Hollywood Meets God's Country

During the spring and summer of 1971, God's Country was a twitter, Hollywood had come to town.

Not a lot was known about what was going on, since most of the movie was filmed in the Tallulah Gorge and on the Chattooga River, but the locals were excited a big time movie was being filmed in God's Country.

Not only was a movie being made here, but some of the locals had been chosen to take part. Not just in background roles, but these characters had speaking parts!

Word had gotten out that the cast of the movie featured some pretty major actors, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Jon Voight and a new guy Burt Reynolds.

The cast and crew was housed at a downtown hotel and star sightings became commonplace. It was an exciting time in God's Country.

During that same time, plans were in place for an annual summer gathering, the Frog Leg Supper. A tradition each year, daddy and his buddies would spend the spring and early summer gigging frogs for the feast.

Each evening daddy and his crew would load up in a paddle boat and make their way through the small lakes and ponds of the area. By the time frog gigging season was over, hundreds of pairs of legs were ready to be cooked.

The annual frog leg supper was a big deal. For folks in God's Country it was a prestigious invite. We were used to having cook-outs at our house, but the frog leg supper was the big one of the year and the summer of 1971 was about to get even more exciting.

Everything was in place, daddy and his cooker were in place, the men folk were all gathered in the garage and mama and the women were making their finishing touches to the meal inside.

As customary we gathered in a circle for the blessing and the feast began. Then it happened, Hollywood showed up for the frog leg supper!

I honestly don't remember who from the cast did show up, but I do know that one of the ones in attendance was Ronny Cox. I think Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty were there as well but can't swear to it.

As with all of our gatherings, the evening was scheduled to end with picking and singing. Doug and Tom were tuning up for their serenade, and as legend has it, Ronny Cox joined in. Evidently Cox played for so long and so hard his fingers bled.

That frog leg supper remains legendary in God's Country, it was the night Hollywood joined in with the town folks.

As the summer continued, rumors began to stir up about the movie and a buzz started that it was going to be a big time feature film. A movie based on a group of men from Atlanta who were on a rafting trip down the river. The premise didn't sound very exciting but the buzz was it was going to put that Burt Reynolds guy on the map.

When it debuted in 1972, the movie Deliverance became a blockbuster. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and won a variety of other awards. Indeed, after Deliverance, the Burt Reynolds guy became pretty well known.

I wasn't old enough to see the movie when it came out, but the finished product did make an impression on those who saw it.

I don't know how I feel about Deliverance today. It was a great movie, but many, including myself have a problem with the depiction of the people of God's Country. For those who don't know us, you may think we are all toothless inbreds or backwoods rapist, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Deliverance was Hollywood make believe and as with many movies people can't separate fact from fiction, but the people of God's Country are kind, loving souls who had a brush with Hollywood, some brushes were good, and others not so much.