Some movies were made to be watched in a hot rod at a drive-in… in the 1950s. Thunder Road (1958) is one such movie. Starring Robert Mitchum (who also produced it and wrote the story), it is the tale of Lucas Doolin, a troubled veteran of the Korean War who is working in the family moonshine business as a runner, or transporter. The family business (which is also largely the regional business) is caught between a rock and a hard place: a gangster who wants a monopoly on the illegal whiskey trade, and the Feds who want to stop him (and the moonshiners). Complications abound. His younger brother (played by his real-life eldest son, James Mitchum) wants to be a runner like him, other moonshiners think his daredevil stunts are drawing too much attention to their activities, he has two girls in two different towns (one played by Sandra Knight, and the other by jazz chanteuse Keely Smith), and his experiences in Korea continue to haunt him.
Among other things, it is a tale about the clash of cultures: the rural descendants of Irish immigrants who want to be left alone to do when their ancestors have always done without interference; a government agency charged with enforcing laws and stopping organized crime; and an enterprising gangster from the big city who will not shy from murder to consolidate his empire.
It is a situation ripe with dramatic opportunities, but those opportunities are grasped a little clumsily by the script, although well enough, I suppose, for a target audience that was more interested in the cars and the chases than the quality of the dialogue or the intricacies of plot. Essentially, it contrives to tell a folk tale, and taken as such, it does well enough, but not without the feeling that it could have been done better.
Mitchum’s acting is better than the script, which is unsurprising. There are many movies in which his presence is the sole redeeming feature. Gene Barry is plausible as Treasury Agent Troy Barrett. Sandra Knight, Keely Smith (whose real profession was as a singer, not an actress), and James Mitchum were all newcomers (it was the film debut of all three, although James Mitchum had an uncredited role as a child in a previous film), and their inexperience is noticeable at times.
To state things bluntly, where the writing is weak, the car chases and violence compensate, for it is obvious that this movie was made out of a love for action. This is not a cheaply made hack job. The directing of the action scenes and the behind-the-scenes work involved in creating the special effects demonstrate a level of ingenuity, dedication, and passion comparable to that of the mechanical prodigy who soups up the runner’s cars. Overall, it’s an impressive movie if you can mentally situate yourself in the environment where it belongs: at a drive-in theatre under the stars.
- Writing: Poor
- Directing: Fair
- Acting: Mediocre
- Cinematography: Good
- Special Effects: Great
Overall Rating: Fair