‘Hillbilly’ Looks Back--on Films, That Is

Though he’s best known to TV fans around the world as the dumber-than-a-stump Jethro Bodine on the classic 1962-71 sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies,” Max Baer Jr. went on to become a filmmaker.

Typecast as Jethro after “Hillbillies” went off the air, the son of former heavyweight boxing champ Max Baer wrote, produced and starred in the low-budget 1974 film “Macon County Line,” a bloody thriller about a police pursuit that made more than $35 million at the box office. Baer also produced and directed “The McCullochs” (1975), “Ode to Billy Joe” (1976) and “Hometown USA” (1979).

Anchor Bay has just released the “Max Baer Collection” on video and DVD, which features restored versions of “Macon County Line,” “The McCullochs” and “Hometown USA” ($15 each on video; $25 on DVD). And last month, Nick at Nite began showing reruns of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Baer, 62, lives in Reno and is trying to build a lavish casino and hotel there--to be called Jethro’s.

Question: Are you thrilled that Anchor Bay has resurrected these three films?

Answer: Any time somebody takes something you have done and in some way gets it to the public, it means a lot to me. I spent years of my life doing that and I enjoyed it. The fact that they are old films now--well, that doesn’t mean anything.

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Q: But “Macon County Line” doesn’t seem dated, does it?

A: It is not a dated picture. Is “Citizen Kane” dated?

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Q: I had no idea “Macon County Line” cleaned up at the box office.

A: It made a fortune. I had no idea it would be a big success. I didn’t have a clue. As a matter of fact, nobody has a clue [as to what will be a success]. If they do, they are fools. Look at [Steven] Spielberg. He had a bomb in “Always” and “1941.” [George] Lucas had a bomb in “THX [1138].” Everybody has disasters. Nobody hits a home run every time.

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Q: Why did you decide to write “Macon County Line”?

A: I was unemployable. So I figured I might as well try to do something. At that time, because of “Easy Rider,” the road pictures were doing [well], and you could make them inexpensively. If you were on the road, you didn’t need to carry a cast all the way through and you could shoot on location and use a lot of local people.

It was very hard to get money [for the movie]. I had to beg and borrow, but in the long run it paid off.

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Q: Can you tell me a little bit about “The McCullochs”?

A: I only did “The McCullochs” because I wanted to learn how to direct. I wanted to do a big-budget movie with a big cast, and after “Macon County Line” I thought I could do it. But I couldn’t. So I did the movie anyway [on a low budget]. I took on too much. I tried to write, produce, direct, act and finance it, and I couldn’t do it all. I knew I couldn’t do it, but it wasn’t going to stop me from pulling the trigger.

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Q: The last film in the collection is “Hometown USA.” I haven’t heard of that film before.

A: Nobody else has either. Some films are released but this one escaped.

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Q: Why did you stop making movies?

A: I could not afford to go ahead and make movies independently without having the distributor in bed with me. I tried to do a picture after “Ode to Billy Joe” called “Women’s Army Corps Off Limits.” Warner Bros. wouldn’t do it. I gave it to Columbia and Columbia wouldn’t do it. Then Warner Bros. did “Private Benjamin” and Columbia did “Stripes.” I just didn’t have a star in it and I wasn’t a big enough director, so they just took a lot of my ideas and made those movies. But how do you win? You can’t win.

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Q: Do you miss making movies?

A: I miss the camaraderie and the fun on the set. I don’t miss anything else.

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Q: You couldn’t get work after “Beverly Hillbillies” because you were typecast as Jethro. But over the decades, have your embraced your inner Jethro?

A: I was born Max Baer and I’m going to die Jethro Bodine. That’s a fact.

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Q: What’s going on with your casino?

A: We’re trying to get it open in Reno but I don’t know if we will or not. Until the people who own the mall [next door] are willing to spend $25 [million] to $30 million to revamp the mall, my investment bankers are not going to go out and try to raise $175 million to build a beautiful hotel and casino attached to a toilet.

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Q: “The Beverly Hillbillies” is now on Nick at Nite. Are you surprised the series is going strong 38 years after its premiere?

A: Nothing has surprised me since Eve ate the apple.