Macon County Line (1974)

Synopsis
How we used to laugh when Max Baer, playing the gloriously knuckleheaded Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies used to dream of becoming a "big time Hollywood producer." Well, stop laughing: Max Baer did become a Hollywood producer, and very successful one. In Macon County Line, producer Baer doubles as star, playing the redneck sheriff of a mangy little Southern town. Baer's wife Joan Blackman has been murdered, and the sheriff decides that the killing was the work of two strangers, Alan and Jesse Vint. This is excuse enough for a film-length game of cat and mouse between sheriff and suspects. When deputy Sam Gilman learns the identity of the real murderers, things have gone too far to accommodate a happy ending. Cleaning up on the drive-in circuit, Macon County Line was followed by a sequel, Return to Macon County. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide