Boxcar Bertha (1972)

During the depression, a union leader and a young woman become criminals to exact revenge on the management of a railroad.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Ben L. Reitman (book), Joyce Hooper Corrington (screenplay),

Stars:

Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Hershey	...	Boxcar Bertha
David Carradine	...	Big Bill Shelly
Barry Primus	...	Rake Brown
Bernie Casey	...	Von Morton
John Carradine	...	H. Buckram Sartoris
Victor Argo	...	McIver #1
David Osterhout	...	McIver #2 (as David R. Osterhout)
Grahame Pratt	...	Emeric Pressburger (credit only)
'Chicken' Holleman	...	M. Powell (credit only)
Harry Northup	...	Harvey Hall (as Harry Northrup)
Ann Morell	...	Tillie Parr
Marianne Dole	...	Mrs. Mailler
Joe Reynolds	...	Joe Cox

Storyline

Based on "Sister of the Road," the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman, 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30's meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and they team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment and she is eventually sucked into a life of crime with him.

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Plot Keywords:

cheating | crop duster | bolshevik | arkansas | jail | 

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Taglines:

Life made her an outcast. Love made her an outlaw.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 June 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

A lázadók ökle

Filming Locations:

Camden, Arkansas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Schedule for the movie was 24 days (according to director Martin Scorsese's commentary for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore).

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Goofs

Rake is shot out the rear of the railroad president's private car, but Bertha watches it from the front of the locomotive, which should be out of sight of the car.

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Quotes

'Big' Bill Shelly: Hey, Bertha!

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Connections

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

User Reviews

Corman gangster mama movie done by Scorcese in a different mode

Early, solid film from Scorcese with Hershey as the heroine, who along with Carradine leads a pack of hoods who begin as communists and progress to bigger and bigger crimes -- something of a variation on Corman's "Machine Gun Kelly." Carradine and Hershey give good, but not outstanding, performances. The direction is somewhat showy and involves a lot of movement, typical of Scorcese's more evolved style as well. Roughly follows the mold set by previous AIP gangster mama flicks, with the step up on the violence meter each succeeding film seemed to demand.

Interesting also that this is the only Corman/AIP collaboration I can remember seeing from this period of time (72) when Corman's independent operations were becoming more successful all the time (w/ the nurse movies and stewardess epics cleaning up at the box office). I can only think that they saw it as a continuation of such a successful collaboration that it was impossible to resist getting together again one more time (though Corman claims to have been so absolutely disgusted by their treatment of his epic "Gasssssss" that he would no longer work with them after 1970). Anyone with information on how this collaboration took place will make me very grateful by forwarding this information to me.