Thunder Road (1958 film): Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 03:27, 31 December 2023 edit98.117.34.9 (talk) →Plot: Corrected a character’s nameTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 13:05, 22 December 2024 edit undoSporkBot (talk \| contribs)Bots1,244,917 editsm Remove template per TFD outcome
(12 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown)
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{~~short~~ description\|1958 film by Arthur Ripley}}		{{Short description\|1958 film by Arthur Ripley}}
	{{more citations needed\|date = December 2019}}		{{more citations needed\|date = December 2019}}
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
Line 20:		Line 20:
	\| language = English		\| language = English
	\| budget =		\| budget =
	\|gross=$1 million<ref>{{cite magazine\|url=https://archive.org/details/variety213-1959-01/page/n46/mode/1up?q=%22top+grossers%22\|magazine=]\|title=Top Grossers of 1958\|date=7 January 1959\|page=48}} Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to ~~dsitributors~~ as opposed to theatre gross</ref>		\|gross=$1 million<ref>{{cite magazine\|url=https://archive.org/details/variety213-1959-01/page/n46/mode/1up?q=%22top+grossers%22\|magazine=]\|title=Top Grossers of 1958\|date=7 January 1959\|page=48}} Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross</ref>
	}}		}}

Line 28:		Line 28:
	Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) works in the family moonshine business, running liquor his father distills to clandestine distribution points throughout the South in his ]. However, Lucas has more problems than evading government "revenuers".		Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) works in the family moonshine business, running liquor his father distills to clandestine distribution points throughout the South in his ]. However, Lucas has more problems than evading government "revenuers".

	Both a hothead and a fatalist, he is concerned that his teen-aged younger brother Robin (James Mitchum), who is also his mechanic, will be tempted into following in his footsteps. An aggressive urban gangster, Carl Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon), is trying to gain control of the independent local moonshine producers and their distribution points. Dead shiners strewn along Thunder Road prove he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. Determined Treasury agent Troy Barrett (]) is drawn in to stop the bloodshed, and its cause.		Both a hothead and a fatalist, he is concerned that his teen-aged younger brother Robin (James Mitchum), who is also his mechanic, will be tempted into following in his footsteps. An aggressive urban gangster, Carl Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon), is trying to gain control of the independent local moonshine producers and their distribution points. Dead shiners strewn along Thunder Road prove he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. Determined Treasury agent Troy Barrett (]) is drawn in to stop the bloodshed, and its cause.

	~~Bartlett~~'s attempt to engage Lucas are thrown right back in his face. The stakes rise when an attempt by Kogan to kill Lucas results in the deaths of another moonshine driver, Jed Moultrie (]) and Treasury Agent Mike Williams (]) mistaken for him and one of ~~Bartlett~~'s men.		Barrett's attempt to engage Lucas are thrown right back in his face. The stakes rise when an attempt by Kogan to kill Lucas results in the deaths of another moonshine driver, Jed Moultrie (]), and Treasury Agent Mike Williams (]) mistaken for him and one of Barrett's men.

	Still, Lucas does not back off, a stubbornness and strike-first hostility attributed by townsfolk to a "machine-gunner's mentality" they feel he brought home from the Korean War, which pervades his every doing. Only with ] Francie Wymore (Keely Smith) can he drop his guard, as far as he is able. At the same time, he steadfastly resists the attentions of the belle of the mountain girls, innocent Roxanna Ledbetter (Sandra Knight), who has a crush on him and fears for his life.		Still, Lucas does not back off, a stubbornness and strike-first hostility attributed by townsfolk to a "machine-gunner's mentality" they feel he brought home from the Korean War, which pervades his every doing. Only with ] Francie Wymore (Keely Smith) can he drop his guard, as far as he is able. At the same time, he steadfastly resists the attentions of the belle of the mountain girls, innocent Roxanna Ledbetter (Sandra Knight), who has a crush on him and fears for his life.

