The Long Haul

I wasn't expecting much from "The Long Haul," but it's actually quite good. It stars Victor Mature, Diana Dors, Gene Anderson, Patrick Allen, and Peter Reynolds.

Mature is ex-GI Henry Miller, living in England with his British wife (Anderson). He wants to go back to America with her and their son, but she wants to wait a few months, to return to Liverpool and see her mother. Henry, she says, can get a job with her relative's trucking company.

It doesn't quite work out as hoped. The truck company is totally corrupt, and before Henry knows his, he's forced out of regular trucking and in order to make any money, doing illegal runs for the mob owner, Joe Easy (Allen).

Then Henry meets Joe's girlfriend, the gorgeous Lynn (Dors). She and Henry fall for one another. Henry is unhappy in his marriage, but he's not sure he can go through with leaving his wife and child.

This is a sad film about sad people: Henry, unhappily married, Lynn, in love with a married man and tied to a criminal, Henry's wife, who doesn't want to go to America, Joe, a frustrated mob boss.

A huge part of the film shows Henry's truck driving through the mountains on a narrow, rocky road and what follows - very dramatic and nerve-wracking.

I'm not a huge fan of Mature, but he does a very good job here. Dors, despite coming to fame due to her drop dead gorgeous looks, was a very good actress and is effective here.

Lots of truck driving scenes and cheap diners - they capture the lonely atmosphere very well.