks Bobby at the old geezer pumping gas who’s pulled the brim of his battered stetson down around his face. “You don’t know nothin’,” says the old-timer.
With vague directions, Lewis finds the log cabin of the Griner brothers. “Can you and your brother drive two cars down to Aintry for us?” asks Lewis. “Fer what?” replies the surly Griner. “Me and my buddies are takin’ a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee,” explains Lewis. “A canoe trip! What the hell you wanna fuck around with that river for?” “Because it’s there,” answers Lewis pompously. “It’s there all right,” says Griner. “You get in there and can’t get out, you gonna wish it wasn’t.”
The Griner boys agree to drive the two cars for forty bucks and hop into their rusted-out tow-truck. Lewis cuts them off in the land rover, determined to find the river on his own. “You don’t think we oughta let them show us where the river is?” asks Ed. “If I thought that, I’d let them go first,” says Lewis, who pulls into a dead-end and has to back up. “Where you goin,’ city boy?” says one Griner. “It ain’t nothin but the biggest fuckin’ river in the state!” carps the other.
Sensing the river over the engine’s racket, Lewis slams on the brakes and climbs cat-like over a fallen tree trunk. “This is it,” he says, pulling back a branch to reveal the sleepy grandeur of the Cahulawassee. It will not remain peaceful for long.