	When a series of government raids destroy local moonshiners' hidden stills, Lucas's father and the others shut down production "for a spell" to let the government deal with Kogan in its own time. In spite of this, Lucas is forced by circumstances and his own code of honor to make one final run of his dad's shine.		When a series of government raids destroy local moonshiners' hidden stills, Lucas's father and the others shut down production "for a spell" to let the government deal with Kogan in its own time. In spite of this, Lucas is forced by circumstances and his own code of honor to make one final run of his dad's shine.

	Kogan's men successfully to trick Robin into agreeing to drive for them, infuriating Lucas, who sends Robin home on the bus. Barrett tries to enlist Robin's help in convincing Lucas it's Kogan his Bureau is after, not his brother, but is rebuffed. In the exchange ~~Bartlett~~ reveals Lucas never left the States in the Army, and implies he may have spent his hitch in its stockade instead, explaining his pent-up anger and seeming death wish.		Kogan's men successfully trick Robin into agreeing to drive for them, infuriating Lucas, who sends Robin home on the bus. Barrett tries to enlist Robin's help in convincing Lucas it's Kogan his Bureau is after, not his brother, but is rebuffed. In the exchange Barrett reveals Lucas never left the States in the Army and implies he may have spent his hitch in its stockade instead, explaining his pent-up anger and seeming death wish.

	After Lucas meets with Francie and forebodingly gives her a large sum of money to hold for him, he calls Kogan to let him know he is coming to kill him for trying to set up his brother. Meanwhile, Roxanna spills all she knows about Lucas' intended final moonshine run - for now, anyway, till things sort out - to agent Barrett's wife when she can't contact ~~Bartlett~~ directly. He deploys a sweeping dragnet of Bureau men and state police in an attempt to intercept Lucas before he gets caught, or killed, in Kogan's trap.		After Lucas meets with Francie and forebodingly gives her a large sum of money to hold for him, he calls Kogan to let him know he is coming to kill him for trying to set up his brother. Meanwhile, Roxanna spills all she knows about Lucas's intended final moonshine run – for now, anyway, till things sort out – to agent Barrett's wife when she can't contact Barrett directly. He deploys a sweeping dragnet of Bureau men and state police in an attempt to intercept Lucas before he gets caught, or killed, in Kogan's trap.

	Kogan sends his top henchman after Lucas just before Barrett and his officers arrive and arrest Kogan for murder. Lucas turns the tables on Kogan's driver and runs him off the road. ~~Kogen~~'s men then set spike strips to blow out Lucas's tires, which send his car careening down an embankment into an arcing electrical transformer. ~~Bartlett~~ arrives too late to help with anything.		Kogan sends his top henchman after Lucas just before Barrett and his officers arrive and arrest Kogan for murder. Lucas turns the tables on Kogan's driver and runs him off the road. Kogan's men then set spike strips to blow out Lucas's tires, which send his car careening down an embankment into an arcing electrical transformer. Barrett arrives too late to help with anything.

	As a snake of headlights winds up the lonely mountain road back home Robin and Roxanna stand alone in silence. The same cortege of mourners ~~bringing~~ their own back home as when a local boy was taken out by Kogan's men early in the conflict. As the glows draw closer Robin and Roxanne approach one-another slowly. Without a word they clasp hands and walk away together into the dark.		As a snake of headlights winds up the lonely mountain road back home, Robin and Roxanna stand alone in silence. The same cortege of mourners bring their own back home as when a local boy was taken out by Kogan's men early in the conflict. As the glows draw closer Robin and Roxanne approach one another slowly. Without a word they clasp hands and walk away together into the dark.

	==Cast==		==Cast==
Line 66:		Line 66:

	===Filming===		===Filming===
	{{more ~~refs~~\|section\|date=July 2023}}		{{more citations needed\|section\|date=July 2023}}
	In the film, Mitchum drove a souped-up black 1950 Ford two-door sedan (which was later repainted gray) with a custom tank in the back for moonshine liquor and a newer OHV Ford V8 with three two-barrel carburetors, but after it was blown up by Kogan's men, it was replaced with a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 two-door sedan.		In the film, Mitchum drove a souped-up black 1950 Ford two-door sedan (which was later repainted gray) with a custom tank in the back for moonshine liquor and a newer OHV Ford V8 with three two-barrel carburetors, but after it was blown up by Kogan's men, it was replaced with a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 two-door sedan.

