Thunder Road (1958)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.7/10   

Director:

Arthur Ripley

Escritores:

Robert Mitchum (story)
James Atlee Phillips (screenplay) ...

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

10 mayo 1958 (USA)

Género:

Crimen | Drama | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

YOU'LL NEED SHOCK ABSORBERS! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business...

Plot Keywords:

Chase | Illegal Still | Car Chase | Treasury Agent | War Veteran

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Spectacular cult classic of the Moonshine Wars of the 40s, 50s

Reparto

Robert Mitchum	...	Lucas Doolin
Gene Barry	...	Troy Barrett, Treasury Agent
Jacques Aubuchon	...	Carl Kogan
Keely Smith	...	Francie Wymore
Trevor Bardette	...	Vernon Doolin
Sandra Knight	...	Roxanna Ledbetter
James Mitchum	...	Robin Doolin

También conocida como:

El contrabandista (Venezuela) [es]

Duración:

92 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Clasificación:

USA:Approved (PCA #18919) (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1975) | Norway:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Locaciones de Filmación:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Compañía:

D.R.M. Productions

Trivialidades:

All of the "moonrunner" cars in the film had actually been used by moonshiners in the Asheville, North Carolina, area, where the film was shot. The moonshiners sold the cars to the film company in order to buy newer and faster cars.

Errores:

Errores en Geografía: Thunder Road was filmed in and around Asheville, NC. However, some of the scenes take place in Memphis, TN. In one of the Memphis scenes, Robert Mitchum pays a visit to the mob boss (Kogan) who is trying to horn in on his family's moonshine business. Mitchum parks his car in front of a building with "Asheville Pharmacy" in clear lettering on the window.

Citas:

Vernon Doolin: [referring to Niles Penlands being ambushed] So it begins. Saw a corpse bird the other day, hadn't seen one in years, shoulda known it was an ill omen.

Conexiones de Película:

Editado en They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963) (TV)

Banda de Sonido:

Whipporwill

Spectacular cult classic of the Moonshine Wars of the 40s, 50s

It's hard to describe the visceral jolt this film gives to anyone brought up in the South or to anyone who appreciates hot rods.

Unfortunately, my dad died shortly before this film came out or it would have been his favorite film. Raised in a poor sharecropper's family in Clay County, Kentucky, during the Depression, he and his brothers drove souped-up "tankers" running moon throughout Ky, Tenn and Virginia before and after they served in combat in WW2 and Korea. From their description of those rowdy days, THUNDER ROAD is as brutally accurate as can be. Not only were the dreaded T-Men a major hazard, with their brutal tactics, but the various families that cooked the "moon" and distributed it often had blood feuds that were resurrected or exacerbated by their competition for the illegal whisky business. The longest running feud in US history, the century-long White-Baker Feud (also called the Clay County Wars) was resurrected due to the two clans' competition in tanking the moon throughout Appalachia.

Inherently a sad but realistic work, Mitchum's excellent performance and an honest, understated script give us a snapshot of an American way of life that few outside of the rural South could ever comprehend. The culture of individualism and freedom from Federal oppression is much less today, but still exists. I believe the reason this film is such a huge cult film in the South is that it reminds us that not too long ago many of our ancestors were still willing to take on the tyrant face to face. We are, alas, just a pale copy of those who went before.

Truly one of the most under-appreciated films of the 50s, due in no small part to the overwhelmingly Yankee composition of the critics' circles. They couldn't possibly understand the film. It's a Southern thing.