Two weeks from tonight -- meaning Wednesday, December 30th -- our friends at the Alamo Drafthouse will be showing the yahoo action chase comedy POLK COUNTY POT PLANE (1977) as part of their awesome "Weird Wednesdays" program. Anyone planning to attend should bring a pen and a pad to take notes, because it's possible there were two different cuts of this movie in circulation. The newspaper ad above is from the movie's original release in Atlanta during August of 1977. Judging from the number of theaters and neighboring towns running the film, we'd guess 25 or 30 prints were struck. Now, look at the ad below, from when the film returned to Atlanta a month later in a "complete" and "new edited version." How many theaters did it play in that time? One.
POLK COUNTY POT PLANE is also known as IN HOT PURSUIT. Those of you old enough to know what a VHS tape is might recognize the Paragon Video box below and recall fondly the day it first hit the shelves at the local rental store. No? Well, truthfully, I don't either, but I do remember getting one without the box for $1.99 at the Record Explosion that used to be on 5th Avenue near 34th Street about 15 years ago, and then having it get chewed up in my VCR a few days later when I tried to watch it. I wonder if the "complete" film is the one that made it to home video, and if the print being screened at the Alamo is the earlier cut. Lars, keep us posted!
Oh, before I forget, POLK COUNTY POT PLANE is based on a true event that happened in Polk County, Georgia in August of 1975. You can read all about it in the articles below and also here. I see nothing about prison escapes, high-speed chases, people hanging from helicopters, or cars demolishing modular homes, so I'm guessing the filmmakers embellished just a little.
