Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s, and his forgotten action movie duology helped define the cinema of the decade. From his earliest appearances in westerns in the 1960s, it was clear that Reynolds had a special kind of star power. His handsome charms were offset by a genuinely affable onscreen personality, so audiences quickly fell in love with his everyman characters.

His career really exploded in the ’70s, and he starred in a series of rough-and-tumble exploitation films that captured the public’s attention. Films like Deliverance and The Longest Yard were just some of the quintessential ’70s movies that had Burt Reynolds’ name on the marquee. He found his niche in the so-called Hixploitation genre, which was picking up a lot of steam at the time.

As the title character in Smokey and the Bandit, Reynolds cemented his legacy as a legendary action movie hero. However, Reynolds’ journey in the Southern-fried action genre started much earlier, and The Bandit was merely the pinnacle of that period of his career. His successful ’70s duology is really where the journey began for Reynolds as the top name of the Hixploitation era.

Though this series made a big splash back in the day, it has slowly faded from memory over the years. Nevertheless, it’s one of the best franchises of the 1970s, and certainly an action series worth revisiting. It features Reynolds at his very best, and he shows off his affable charm, his humor, and his barefisted toughness.

The Gator McKlusky Duology Is Quintessential Hixploitation Cinema

While they may not be household names today, the duology of White Lightning and Gator are two of the best action flicks of the 1970s. The mini-franchise offers all the highlights of the hixploitation genre with its fast cars, likable outlaws, and a cast full of stellar character actors. Reynolds plays Gator McKlusky, an ex-con who uses his criminal connections to bring down corrupt kingpins.

Both films follow a similar format, though that latter of the two is a bit darker than its predecessor. There is an abundance of humor alongside the action, but the Gator McKlusky duology is still pretty gritty. Reynolds refines his heroic persona, and Gator is one of the more complex characters in his extensive filmography. Though the films are fun romps on the surface, they certainly don’t glorify crime.

The action films of the 1970s are noted for their grime and grit, and the combo of White Lightning and Gator have both in abundance. The films helped popularize the action wing of the hixploitation genre, but more importantly, they centered Burt Reynolds in the conversation. In a lot of ways, the duology is a precursor to what would come later in the decade.

White Lightning & Gator Were Precursors To Smokey And The Bandit

Besides its abundant entertainment value, the Gator McKlusky duology is also extremely important in the development of ’70s cinema. It doesn’t take too much of a leap in logic to conclude that White Lightning and Gator were precursors to Smokey and the Bandit, and that the latter would never have happened if not for the underrated franchise.

Future director Hal Needham did the stunts on White Lightning, and he would soon form a longtime partnership with Burt Reynolds. The duo would re-team to make Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, and go on to make some of the best movies of their respective careers together. Most importantly, the duology opened the door for a genre audiences didn’t know they were looking for.

The hixploitation genre predates the Gator McKlusky series, but the “redneck outlaw as hero” trope was still fresh. Burt Reynolds‘ Gator McKlusky became the archetypal protagonist of the burgeoning genre, and countless imitators followed. While Smokey and the Bandit is obviously the best of the bunch, it took the Gator McKlusky duology to make the classic ’70s action comedy possible in the first place.

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  White Lightning
  

  
  

  Release Date

  August 6, 1973
  

  Runtime

  101 minutes

  Director

  Joseph Sargent

  Writers

  William W. Norton

  Producers

  Arnold Laven, Arthur Gardner

  
  

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    Burt Reynolds

    Bobby “Gator” McKlusky

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    Ned Beatty

    Sheriff J.C. Connors

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  Gator
  

  
  

  Release Date

  August 25, 1976
  

  Runtime

  115 minutes

  Director

  Burt Reynolds

  Writers

  William W. Norton

  Producers

  Arthur Gardner

  
  

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    Burt Reynolds

    Gator McKlusky

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    Lauren Hutton

    Agatha Weedow “Aggie” Maybank

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    Dub Taylor

    Mayor T.L. Caffery