	Most of the scenes were filmed in ], along ] and others at ]. Some scenes were filmed in Beech, east of ]. Scenes include Reems Creek Road, Sugar Creek Road, and the Beech Community Center. Some scenes were actual local moonshine drivers shot with a camera mounted on a ] ]. Many city scenes were filmed in ], including the explosion of Doolin's car.<ref>{{cite web\|last=Elliott \|first=Joe \|url=https://mountainx.com/movies/thunder-road-remembering-the-making-of-a-cult-classic-in-asheville/ \|title=Thunder Road: Remembering the making of a cult classic in Asheville \| Mountain Xpress \|publisher=Mountainx.com \|date=2016-05-04 \|~~accessdate~~=2022-08-15}}</ref>		Most of the scenes were filmed in ], along ] and others at ]. Some scenes were filmed in Beech, east of ]. Scenes include Reems Creek Road, Sugar Creek Road, and the Beech Community Center. Some scenes were actual local moonshine drivers shot with a camera mounted on a ] ]. Many city scenes were filmed in ], including the explosion of Doolin's car.<ref>{{cite web\|last=Elliott \|first=Joe \|url=https://mountainx.com/movies/thunder-road-remembering-the-making-of-a-cult-classic-in-asheville/ \|title=Thunder Road: Remembering the making of a cult classic in Asheville \| Mountain Xpress \|publisher=Mountainx.com \|date=2016-05-04 \|access-date=2022-08-15}}</ref>

	The stunt coordinator was ], with a stunt team of Hollywood's most accomplished stunt drivers, ], Neil Castes Sr., ], and ].		The stunt coordinator was ], with a stunt team of Hollywood's most accomplished stunt drivers, ], Neil Castes Sr., ], and ].

	===Music===		===Music===
Line 80:		Line 80:

	==In popular culture==		==In popular culture==
	] said at a 1978 concert that the name of his song "]" had been inspired by seeing a poster of the movie, but he had not seen the movie.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Thunder Road performance from Capitol Theatre, Passaic, N.J., Sept. 19, 1978\|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf61K6ZKu_4\| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628111218/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf61K6ZKu_4&gl=US&hl=en&has_verified=1\| archive-date=2011-06-28 \| url-status=dead\|work=Video posted on YouTube.com\|publisher=bruchee\|~~accessdate~~=2011-06-23}}</ref>		] said at a 1978 concert that the name of his song "]" had been inspired by seeing a poster of the movie, but he had not seen the movie.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Thunder Road performance from Capitol Theatre, Passaic, N.J., Sept. 19, 1978\|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf61K6ZKu_4\| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628111218/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf61K6ZKu_4&gl=US&hl=en&has_verified=1\| archive-date=2011-06-28 \| url-status=dead\|work=Video posted on YouTube.com\|publisher=bruchee\|access-date=2011-06-23}}</ref>

	In the episode of '']'' titled "And Coachie Makes Three", Sam and Coach watch the movie as part of a long-running tradition they have with viewing Robert Mitchum movies.		In the episode of '']'' titled "And Coachie Makes Three", Sam and Coach watch the movie as part of a long-running tradition they have with viewing Robert Mitchum movies.
Line 92:		Line 92:
	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{AFI film\|id=52771\|title=Thunder Road}}		* {{AFI film\|id=52771\|title=Thunder Road}}
	* {{~~tcmdb~~ title\|id=17809}}		* {{TCMDb title\|id=17809}}
	* {{IMDb title\|0052293\|Thunder Road}}		* {{IMDb title\|0052293\|Thunder Road}}
	* {{Amg movie\|49836\|Thunder Road}}
	*		*
	*		*

	{{The Dukes of Hazzard}}
	{{Arthur Ripley}}		{{Arthur Ripley}}

Line 117:		Line 116:
	]		]
	]		]
			]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 22 December 2024

