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{{Short description|1958 film by Arthur Ripley}} | ||
| {{more citations needed|date = December 2019}} | {{more citations needed|date = December 2019}} | ||
| {{Infobox film | {{Infobox film | ||
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| | 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 |
|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> | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''''Thunder Road''''' is a |
'''''Thunder Road''''' is a 1958 American ]–] directed by ] and starring ], who also wrote the story. The supporting cast features ], ], ], ], ], and ]. The film's plot concerns running ] ] in the mountains of ], ], and ] in the late 1950s. ''Thunder Road'' became a ] and continued to play at ]s in some ] through the 1970s and 1980s. | ||
| ==Plot== | ==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 ]. 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| In a romantic subplot, Lucas becomes involved with ] Francie Wymore (Keely Smith). He is unaware one of the neighbor girls, Roxanna Ledbetter (Sandra Knight), 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 |
||
| ⚫ | 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 try to trick Robin into driving for them, but Lucas stops them and sends Robin home on the bus. After Lucas meets with Francie and gives her a large sum of money to hold for him, he calls Kogan to let him know he is coming for him for trying to set up his brother. Kogan sends his top driver 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. The agents set spike strips to blow out Lucas's tires, which cause him to crash, flipping his car into an electrical transformer, killing him. | |||
| 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. | |||
| Robin and Roxanne see Treasury agent cars coming down the road and realize that Lucas is dead. They hold hands and walk away together. | |||
| 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== | ==Cast== | ||
| Line 47: | Line 53: | ||
| * ] as Robin Doolin | * ] as Robin Doolin | ||
| * ] as Stacey Gouge, a rival driver | * ] as Stacey Gouge, a rival driver | ||
| * ] as Jed Moultrie, a decoy driver |
* ] as Jed Moultrie, a decoy driver | ||
| * ] as Mike Williams (uncredited) | |||
| * Nicholas Mann Konrad as Robert Mitchum's stunt driver | * Nicholas Mann Konrad as Robert Mitchum's stunt driver | ||
| ==Production== | ==Production== | ||
| The film was a production of Mitchum's own company, DRM, but no producer was credited.<ref name=varrev>{{cite magazine|magazine=]|date=April 23, 1958|author=Whit.|page=7|title=Film Reviews: Thunder Road|url=https://archive.org/details/variety210-1958-04/page/n268/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> | The film was a production of Mitchum's own company, DRM, but no producer was credited.<ref name=varrev>{{cite magazine|magazine=]|date=April 23, 1958|author=Whit.|page=7|title=Film Reviews: Thunder Road|url=https://archive.org/details/variety210-1958-04/page/n268/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> | ||
| ===Factual background=== | |||
| The film was based loosely on an incident in which a driver transporting moonshine was said to have crashed to his death on ] in ], between Bearden Hill and Morrell Road. Per '']'' writer Jack Renfro, the incident occurred in 1952 and may have been witnessed by ], who passed the story on to Mitchum.<ref></ref> | The film was based loosely on an incident in which a driver transporting moonshine was said to have crashed to his death on ] in ], between Bearden Hill and Morrell Road. Per '']'' writer Jack Renfro, the incident occurred in 1952 and may have been witnessed by ], who passed the story on to Mitchum.<ref></ref> | ||
| ===Casting=== | ===Casting=== | ||
| The part of Lucas's younger brother, Robin, was originally written for ] 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, ], 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, |
The part of Lucas's younger brother, Robin, was originally written for ] 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, ], 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.<ref name=varrev/> | ||
| ===Filming=== | ===Filming=== | ||
| {{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 | |
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=== | ||
| 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 ]. Mitchum wrote the music with lyrics by ].<ref name=varrev/> The film's opening song, also co-written by Mitchum, is "The Ballad of Thunder Road", sung by ], a different arrangement of which was recorded by Mitchum and released as a popular 45 rpm single, also on Capitol. | The film's theme song, "The Whippoorwill", was sung by ] in her role as a nightclub singer, and a different studio rendition by her was released as a 45 rpm single on ]. Mitchum wrote the music with lyrics by ].<ref name=varrev/> The film's opening song, also co-written by Mitchum, is "The Ballad of Thunder Road", sung by ], a different arrangement of which was recorded by Mitchum and released as a popular 45 rpm single, also on Capitol. | ||
| ==Reception== | ==Reception== | ||
| Whit. of '']'' said it was "Burdened with an overage of dialog and an abundance of uneventful footage", but it had "plenty of fast auto action".<ref name=varrev/> | A contemporary review by "Whit." of '']'' said it was "Burdened with an overage of dialog and an abundance of uneventful footage", but it had "plenty of fast auto action".<ref name=varrev/> | ||
| ==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| |
] 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 84: | Line 92: | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| * {{AFI film|id=52771|title=Thunder Road}} | * {{AFI film|id=52771|title=Thunder Road}} | ||
| * {{ |
* {{TCMDb title|id=17809}} | ||
| * {{IMDb title|0052293|Thunder Road}} | * {{IMDb title|0052293|Thunder Road}} | ||
| * {{Amg movie|49836|Thunder Road}} | |||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
| {{Arthur Ripley}} | {{Arthur Ripley}} | ||
| Line 108: | 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 |
|
| 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.
See also
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
- Thunder Road at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Thunder Road at the TCM Movie Database
- Thunder Road at IMDb
- Lyrics & recording: "Ballad of Thunder Road"
- "Thunder Road festival held yearly (April) in Rockwood, TN."
| Films directed by Arthur Ripley | |
|---|---|
- 1958 films
- 1958 crime drama films
- American black-and-white films
- American chase films
- American crime drama films
- Films about alcoholic drinks
- Films about automobiles
- Films directed by Arthur Ripley
- Films scored by Jack Marshall
- Films set in Appalachia
- Films shot in North Carolina
- United Artists films
- 1950s chase films
- Moonshine in popular culture
- 1950s English-language films
- 1950s American films
- English-language crime drama films
- English-language action thriller films