Thunder Road

Thunder Road

"Thunder Road" was a movie that was discarded by the studio after it made its commercial debut. In fact, this was a project that was made because of the interest of its star, Robert Mitchum, who was instrumental in bringing his story to the screen. The movie deserves better only because of the great performance by Robert Mitchum, one of the coolest actors of all times. The story, directed by Arthur Ripley, presents us with a situation that was deemed a problem back at the time when the movie was made, but wouldn't raise an eyelash now. The illegal production of "moonshine" by the poor farmers of rural Tennessee was persecuted vigorously because obviously it was a money making enterprise and the government wasn't getting a cut, in the way of taxes. Lucas Doolin is a Korean War veteran who comes home to find no job awaiting him. The only thing he and his family know about, as well as the other people in that area, was to make the prohibited liquor. The transportation presented a headache once the feds were involved. Luke is in love with a singer from town, Francine, while a young neighbor, a girl-next-door type, Roxanne, secretly loves him with no response from him. Into this mixture comes Carl Kogan, the man who wants to apprehend Luke as well as whoever is behind the production of the illegal liquor. Robert Mitchum makes a wonderful Luke. In fact, our sympathy is with him instead as with the lawmen trying to get him. Gene Barry is seen as Carl Kogan. Keely Smith, the singer, makes a great contribution with her Francine, and even though she only has a few scenes in the movie, she makes a mark in it. Sandran Knight is Roxanne and James Mitchum, the star's own son does a good job with Robin. The film is a must see for Mr. Mitchum in a film that is seldom shown.

Thunder Road has a kind of raw vitality that overcomes its indifferent direction and uneven performances. Mitchum is wonderful as always, and this film must have meant a lot to him -- he wrote the story and starred, as well as co-writing and singing the radio hit that came out of it. A major drive-in film -- it was more or less in continuous release from 1958 to the early 70s -- Thunder Road embodied an attitude that prevailed in the little Texas towns I grew up in, and that is still a part of America's strange outlaw subcultures. Lucas Doolin and his kin are folks being oppressed on all sides by the forces of conformity that characterize so much of America's culture in the Eisenhower era. On one side, the emotionless forces of the government, on the other, the institutionalized criminals of "the big city," two poles remarkably alike in their indifference to the traditional regional values of the Harlan County shine runners. Despite Pa Doolin's talk of changing ways to meet changing times, the independent diversity of these folks cannot exist among the increasingly limited world of modern America. Ironically, the trappings of outlaw culture most visible in this film, fast cars, jukeboxes, even the drive-in screens the film was projected onto, are a part of the forces of conformity that transformed regional lifestyles into today's homogenous pop culture. Like Doolin says in one of the film's best scenes, the ghosts of the old backwoods are out on the highways now.

From the opening scene of a 1950 Ford coupe racing along a mountain road to the closing crash of a 1957 Ford - yes that must have been the product placement company, along with the tobacco industry, but the cops get around in great 1957 Chevy Bel Airs - this movie has plenty of involving drama centred around a guy who acts as a transporter for moonshiners. The female characters and the acting are weak but handsome Robert Mitchum keeps it all together in between the action sequences. Technically it ain't too bad, but there are obvious continuity problems. One scene between the younger brother and a law enforcer starts out and ends on location but there are a couple of minutes of dialog that are obviously filmed in the studio - even in 1957 this surely could have been done a little better.

THUNDER ROAD is about the efforts of moonshiner Robert Mitchum to run carloads of illegal liquor past federal authorities AND avoid being killed by a mob that is attempting to corner the industry. Time and again, Mitchum risks his life and nearly gets himself killed...though we really never understand his motivation or his actions late in the film. That's because he and the rest of the cast just seem like caricatures--not real people. I am sure that many Southerners (particularly those in Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina) see this film and cringe. While I know this could not have been the intention, those who watch THUNDER ROAD are likely to assume that 1950s Southerners are all a bunch of hillbilly moonshiners! Much of this because these are the ONLY sort of folks you see in the film other than the Federal agents (who seemed to have more Northern or neutral accents). As for me, I wasn't the least bit offended...I just thought it all was pretty funny--which is a problem, as the film was not meant to be a comedy. That's because the plot never seems particularly real and the film just came off as perhaps well-intentioned but silly. Interestingly, the film actually is about the roots of NASCAR. Little known to many today, the race car champs of the early days of stock car racing were originally runners for moonshiners. In order to avoid being caught, they learned tricks for enhancing their cars and became amazing drivers--and explains why most of the early champs had roots in this underground business. Showing this connection and evolution would make for an interesting film. Instead, the film just never seemed particularly good and was almost like an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" instead of a serious drama. The only item of minor interest was seeing Robert Mitchum's oldest son, James--especially since he looked like the spitting image of his old man. Otherwise, a dull film with little to offer in the way of real entertainment.

