Editing Thunder Road (1958 film)

{{Short description|1958 film by Arthur Ripley}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date = December 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Thunder Road
| image          = Thunder road42.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical poster
| director       = [[Arthur Ripley]]
| screenplay     = [[James Atlee Phillips]]<br />Walter Wise
| story          = [[Robert Mitchum]]
| producer       = 
| starring       = Robert Mitchum<br />[[Gene Barry]]<br />[[Keely Smith]]<br />[[James Mitchum]]
| cinematography = David Ettenson<br />Alan Stensvold
| editing        = [[Harry Marker]]
| music          = [[Jack Marshall (composer)|Jack Marshall]]
| studio         =  DRM Productions
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{Film date|1958|5|10|US}}
| runtime        = 93 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
|gross=$1 million<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety213-1959-01/page/n46/mode/1up?q=%22top+grossers%22|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|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 1958 American [[Drama film|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 (actress)|Sandra Knight]], and [[Peter Breck]]. The film's plot concerns running [[Rum-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 theater]]s in some [[Southeastern United States|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 (actress)|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.<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===
{{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.

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.

==Reception==
A contemporary review by "Whit." of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' 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==
[[Bruce Springsteen]] said at a 1978 concert that the name of his song "[[Thunder Road (song)|Thunder Road]]" 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&amp;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 ''[[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==
* [[List of American films of 1958]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{AFI film|id=52771|title=Thunder Road}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=17809}}
* {{IMDb title|0052293|Thunder Road}}
* [http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/ballad_of_thunder_road.htm Lyrics & recording: "Ballad of Thunder Road"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150110235137/http://www.roanetourism.com/Articles/thunder_road_festival.aspx  "Thunder Road festival held yearly (April) in Rockwood, TN."]

{{Arthur Ripley}}

[[Category:1958 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1958 films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American chase films]]
[[Category:American crime drama films]]
[[Category:Films about alcoholic drinks]]
[[Category:Films about automobiles]]
[[Category:Films directed by Arthur Ripley]]
[[Category:Films scored by Jack Marshall]]
[[Category:Films set in Appalachia]]
[[Category:Films shot in North Carolina]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:1950s chase films]]
[[Category:Moonshine in popular culture]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]
[[Category:English-language action thriller films]]