Thunder Road

Rock 'n' roll hillbilly gangster whiskey bootleggers? Hell yeah, that sounds like a great movie! Robert Mitchum is one of the all time coolest cats to ever act on the big screen, and he resolutely refused to credit the profession of acting with any importance. In short: he didn't give a shit. And Thunder Road is what happens when you give this guy - a reefer-smoking, calypso music-loving A-list superstar - the chance to make his film 'dream project'. Mitchum not only stars in this film (and ropes in his real-life brother to play his character's brother), he also co-wrote the theme song, co-wrote the screenplay and produced it. When an actor usually takes this chance to do a 'vanity' project it becomes incredibly self-important or life-suckingly 'artistic' (see John Wayne's overblown The Alamo or Johnny Depp's The Brave), but in Mitchum's case? He just wants to make a movie about souped up cars and redneck rockers. What a champ.

Mitchum plays Luke, the maverick son of a good-natured crime family that specialises in brewing illegal moonshine and burying cash in their backyard. Bootlegging is in Luke's blood, but he's out to make sure that his younger brother Robin (James Mitchum) never follows in his dangerous footsteps. Luke faces hardline g-men and a rival bootlegging outfit. It's a high stakes game that can result in your car ending up a burning wreck, and Luke and his brother come up with entertaining innovations for their wheels - such as razor blades on the front, oil slicks from the back, and the ability to dump a load of whisky before the car has even stopped.

The whole film is a Hollywood cliche, but it's overlaid with all these great hillbillyisms, so it's a bit of an odd combo. The Hays Code (which specified that crime could never be shown to pay) means that we know right from the outset that Luke (and his lifestyle) is doomed. I love how all-in Thunder Road is. There's a scene where Luke meets up with the big boss of a rival bootlegging crew, and his response to the meeting is to just slug the guy and jump out the window! This is a film full of car bombs and mountainside car chases. Mitchum's character is, predictably, a war hero - but he's also a dyed-in-the-wool whiskey runner who can't commit to a meaningful relationship with a woman because of his passion for hooning around with a boot full of illegal alcohol. How can you not love that?

DIRECTOR: Arthur Ripley
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Robert Mitchum, James Atlee Phillips and Walter Wise.
KEY ACTORS: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, James Mitchum, Keely Smith

RELATED TEXTS:
- See also Moonshine Highway, The Moonshine War and Moonrunners.
- Also see the truck driving noir They Drive By Night.