Review of Thunder Road (1958) by Allan C — 06 Oct 2017

Although not Robert Mitchum's best film (that would be the brilliant "Night of the Hunter" or "Out of the Past"), but it's one of my favorites of his films. Mitchum plays a moonshine runner (think a young Boss Hogg and Uncle Jesse) caught in the middle of moonshine war with the mob and some hard-nosed feds.

The film was co-written and produced by Mitchum, and is rumored to have also directed much of the film. He also sang the film's theme song! The film had a chance to be even cooler with the part of Mitchum's kid brother being written for Elivis, who reportedly wanted to appear in the film, but Colonel Tom Parker demanded a huge salary that exceeded the entire budget of the small production.

If you have to ding this very likable film, the story is a pretty corny one of Mitchum trying to keep his kid brother (played by his dead ringer real-life son instead of Elvis) while fending off Federal agents, rival moonshiners, and romancing nightclub singer Keely Smith.

Still, Bob Mitchum running 'shine is pretty hard to resist, especially when you have some amazing stunt work from legendary stuntman Carey Loftin, the guy behind the car chases in "Bullitt," "Vanishing Point," and "The French Connection.

" This is easily THE definitive moonshine picture and a must see for fans of this type of picture.