Editing Thunder Road (1958 film) (section)

==Production==
The film was a production of Mitchum's own company, DRM, but no producer was credited.<ref name=varrev>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|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 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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=e9c_MzMA8kYC&dq=Robert+Mitchum+James+Agee+Thunder+Road&pg=PA143 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.]</ref>

===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.<ref name=varrev/>

===Filming===
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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 in North Carolina|U.S. Route 19]] and others at [[Lake Lure]]. Some scenes were filmed in Beech, east of [[Weaverville, North Carolina|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 truck|pickup]] [[Trunk (automobile)#Door|tailgate]]. Many city scenes were filmed in [[Asheville, North Carolina]], 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 &#124; Mountain Xpress |publisher=Mountainx.com |date=2016-05-04 |access-date=2022-08-15}}</ref>

The stunt coordinator was [[Carey Loftin]], with a stunt team of Hollywood's most accomplished stunt drivers, [[Ray Austin (director)|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]].<ref name=varrev/> 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.