1958 film by Arthur Ripley

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Thunder Road" 1958 film – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Thunder Road
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Arthur Ripley
Screenplay by	James Atlee Phillips Walter Wise
Story by	Robert Mitchum
Starring	Robert Mitchum Gene Barry Keely Smith James Mitchum
Cinematography	David Ettenson Alan Stensvold
Edited by	Harry Marker
Music by	Jack Marshall
Production company	DRM Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	May 10, 1958 (1958-05-10) (US)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1 million

Thunder Road is a 1958 American drama–crime film directed by Arthur Ripley and starring Robert Mitchum, who also wrote the story. The supporting cast features Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon, Keely Smith, James Mitchum, Sandra Knight, and Peter Breck. The film's plot concerns running bootleg moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee in the late 1950s. Thunder Road became a cult film and continued to play at drive-in movie theaters in some southeastern states through the 1970s and 1980s.

Plot

Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) works in the family moonshine business, running liquor his father distills to clandestine distribution points throughout the South in his hot rod. However, Lucas has more problems than evading government "revenuers".

Both a hothead and a fatalist, he is concerned that his teen-aged younger brother Robin (James Mitchum), who is also his mechanic, will be tempted into following in his footsteps. An aggressive urban gangster, Carl Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon), is trying to gain control of the independent local moonshine producers and their distribution points. Dead shiners strewn along Thunder Road prove he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. Determined Treasury agent Troy Barrett (Gene Barry) is drawn in to stop the bloodshed, and its cause.

Barrett's attempt to engage Lucas are thrown right back in his face. The stakes rise when an attempt by Kogan to kill Lucas results in the deaths of another moonshine driver, Jed Moultrie (Mitchell Ryan), and Treasury Agent Mike Williams (Dale Van Sickel) mistaken for him and one of Barrett's men.

Still, Lucas does not back off, a stubbornness and strike-first hostility attributed by townsfolk to a "machine-gunner's mentality" they feel he brought home from the Korean War, which pervades his every doing. Only with nightclub singer Francie Wymore (Keely Smith) can he drop his guard, as far as he is able. At the same time, he steadfastly resists the attentions of the belle of the mountain girls, innocent Roxanna Ledbetter (Sandra Knight), who has a crush on him and fears for his life.

When a series of government raids destroy local moonshiners' hidden stills, Lucas's father and the others shut down production "for a spell" to let the government deal with Kogan in its own time. In spite of this, Lucas is forced by circumstances and his own code of honor to make one final run of his dad's shine.

Kogan's men successfully trick Robin into agreeing to drive for them, infuriating Lucas, who sends Robin home on the bus. Barrett tries to enlist Robin's help in convincing Lucas it's Kogan his Bureau is after, not his brother, but is rebuffed. In the exchange Barrett reveals Lucas never left the States in the Army and implies he may have spent his hitch in its stockade instead, explaining his pent-up anger and seeming death wish.

After Lucas meets with Francie and forebodingly gives her a large sum of money to hold for him, he calls Kogan to let him know he is coming to kill him for trying to set up his brother. Meanwhile, Roxanna spills all she knows about Lucas's intended final moonshine run – for now, anyway, till things sort out – to agent Barrett's wife when she can't contact Barrett directly. He deploys a sweeping dragnet of Bureau men and state police in an attempt to intercept Lucas before he gets caught, or killed, in Kogan's trap.

Kogan sends his top henchman after Lucas just before Barrett and his officers arrive and arrest Kogan for murder. Lucas turns the tables on Kogan's driver and runs him off the road. Kogan's men then set spike strips to blow out Lucas's tires, which send his car careening down an embankment into an arcing electrical transformer. Barrett arrives too late to help with anything.

As a snake of headlights winds up the lonely mountain road back home, Robin and Roxanna stand alone in silence. The same cortege of mourners bring their own back home as when a local boy was taken out by Kogan's men early in the conflict. As the glows draw closer Robin and Roxanne approach one another slowly. Without a word they clasp hands and walk away together into the dark.

