Thunder Road is the film that Robert Mitchum got to use all his many talents. Not only did he star in it, but he produced it and wrote the original story on which the film is based. And if that wasn't enough he wrote the songs for the film and made a hit record singing the title song. The other song, Whipporwill, he left to the considerable talents of Keely Smith who appeared in this film with him.
The story is about moonshiners, those mountain people in the Appalachians and the Ozarks who distill their own spirits and sell it at a cut rate price. Of course that doesn't sit well the government which wants it share of the sin tax. You can do just about anything else, but NEVER try to evade taxes, the most heinous of crimes as the government sees it.
Gene Barry is their man on the scene, but Barry is after bigger fish. He's after racketeer Jacques Aubuchon who wants to eliminate the independent moonshiners like Robert Mitchum and his family. Barry would like Mitchum's help, but Mitchum says a plague on both your houses.
Mitchum with his hobohemian life in his formative years which included jail time among such people learned their ways very well, knowledge put to great use in creating this story. His character is something of a rebel hero, the kind Marlon Brando or Paul Newman would normally be playing, but Mitchum aces the part. It's usually in the top 10 of anybody's list in the films of Robert Mitchum.
Making his screen debut is Bob's oldest son James Mitchum whose resemblance is so uncanny he looks more like a clone than an offspring. Of course the one that the part was offered to first was Elvis Presley. Unfortunately Mitchum made the mistake of seeing Elvis directly instead of dealing with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker would probably have nixed it in any event because he was making Elvis a star who never was less than first billed in any of his films. Still Elvis would have been perfectly cast in the role Jim Mitchum played, that was his background as well. Imagine what a different direction the King's career would have taken had he done Thunder Road.
Even without Elvis, Thunder Road is a classic film from the Fifties. Shot on a low budget on location, it reaped much profit for the Mitchum coffers. Kept old rumple eyes in some of his favorite diversions for a long time, I'm sure.
The story is about moonshiners, those mountain people in the Appalachians and the Ozarks who distill their own spirits and sell it at a cut rate price. Of course that doesn't sit well the government which wants it share of the sin tax. You can do just about anything else, but NEVER try to evade taxes, the most heinous of crimes as the government sees it.
Gene Barry is their man on the scene, but Barry is after bigger fish. He's after racketeer Jacques Aubuchon who wants to eliminate the independent moonshiners like Robert Mitchum and his family. Barry would like Mitchum's help, but Mitchum says a plague on both your houses.
Mitchum with his hobohemian life in his formative years which included jail time among such people learned their ways very well, knowledge put to great use in creating this story. His character is something of a rebel hero, the kind Marlon Brando or Paul Newman would normally be playing, but Mitchum aces the part. It's usually in the top 10 of anybody's list in the films of Robert Mitchum.
Making his screen debut is Bob's oldest son James Mitchum whose resemblance is so uncanny he looks more like a clone than an offspring. Of course the one that the part was offered to first was Elvis Presley. Unfortunately Mitchum made the mistake of seeing Elvis directly instead of dealing with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker would probably have nixed it in any event because he was making Elvis a star who never was less than first billed in any of his films. Still Elvis would have been perfectly cast in the role Jim Mitchum played, that was his background as well. Imagine what a different direction the King's career would have taken had he done Thunder Road.
Even without Elvis, Thunder Road is a classic film from the Fifties. Shot on a low budget on location, it reaped much profit for the Mitchum coffers. Kept old rumple eyes in some of his favorite diversions for a long time, I'm sure.