A Small Town In Texas (1976)

Studio: MGM
Theatrical Release: July 9th, 1976
DVD-R Release: January 3rd, 2011
Rating: R
Review by Craig Sorensen



After serving five years in prison on drug possession charges (it was ‘the pot’) Poke Jackson (Timothy Bottoms of Invaders From Mars) returns home to A Small Town In Texas.  When he gets there he finds out that his girl (and father of his child) Mary Lee (Susan George of The House Where Evil Dwells) has shacked up with the man who sent him up the river, Sheriff Duke (Bo Hopkins of White Lightning).  If that wasn’t bad enough, he happens to witness Duke assist in the assassination of a political candidate.  Now Poke is really in for it.

A Small Town In Texas is one of many films from the ‘70s dealing with rural corruption and vice.  There isn’t really anything that sets this film apart from any of the others, in my mind.  That doesn’t mean that I dislike the film because I did have a good time watching it, it’s just that it’s very run of the mill.  The filmmakers don’t deviate from that tried and true path to hillbilly success.  That’s ok though, I enjoy taking that path.  You get all the prerequisites, a corrupt sheriff and small town politician, a guy accused by the small town ‘establishment’ of a crime or crimes that he didn’t commit, plenty of local color extras and of course, a moonshiner.  Of course, director and actor Jack Starrett should have been an old hand at the genre.  He directed Race With The Devil the year before this and had a history playing bikers and small town police officers in other films.  He doesn’t show a lot of flair in his direction but he gets the job done and turns in an entertaining redneck action picture (two other films of his that I would like to see based on title alone: Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus and Kiss My Grits).

I wasn’t too sure about Timothy Bottoms in the lead at first.  He just seemed uncomfortable and out of character in the opening.  He did grow on me through the course of the film and by the end I was on board.  Bottoms plays the young man with no respect for authority well.  Susan George is an actress that can go either way, depending on the script and direction.  She does well here, although sometimes it seems like her character is little more than a plot point.  Like Susan George, Bo Hopkins is an actor that can go either way.  Just watch him in Tentacles if you want to see Hopkins at his worst.  I don’t think I’ve seen a actor seem more obviously bored in a film.  Thankfully it seems like Hopkins is having a good time playing the villain in this.  You can tell he’s having fun beating people up and smashing cars.  The cast is rounded out with a string of great ‘70s character actors.  You’ve got Art Hindle playing Poke’s friend Boogie, George ‘Buck‘ Flower as Bull Parker, Hank Rolike as junk dealer Cleotus, and of course, Jack Starrett himself.  Really, any ‘70s rural crime movie is only going to be as good as it’s cast of character actors and A Small Town In Texas has you covered.

[caption id="attachment_3713" align="aligncenter" width="544" caption="Look at this fucking hairdo!"][/caption]

MGM’s new Limited Collector’s Edition DVD-R probably looks about as good as a cheap AIP film from the 1970’s is going to look.  Things seemed really grainy during the opening.  It’s a night scene though so I guess that’s not too out of the ordinary.  Anyway, I’d rather have something look too grainy than have all the film texture filtered out.  That’s my personal preference though.  So, the films a little on the grainy side during the darker scenes.  It only bothered me during the beginning however.  Colors looked fine to me.  It looked like a cheap 70’s film.  It is in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 so that’s nice.  There are no extras on the disc at all.  I wish there was a trailer at least.  AIP trailers are usually fun.