Thunder Road (1958)

A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.

Director:

Arthur Ripley

Writers:

James Atlee Phillips (screenplay), Walter Wise (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Lucas Doolin
Gene Barry	...	Troy Barrett
Jacques Aubuchon	...	Carl Kogan
Keely Smith	...	Francie Wymore
Trevor Bardette	...	Vernon Doolin
Sandra Knight	...	Roxanna Ledbetter
James Mitchum	...	Robin Doolin

Storyline

A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.

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Plot Keywords:

carsploitation | speed | white lightning | violence | usa | 

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Taglines:

More Savage Than The Tommy-Gun Massacre of the Roaring Twenties...TODAY'S BILLION-DOLLAR WHISKEY WAR! (original poster)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jack O'Diamonds

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

D.R.M. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of director Arthur Ripley.

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Goofs

During the opening chase between Doolin and the Treasury agents, the agents are driving a 1957 Chevrolet with a grill mounted emergency light. However, in one scene of the chase, the car changes to a 1957 Ford without the emergency light. (This Ford was part of another chase later in the movie.) The Chevrolet then reappears for the rest of the chase.

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Quotes

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.

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Connections

Referenced in Grease (1978)

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Soundtracks

Ballad of Thunder Road
(uncredited)
(Theme song)
Composed by Robert Mitchum
Sung by Robert Mitchum

User Reviews

Realistic, touching, movie about delivering moonshine.

This movie has believable action. You can visualize yourself racing high-powered cars down country back roads. It has love--love of a young girl for an older man, and love of a man for a woman unlike anyone he ever knew as a young man. It has hate--hate for people who pretend to care, but don't, and hate for people bereft of any kindness. It has jealousy of someone who is losing the girl he wants to another man. It shows family love of backwoods people, people who are looked down upon by most others but actually have more decency than most people. It has sadness of life when things don't turn out the way they should. Though a relatively short movie, you come away with the feeling that you knew all of these people. Don't miss it. In the movie, Robert Mitchum plays a Korean war vet who has come back home to find he must fight for his way of life. He is a backwoodsman who delivers moonshine in tankers--fast modified automobiles. His people, backwoods people, eke out a living selling it. But the U.S. government wants him stopped because no federal taxes are paid on moonshine. At the same time, organized crime, selling unlicensed liquor themselves, wants his deliveries stopped and will kill to stop him. Mitchum's character sees little difference between the government and organized crime. He must also fight his brother who also wants to become a tanker driver, a profession Mitchum sees as increasingly dangerous, and fight an envious fellow tanker driver. Mitchum had asked Elvis Presley to play his brother in the movie. Presley was interested but followed Col. Parker's advice and Presley turned the role down. Had Presley accepted, he would have been perfect for the role.