Cast

Robert Mitchum as Lucas Doolin
Gene Barry as Troy Barrett
Jacques Aubuchon as Carl Kogan
Keely Smith as Francie Wymore
Trevor Bardette as Vernon Doolin
Sandra Knight as Roxanna Ledbetter
James Mitchum as Robin Doolin
Peter Breck as Stacey Gouge, a rival driver
Mitchell Ryan as Jed Moultrie, a decoy driver
Dale Van Sickel as Mike Williams (uncredited)
Nicholas Mann Konrad as Robert Mitchum's stunt driver

Production

The film was a production of Mitchum's own company, DRM, but no producer was credited.

The film was based loosely on an incident in which a driver transporting moonshine was said to have crashed to his death on Kingston Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, between Bearden Hill and Morrell Road. Per Metro Pulse writer Jack Renfro, the incident occurred in 1952 and may have been witnessed by James Agee, who passed the story on to Mitchum.

Casting

The part of Lucas's younger brother, Robin, was originally written for Elvis Presley per Mitchum's request. Mitchum personally submitted the script to Elvis in Los Angeles. The singer was eager to play the role, but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, demanded Elvis be paid a ridiculous sum of money, more than the entire budget for the movie, which ended negotiations. Mitchum's elder son, James, who strongly resembled his father, got the part instead. It was his first credited film role.

Filming

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Thunder Road" 1958 film – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In the film, Mitchum drove a souped-up black 1950 Ford two-door sedan (which was later repainted gray) with a custom tank in the back for moonshine liquor and a newer OHV Ford V8 with three two-barrel carburetors, but after it was blown up by Kogan's men, it was replaced with a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 two-door sedan.

Most of the scenes were filmed in Woodfin, North Carolina, along U.S. Route 19 and others at Lake Lure. Some scenes were filmed in Beech, east of Weaverville. Scenes include Reems Creek Road, Sugar Creek Road, and the Beech Community Center. Some scenes were actual local moonshine drivers shot with a camera mounted on a pickup tailgate. Many city scenes were filmed in Asheville, North Carolina, including the explosion of Doolin's car.

The stunt coordinator was Carey Loftin, with a stunt team of Hollywood's most accomplished stunt drivers, Ray Austin, Neil Castes Sr., Robert Hoy, and Dale Van Sickel.

Music

The film's theme song, "The Whippoorwill", was sung by Keely Smith in her role as a nightclub singer, and a different studio rendition by her was released as a 45 rpm single on Capitol Records. Mitchum wrote the music with lyrics by Don Raye. The film's opening song, also co-written by Mitchum, is "The Ballad of Thunder Road", sung by Randy Sparks, a different arrangement of which was recorded by Mitchum and released as a popular 45 rpm single, also on Capitol.

Reception

A contemporary review by "Whit." of Variety said it was "Burdened with an overage of dialog and an abundance of uneventful footage", but it had "plenty of fast auto action".

In popular culture

Bruce Springsteen said at a 1978 concert that the name of his song "Thunder Road" had been inspired by seeing a poster of the movie, but he had not seen the movie.

In the episode of Cheers titled "And Coachie Makes Three", Sam and Coach watch the movie as part of a long-running tradition they have with viewing Robert Mitchum movies.

References

"Top Grossers of 1958". Variety. 7 January 1959. p. 48. Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross
^ Whit. (April 23, 1958). "Film Reviews: Thunder Road". Variety. p. 7. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
Clavin, Tom. That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and the Golden Age of Las Vegas. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, Inc., 2010. p. 143.
Elliott, Joe (2016-05-04). "Thunder Road: Remembering the making of a cult classic in Asheville | Mountain Xpress". Mountainx.com. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
"Thunder Road performance from Capitol Theatre, Passaic, N.J., Sept. 19, 1978". Video posted on YouTube.com. bruchee. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-06-23.

External links

v t e Films directed by Arthur Ripley
The Chase How to Behave How to Train a Dog I Met My Love Again The Pharmacist Prisoner of Japan Thunder Road Voice in the Wind

Categories:

Misplaced Pages