Hicksploitation Movie Night # 2 - Dixie Dynamite 1976

   I admit I started Dixie Dynamite with pretty high hopes. Directed by exploitation guru Lee Frost (Black Gestapo. Policewomen, Love Camp 7, plus tons of others), co-written by his frequent collaborator & producer Wes Bishop and starring one on my favorite actors - Warren Oates.
   Two sisters Dixie and Patsy Eldridge, played by Jane Anne Johnstone and Kathy McHaley, go on a crime spree after their moonshiner father is killed in a fiery car crash while eluding capture from corrupt sheriff Christopher George (The Rat Patrol) and his deputy (and movie co-writer) Wes Bishop.

  The rich jerk behind everything is played to slimy, obese perfection by veteran TV charactor actor Stanley Adams.  Lee Frost and a PG rating just don't seem to go together very well. You keep waiting for exploitation elements to show up, but the whole thing plays out like a TV movie. Warren Oates plays the sisters Uncle (and a motocross racer).  Oates had a pretty amazing carrer in the 70's - alternating between stuff like this and Drum (1976) while also doing things like The Brinks Job (1978) and Two Lane Blacktop (1971). Speaking of motocross racing, an unbilled Steve McQueen plays one the motorcycle riders during the race sequence. Story is that he was bored in between movie roles and took the job for $200.
   R.G. Armstrong also shows up along with frequent Lee Frost actor and 70's drive-in heavy Phil Hoover (Race With The Devil).  Not a totally bad movie , but Frost has done much better and not as enjoyable as Moonshine County Express (see post below).