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Deliverance, directed by John Boorman, from a screenplay adapted by James Dickey from his own same-titled book, opens nationally. Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronnie Cox star as four Atlanta friends whose weekend getaway canoing down the (fictional) Cahulawassee river through the wilds of northern Georgia inexorably devolves into a nightmarish struggle for survival following their deadly confrontation with a couple of feral hillbillies. A harrowing, masterly constructed thriller that becomes the fifth highest grossing film of the year. Memorable for its "dueling banjos" sequence, as well as Bill McKinney's brief but chilling performance.
