A development of cold -cold cold cases completely changes this film by Dwayne Johnson
“Walking Tall” by Phil Karlson, a Tennessee Justiculum film with Joe Don Baker, was published in 1973 for somewhat positive criticism and a rather respectable takeover at the box office. Made for around $ 500,000, the film won more than $ 40 million.
Baker played Buford Pusser, a real cop who retired from a career of professional struggle in 1964 to become the sheriff of the county of McNairy. Pusser was a local hero who became notorious for his effectiveness, repressing illegal game, sex work and moonlight. He was able to interrupt the criminal transactions of the Mafia Dixie, a crime union based in the Mississippi, as well as the Mob of the state line, which directed illegal products from Mississippi to Tennessee. The bad guys were constantly trying to murder Pusse, always without success. His wife, Pauline, was murdered during a car shootout in 1967, and the killer was only identified recently. Do not forget this detail. We will come back to this.
Pusser finally died in a car wreck in 1974, and there have been suspicions of unfair playing for a long time. He was 36 years old. Pusser had just signed a contract to play itself in a future to come from “Walking Tall”, but his death led to the hiring of Bo Svenson in his place. “Walking Tall, part 2” was released in 1975, and “Walking Tall: The Final Chapter” was released in 1977. The legend of Buford Pusser lasted decades, leading to songs, additional TV movies and a “Walking Tall” remake “in 2004. The remake with Dwayne Johnson, always credited like” The Rock “at the time. The remake was not a huge success, but he heard two suites directly to the video. “Walking Tall: The Payback” and “Walking Tall: Lone Justice” were both released in 2007, with both Kevin Sorbo.
According to a new report by the Associated Press, the identity of Pauline’s killer – thanks to a cautious dive by the Tennessee investigation office – can now be determined. New evidence in the case of 58 years suggest that Pauline’s killer … was Buford Pusser himself. Picked the “most heroes” of the Stranglers.
The real Buford Pusser may have killed his own wife
The 2004 remake of “Walking Tall”, although based on the history of Buford Pusser, is in fact advanced to the present day, and the names have all been modified. Dwayne Johnson played a character named Chris Vaughn, Jr., and he was no longer Tennessee. Now he was from a small town in the state of Washington. Chris Vaughn has always become an army to a man for the local sheriff department, this time breaking the Crystal Meth dealerships. Neal McDonough played the owner of the local casino and Kevin Durand played one of his thugs. Marvel Fame Cobie Smulders played a small role of “exotic beauty”. Because the 2004 version of “Walking Tall” has changed all the real details, we can somehow distribute it. Kevin Sorbo’s films talk about a character named Nick, so the connection becomes even more tenuous at that time.
In real life, however, Buford Pusser seems to be the author of the murder of Pauline Pusser. It seems that the local district prosecutor, working with the Tennessee investigation office, decided to reopen Pauline’s cold affair in 2022 (cold cases are regularly examined), finally hoping to apprehend the training shooter who said that Buford killed him. There was no proof of a mysterious shooter, but there was however a lot of evidence against Buford. Above all, new details have been noticed in the old crime scene photos, were given by Dr. Michael Revelle. Pusser said that he and his wife behaved on the site of a disturbance when a man in a truck stopped next to them and shot him when she was sitting in the front seat. At the time, the local cops spoke of Pusser, but it was clear that Pauline was shot dead outside the car and then put back inside.
According to the AP report, local Tennessee sheriffs have seen inconsistencies as a reason to exhume Pauline’s corpse, looking for new evidence.
Details of the case
Buford Pusser was also injured in the alleged attack, leaving a rifle injury on his face. Dr. Revelle found that injuries on the photos of the crime scene were an explosion of close hunting rifle, not a distance attack from a car as Pusser said. He was, he discovered, probably Pusser deliberately pulled his own face to give the impression that he had been attacked. All of these evidence would have been sufficient to bring in court for murder. There was also evidence that Pauline had a broken nose that healed, a sign that Pusser could have mistreated her.
Pauline’s brother Griffon Mullins was happy to see the evidence presented to her. Until 2025, Pauline’s killer was a mystery and had been depressed by the lack of closure. Finding evidence against Buford was the closure he needed. Nor did he express the surprise of the fact that Pauline could have been mistreated; It always seemed that it could have been the case. He did not say anything because, well, I suppose that we do not accuse a local sheriff of domestic violence in 1967. All the files of Pusse will ultimately be made available to the public via the University of Tennessee.
Pusser died in 1974, so the rental of “Walking Tall” films will not contribute to its legal defense fund. We can look at them without guilt, reanalyzing the way we visit our heroes and our legislators, not knowing their crimes and their sins. The end of the 1973 film, where Joe Don Baker kills his wife’s murderers, is now taking on a different meaning.
Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson is certainly impeccable, not knowing that he was, in a round way, depicting a real murderer. His next film, “The Smashing Machine” is due in theaters on October 3.