Thunder Road is an outstanding film and occupies an interesting place in Mitchum's evolution as an actor. It is a compelling and believable look at the moonshine-running culture of the Appalachian Mountains, pitting moonshiners not only against Alcohol, Tax, and Firearms (ATF) agents and state authorities but, as well, against organized crime seeking to control the trade for their own ends. Mitchum is thoroughly believable in the kind of role--a rural, Scots-Irish mountaineer--that many others have tried and failed at. The film never descends into parody or sneering elitism. The moonshiners and the authorities are both shown as individuals of good will, seeking to do their duty as they see it, and devoted to values that are basically decent and trustworthy. The mobsters are not cardboard cutouts or over-the-top villains, and this, somehow, adds to their menace. At the time he did this film, Mitchum was already well-established, with Night of the Hunter behind him, and, as well, his most recent film The Enemy Below, in which he played a Navy Captain confronting shrewd U-boat skipper in a battle of wits. After these kind of films, one might wonder why he would take this role--but I think it is because he saw that it offered some real-challenge, a role that forced him to play a gritty character in an unusual setting. Mitchum is shown as a man of great complexity--trying to encourage his younger brother to get involved with something other than fast cars and moonshine, recommending that he join the service and get involved with advanced aviation technology. His girlfriend, a roadhouse singer, is one of the most sympathetic heroines of the 50's late-film noir genre. The chase sequences are riveting--VERY well done by the standards of the time, and in many ways Thunder Road offers a rural companion piece to Bill Hickman and Steve McQueen's great chase sequence in Bullitt. This is a film to be savored, particularly by anyone who has driven through twisting Appalachian mountain roads at night, reflecting on the tough, decent, and hard-scrabble folk in that part of America.

I was 5 when this was made, but the first time i saw it I must have been 9 or 10 - I will never forget the electric-feeling charge that went through me that first time. When viewing the movie today, one has to keep in mind the period in which this movie was made. It looks and feels dated. Being a car nut even at that young age, I started paying close attention when i saw Lucas Doolin's 50 Ford flying around a curve with a 57 Ford carrying two G-men on its tail. Just when it looks like he's about to get caught by a bumper clamping device on the front of the 57, he activates a lever that releases the rear bumper of the 50 Ford and leaves the G-men sitting there holding nothing but a bumper. With a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, Robert Mitchum as sleepy-eyed Lucas Doolin seems utterly cool and totally unafraid of anything that stands in the way of his way of making a living, which happens to be transporting illegal liquor. Everyone in his small community of Harlan seems to either look up to him or be envious of him. The scene where Gene Barry walks up to him after a chase and boxes Doolin and the 50 Ford in is classic. Realizing he is caught, Mitchum sits in the car, shuts off the engine, lights a cigarette and leans back in the seat. Barry walks up, leans over to the window and says "I believe I have a bumper that belongs to you." Mitchum nonchalantly replies "Well, why don't you give it back? That's like stealing, ain't it?" I last saw this about 5 years ago. I would have been 46 then. It still excited me then. I guess it always will.

Decent if unremarkable drama of a moonshiner and the feds who are trying to shut him down. A real study in star power with Robert Mitchum commanding the screen with seemingly little effort. An interesting contrast can be made between him and his son James, making his screen debut here, their appearance is so similar that you would think their performances would have a hint of the same similarity. The senior Mitchum owns the screen with an easy charm and magnetism while the young Mitchum is stiff with a vacant stare. Keely Smith contributes a couple of terrific numbers sung in her unique style but she also comes across as uncomfortable and mechanical in any scene which doesn't require her to sing. A huge drive-in hit in its day, it's easy to see why since it has a very laid back, low budget feel.

Arthur Ripley directs this cult classic crime/Noir. War vet Robert Mitchum returns home to ramrod the family moonshine business. This hard headed bootlegger takes on the Feds and the Mob while burning the roads in his whiskey laden hot rods. If that is not enough, he must keep his young brother(James Mitchum)from moving up from mechanic to driver in the family business and then there is the romancing of a Memphis chanteuse(Keely Smith). Also in the cast are Gene Barry, Sandra Knight and Jacques Aubuchon. Bob Mitchum produces, and takes partial writing credit plus writes songs for this evocative glimpse of southern culture. Mitchum also oversees his younger brother's film debut. NOTE: It is said that Elvis Presley enjoyed this movie so much he memorized bad Bob's lines of the script.